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It Would've Been You
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All Grown Up All To Myself
AudreyI groaned internally as I heard Jesse knock on the front door. I was still in my bedroom, which meant that by the time I made it to the door, moving slowly and doing my best not to hurt my ankle anymore, Mom would have had plenty of time to reach the door and start interrogating him. He should have just texted me that he was here; I could have met him outside.But on the other hand, there was something about him meeting me at the door that made me smile. It was almost like we were going out on a date.I tried to remember that I had been the one to say, the day before, that we were just enjoying the time that we had. Tried to remember the fact that as soon as six months were up, if not sooner, I was headed right back to Paris where I belonged. It wasn’t a good idea to start thinking of this as dating. Even if that was what I sort of wanted when I let myself think about it.I didn’t know if we would last forever, but I did know, now, that I had feelings for Jesse. And not just in
All Grown Up Adorable
AudreyI raised an eyebrow at him. “Jesse Miller, did you just lie to my mom?” I asked teasingly. “And make a liar out of me as well? She’s bound to ask me how the movie was.” But I felt a shiver run up my back at the thought of him having me all to himself for an evening. I remembered the earlier comment that I had made, about how I could think of plenty of things we could do that wouldn’t require me being on my feet.I felt a momentary pang of loss at the thought of that now, though. I had just been joking earlier. Not that I didn’t want the night to end there, as it were. But I had been looking forward to going out with Jesse as well.I supposed I didn’t really deserve a date with him, though. That would be doing just what Annabelle had accused me of. I might not be taking advantage of him, per se. I liked him too much for that. But it would mean treating this like it was permanent, like I was back home for good. And I clearly wasn’t.“Wouldn’t be the first time either of us lied t
All Grown Up No Fixing It
JesseAs much as I wanted to take Audrey out and show her off, despite the fact that she and I weren’t dating, there was a deeper part of me that just wanted her all to myself, no distractions, for as long as we had. Luckily, with the fact that she had to stay off her feet, our options for going out were pretty limited anyway. I was a little afraid that she would call me out for being too forward by taking her straight home with me, but then again, she had been the one to hint at all the ways that she’d like to be kept off her feet tonight.Besides, we would eat better at my place than we could out in town, and I liked the idea of snuggling with her on the couch.She had been the one to say that she had missed me, but I had to admit that I was feeling it too. Like I just couldn’t get enough time with her. It was like my body was already reacting to her return to Paris, even though she was right here in Aberdeen for the next five months or so.It seemed like we were already saying good
All Grown Up The Life He Built
Jesse“That must have been rough,” Audrey said quietly, but where normally, the pity and the sympathy drove me crazy, there was something in the way that Audrey said it that made me feel somehow better. Like a weight had been lifted from my chest.“Me running the hardware store, I don’t even know if that’s something that he would have wanted,” I said. “We hadn’t really ever talked about it. But I just feel like I have to do it now. Like if I don’t, I’m turning my back on him.”Audrey was quiet, and I wondered what she was thinking. Would she try to convince me that there was no reason for me to stay here in Aberdeen, that I was just making excuses for why I couldn’t be with her?Except that, of course, she wouldn’t say anything like that. Just like I couldn’t bring myself to ask her not to go back to Paris, she would never be able to tell me to leave North Carolina and put aside my ghosts.Audrey put her hand over mine. “I’m really sorry you had to go through that,” she said softly. “
All Grown Up Placing Her in Bed
AudreyI tried to figure out the expression in Jesse’s eyes as he sat me down on the bed. There was an unmistakable tenderness there, and a certain level of amazement too. He slowly ran his hands down my sides, the touch gentle and soft. He kissed me as he worked to undress me, baring my breasts and then helping me out of my pants as well. I arched against him, feeling the drag of his soft flannel shirt against my naked skin. I sucked in a breath as he nibbled at my earlobe.He grinned against my skin, his fingers tracing lines of fire along the waistband of my panties. He rocked against me, and I could feel how hard he was already. My fingers fumbled with his belt, pausing as he nibbled at my neck, my train of thought gone out the window.He laughed and pulled back, helping me out as he stripped off his own clothing, letting it fall in a heap on the floor. Then he pulled me close again, pressing his lips insistently to mine, his tongue slipping easily inside my mouth as I moaned, hea
All Grown Up Go-Getter
JesseThe last thing I wanted was to drive Audrey home after we had sex, but I could tell from the look on her face that I had to. I could also tell that she hated it as much as I did. Was she feeling the same way that I was? That we were playing with fire here, that it was going to be too hard to lose her already, without spending the night together, without waking up to miles of warm, soft skin every morning? I wished I could offer her some kind of solution, but I didn’t know what to say.“Your mom would probably worry if I didn’t bring you home, anyway,” I said, giving her the easy way out.Audrey looked at me in surprise for a moment, and I could tell that she was on the brink of telling me that that was the least of her worries at the moment. But then she smiled at me. “Yeah,” she said, sounding relieved that yet again, we were going to bypass that conversation about our relationship, about her return to Paris, and about everything else that was important between the two of us.“
All Grown Up Less Important
Jesse“I guess he could,” I said, feeling even more agitated. I had been so sure that she wouldn’t ask me to give all of this up. Just like I wouldn’t ask her to give up her dancing. Did she think that my work here was somehow less important than hers in Paris?I knew that wasn’t what she was asking, though. She was just trying to come up with some resolution, the same way that I was. We were hurting one another, I knew. There didn’t seem to be a way to stop it, however.I sighed again, even more heavily. “It wouldn’t be a long-term solution,” I explained to her. “Joe could look out for things. But short of turning over the whole business to him, well, it just wouldn’t be fair. Anyway, what the hell would I do with myself in Paris?” I tried to turn it into a joke, but I could barely manage a smile, and Audrey didn’t look like she was laughing either.“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. “I guess it’s stupid for me to even ask. I just, I don’t know, I keep thinking about all the
All Grown Up Homesick For Paris
AudreyTwo weeks of minimal time on my feet had my ankle feeling, if not better, then at least as good as it had been when I first rented out the studio in town where I could dance on my own. Maybe it wasn’t totally responsible to go back to dancing so soon. Maybe I was jeopardizing the healing process. I was going stir-crazy without dance, though, and I figured if I took it a little easier, then things would be okay.I wrapped my ankle tightly and went through some basic moves, grinning as I did so. There was barely any pain, and my ankle actually felt stronger than I would have expected it to. Maybe I would be back to Paris sooner than I’d thought. Another month and I could have this whole thing put behind me, I was sure.For a moment, I had to wonder if I wanted to put this whole thing behind me. Not everything about my time here in Aberdeen had been bad. A certain someone popped into my head as I thought about that.I couldn’t stay in North Carolina just for Jesse, though. I had t
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