The Inheritance Games Chapter Rewrites

Swing of the Club, Roll of the Ball-V2

"Head down," Jameson told me. He stepped up behind me and adjusted my grip, his arms wrapping around mine, guiding them from shoulder to fingertips. Even through my uniform blazer, I could feel the heat of his body.

"Try again," he murmured.

This time, when I swung back, Jameson swung, too. Our bodies moved in sync. I felt my shoulders rotating, felt him behind me, felt every inch of contact between us. The club connected with the ball, and I watched it soar.

A rush of emotion built up inside me, and this time I didn't push it down. Jameson had brought me up here to let go. I twisted around and craned my head up as I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down and our lips connected. Trying to get as close to him as I could, I stood on tiptoes, pushing my body into his. I couldn't get enough of him and seemingly he couldn't either because the moment I pulled back just for a second to catch a quick breath, he was claiming my lips again. He was addictive, the perfect distraction for me in that moment and my mind was blank, blissfully empty. Ignorant of the revelations from last night that were eating me up till now.

The kiss was long, the drowning-with-intense-pleasure kind and I was drunk on Jameson Winchester Hawthorne, once again. It was bad but the good kind of bad, the Hawthorne type of bad that could make you weak in the knees. And I was; after we parted for real, I was left heavily panting, my head dizzy and spinning, thoughts delirious and my legs wobbly. Luckily, Jameson steadied me and for a good minute or two, I had my eyes closed and my face buried in the crook of his neck, gathering myself together.

When I finally felt in place, I let out a small quiet sigh, making him shiver and I was delighted to see I had that effect on him, even though this didn't mean anything in reality. I leaned up once more, kissing the hollow of his throat and lingered, feeling the hitch of his breathing and nervous gulp as his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. It made me smile, it made him more human, vulnerable like me; Jameson Hawthorne was less dream and more real than before. The little things like this, no matter how rare they were, reminded me of that.

As soon as my feet hit the floor of the roof, I looked up at him with a small grin and he leaned down on his own, green eyes enrapturing me, then gave me another kiss, chastely. It was unexpected and sweet, emotions swelling in me and making my heart feel a little too big for a brief moment. Maybe he cares, for real. But that hope didn't last long because I knew Jameson well enough in aspects of relationships and feelings, yet it stayed, buried deep, rooting itself that there would be a change one day.

He broke away first and brushed away a stray hair behind my ear, giving me that signature crooked smile of his and my heart beat faster than before. Even though I wanted to break eye contact, I found myself not being able to and for some time we stayed like that. But then, Toby and Ricky and everything else came flooding back making me wrinkle my nose in annoyance and biting my lip angrily. Jameson seemed to notice my shift in expression because he put a hand on my cheek and in a low, gentle voice said, "Hey, it's ok Heiress. Take your time, this isn't something that happens every day. Think about it or don't but I'm right here." Oh how sincere he sounded, it annoyed me how genuine he seemed. I wanted to believe it, really, I did. And maybe, just for now, I would.

"Thank you," I replied quietly, looking away from him to the unrolled mat and golf balls beside us. His hand stroked my cheek then dropped to my shoulder and rubbed down my arm reassuringly. I look back at him then.

"No prob. I'm here for you, as long as you want me to. From now on, that is. We're in this together, I won't push you. I'll be your distraction if you want and whenever you want, just tell me." Jameson didn't look like he was joking, it was almost overwhelming. We. There was that we again; he looked like he meant it and how I hoped that he did. And that look in his eyes, it scared me; it made my stomach flip and twist. No feelings. No emotions, nothing.

"Ok," I gulped, steeling myself against his hold and letting a lone tear slip from my eye. For once, the game was on pause and there were no puzzles or riddles to keep that raw vulnerability from showing itself, I felt seen; properly this time. And I saw him.