“Hey, what can I get ya?”

“I will have a double cheeseburger and a coke.” She looks over to me to take my order but I point back at Brian. “The beautiful woman across from me will have a root beer float and a grilled cheese special but instead of tomato soup she wants French onion.” My mouth drops open. What. The. Fuck. How in the hell did he get that shit right?

Brian reaches over and grabs the napkin. “Judging by your face, I guessed right but just to be sure.” He opens the napkin and smiles. “Well, lookey here. I am fucking good.”

“How did you do that?” I whisper half to him and half to myself.

“I told you I can read your mind.”

“No really you had to have peeked or something.” I try to think if he could have seen me writing it down, but I come up with nothing.

“All right, the root beer float because whenever we go out you order soda. Mainly because you consider it a treat since you won’t buy the ‘crap’ at the store. You have always said that if you’re gonna get soda at a diner you might as well go all out and make it a float. The special because you love a good grilled cheese but always say yours never come out right. You have said numerous times that tomato soup tastes like warm ass, and I know that your favorite is French onion but you scrape the cheese off and save it to eat last.”

I shake my head in disbelief once again. And they say men don’t pay attention to details. I can’t believe even after all these years he still remembers these little details. This moment reinforces that I made the right decision in being with Brian again. Not because he knows what I eat, but because he knows me. Inside and out, he knows every inch of me. I swear he may know me better then I know myself sometimes.

I stand up deciding I need to be closer to him. He moves over when I rise and once I sit his arm encircles my waist pulling me close to him. His chin rests on my shoulder and I break out in goose bumps. “I can’t wait to claim my reward.” He half growls into my ear. When his teeth nip at my neck, I jump.

Dan and I never did PDA like this, we really just—I need to stop comparing. I won’t completely forget Dan, but if this is going to work, I need to keep things separated.

The food arrives and I smile the entire time I eat, still shocked that he got everything right. His left hand is resting on my thigh and I would be lying if I said it isn’t completely distracting. Especially since every once in a while he squeezes my leg or moves his fingers. Every touch is sparking a jolt of electricity through me.

The thought of being like that with him again is both terrifying and exciting to me. He was my first and no matter how far apart we were, I have always thought about him. I look down at my now empty plate. Jesus, talk about stress and emotional eating. Thank God the car is a few blocks away because it hurts to even breathe right now.

Brian’s hand trails up and down my back. “You ready?” Well, that’s a loaded question.

“Yep.” It’s all I can manage since I can hardly breathe because I’m a food glutton, and my insides are on high alert.

The entire walk back to the car Brian has been all over me. We are no longer holding hands but almost intertwined, both of our arms around each other. He keeps leaning down close to me to give me a kiss or just scrape his stubble over my skin. It is a miracle that my damn legs are still working. I definitely flipped a switch in him that has sent him into high gear.

The ten minute drive back to my house is cut in half, and before I know it, I’m unlocking my front door. I get two steps into the house before Brian grabs me and spins me around using the force to close the door and pin me to it.

“Ever since that sexy little mouth told me I could make you mine again, I couldn’t think of anything but this minute right here. I need to have you so fucking bad that it hurts, Jules. It killed me not being able to touch you these past couple of months.”

His mouth captures mine and I moan at his forcefulness. He picks me up and carries me into the living room, sitting down on the couch so that I’m straddling him. His hands slide up my sides, slowly graze over my breasts, and stop on the sides of my head. “I love you so fucking much. I will be making love to you soon, but right now I just fucking need to be inside of you.” His hands move down to the top button of my shirt. He frantically struggles with the first button before looking up at me. “I’ll buy you a new shirt.”

Before I can question what he means he grips the shirt in hands and rips it open, the sound of buttons scattering surrounds us. Well, fuck me that was hot. He doesn’t stop there his hands grip the top of my cami, forcefully shredding that in half.

“I could have just taken that off.”

“Nope, I need you now.” He lowers his mouth to my breasts begging to be at his mercy.

“Julia Spencer! What are you doing?”

I freeze. I know that voice.

I look over to see my mother and father looking as pale as ghosts.

Fuck. My. Life.

Chapter Nineteen

Brian

You have got to be fucking kidding me. Her parents? I look over to see the pretentious assholes standing there.

Just. Fucking. Great.

Jules jumps off of me and the sight of her trying to cover herself with her shredded clothes makes me laugh. I stop immediately when she gives me the death stare. I rip my shirt up over my head and hand it to her. She reluctantly takes it as I hear her curse under her breath.

“What in the world is going on here?” her mother utters clearly disgusted by my very presence.

“Well, see when two people love each other—” Jules lands a punch right in my kidneys and I buckle from the pain. That’s one thing about my girl, I taught her to fight. She was always rough and it never set me off the way other it might if someone else did it, plus since I know she is only joking so it doesn’t bring back the painful memories.

“Mom, Dad, what are you guys doing here?” Her hair is all messed up from running my hands through it and it looks sexy as all hell. I stand and place myself behind her hoping to provide whatever comfort I can for her. Once upon a time, I tried to get her parents to like me, to no avail. Now I just don’t give a shit.

“The real question, young lady, is what is he doing here?” Young lady? She is fucking twenty-five years old.

“I was going to tell you guys in person, but Brian and I are back together.” I brace myself for the disapproval and disdain about to pour from their mouths.

The room fills with silence. It lasts for so long that I start to rock back and forth on my heels just to have sort of a distraction.

“Have you lost your mind? Is this some sort of grieving process for you? Do you need to talk to someone?” Her mother doesn’t look at me even though I am standing right behind to her. “You can’t be thinking logically, Julia. I mean you just lost Dan, you can’t go back to him.”

I feel her flinch at the mention of Dan. “Mother, it isn’t your life to live. I don’t need a psychiatrist. I have thought my decision through fully. My grieving process is just fine. Lastly, I am an adult that is fully capable of making my own choices.”

Tell em’, babe. Her mother turns to her father obviously demanding him to step in. He steps forward to stand next to his wife. “Julia, we came here to bring you home. You don’t need to be in this house. You should be at home, with your family. That man is taking advantage of you in your vulnerable state.” He sneers at me as he says the latter.

Julia straightens. Here it comes. I know my girl well enough to know when the storm is coming. “I appreciate your concern, but I am fully able to take care of myself. I don’t need to, nor do I want to, come back to your house. I don’t need you running my life, and refuse to let you think you can. You may have never supported my choice to be with Brian, and you don’t need to now, but you may as well accept it.”