"Alright, last fucking dot. Ready?" Jace says, holding his pointing finger up in the air dramatically.
I have to laugh. "Do it" I say, encouraging him.
He presses a key on his keyboard and shuts his laptop right away. "Done. It's summer, baby!" he yells, removing the electronic device from his lap to place me in it instead.
I put the book that was in my hands away, to give my full attention to Jace. "I'm proud of you" I let him know, playing with the hair at the back of his head.
"Thank you baby" he answers, placing a kiss on my forehead.
After we've returned from the beach house, Jace had an important term paper to write for one of his classes. Now, about 10 days later, he finally finished it. Today he did the last touches, after I had read it for him to check for any spelling mistakes. I don't know what I expected, but Jace's writing style was amazing. He did such a good job on it, that I'm sure he'll get a good grade. I enjoy Jace's touch and the warm summer air streaming through the open window for a few minutes longer.
"What do you want to do today?" Jace asks me gently, knowing that I'd love to have plans today.
Summer break is for about two more months, and I'm not really good with that much free time. I check my phone to see what time it is, but my eyes get stuck on the date instead. Today's the first of July, and somehow I completely forgot about the most important date of the year. My eyes grow wide. Tomorrow's my birthday, and I didn't even tell Jace about it.
"Don't be mad at me" I say quietly, leaning up to face him.
Jace looks at me with a confused face. "What?" he asks me.
"It's sort of my birthday tomorrow" I say, not sure how he's going to react.
His eyes grow just as wide as mine. "Tomorrow?" he asks, wanting to make sure he heard me correctly.
"Yeah" I say cautiously.
"Are you fucking serious? And you didn't tell me?" he says, looking down to me.
"I'm so sorry. I guess it never came up, and I didn't give it much thought these past few days" I say, not wanting him to think I kept it from him for some reason.
Jace lets out a big sigh. "Well, fuck me" he says, letting his hand glide through his short hair.
"You know I don't expect you to get me anything" I say, trying to make him feel better about the situation.
I stroke his cheek with my thumb. He looks at me with a look that I can't make out. "I'm really sorry" I say quietly once again.
"Alright, at least tell me what you want to do tomorrow then. We'll plan something nice" Jace suggests, and I smile at his sweet gesture.
Just as I'm about to answer, the sound of my mom's ringtone interrupts me. "Hold that thought" I tell him, finding my phone on the covers and answering it. "Hey mom" I answer, smiling once I hear her voice.
"Hey honey. How are you? I was wondering if you and Jace are coming tomorrow? I invited everyone for lunch and coffee" she asks me.
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot that too" I smirk. I look at Jace questioningly, knowing he heard every word my mom said. He quickly shrugs and nods his head at me, telling me that he'll come with me. "We'll be there. See you tomorrow mom, love you!" I say, and we both hang up after. "Are you sure you want to come see my family again? We kind of do this every time it's someone's birthday, so I can't really say no" I explain.
"Of course, why not?" he says, grabbing his own phone to type into it quickly.
Seconds after, his attention's back on me. "I don't know, maybe you have something better to do" I say quietly.
"On your birthday?" Jace answers, raising his eyebrows at me.
"Well, considering the fact that you only found out about ten minutes ago..." I chuckle, still feeling bad.
"Don't be stupid" he chuckles back to me. "I'll come. As long as I get you to myself all night long after" he adds, staring into my eyes.
My cheeks turn red slightly, but a smile finds its way onto my face still. "Of course" I whisper, using my hand on the back of Jace's neck to pull him closer into me. I place a kiss on his lips, to seal the promise I just made.
"Good" Jace says against my lips.
"Before I forget; you have to tell me when your birthday is" I say, wanting to remember it right away.
"Oh, so you can actually get the time to plan something? No fucking way" Jace laughs at me.
"Come on, you have to!" I reply, almost begging him. He doesn't look like he's about to give in, so I lift my body off of him, just to straddle him right after. I lean forward a little, making him let his upper body fall onto the bed. His hands find their way onto the back of my thighs right away, dangerously close to my behind. "Don't make me ask Austin. Please?" I say, placing a sweet kiss on his neck right after.
Jace moves his hands from my thighs to my waist, and flips us over, as if I'm as light as a feather. He hovers over me smirking. "It's the 15th of September" he answers, finally giving in.
I smile at him genuinely. "Thank you. I can't believe we've never shared this information with each other" I say, a sudden outburst of laughter following after.
"You're right" Jace joins in. "But you never answered my question. What do you want to do today?" he adds, throwing his shirt over his head.
I know he's just taking it off because of the heat, but I try not to stare anyway. "How about a stroll through the city? We could get ice cream" I suggest, and imagine it dripping down on his naked torso. Get a grip, Mila. You've seen him plenty of times without a shirt on.
"Sounds good babe" he says, removing himself from me to my despair. I lean up too, and see that Jace is getting ready to head out, so I decide to do the same. The weather is amazing today. It's almost a little too hot to do anything, but I look forward to enjoy the sun in the city. I walk over to the dresser and pick out my favourite floral dress, to pair it with my white sneakers. I don't bother putting more make up on, the sweat will only ruin it anyway. Jace emerges from the bathroom, and I see that he already changed into shorts and a simple t-shirt. He looks amazing, as always.
"You ready?" he asks me, as I inhale the scent he must have just put on.
I don't know why I'm so clingy today, but all I seem to want is Jace. So much, that I wouldn't mind staying in that bed with him all day. Too shy to say anything, I nod my head back at him. I grab my purse, and we make our way outside. The heat hits us right away, and I look forward to the AC in Jace's car. Ever since the incident on our way to Oregon, I'm slightly nervous before we drive onto the highway every single time. It's only about twenty minutes to the city, so I usually manage. It just sucks having to be nervous because of something so simple. My heart starts beating quickly, when Jace takes the last turn onto the busy street.
"You okay?" he asks me, as I start shifting in the car seat uncomfortably. His hand moves towards my thigh right away.
"Yeah. I just hate this" I say quietly, trying not to let it get to me.
"I know. But I'll keep you safe" he says, quickly looking over to me for reassurance.
"I know" I repeat after him, placing my own hand on his thankfully. I try to take deep breaths, but feel a little relief when my phone starts ringing for the second time today. Other days I'm luck if I even get one call. "Dad? Hey" I say, when I pick up the phone.
"Hey honey, how are you?" he asks me gently.
I haven't spoken to him for a little while, and despite everything that happened, I'm happy to hear from him. "Good, thank you" I answer.
"I'm glad. So I was thinking about flying out tomorrow, for your birthday. Are you at your mom's?" he asks me, and I'm surprised. He doesn't make it up here to Washington for my birthday every year, sometimes not for two or three. My parents have been divorced a really long time, so I know they get along. I also know mom won't mind if he joins the family tomorrow. In the years he does come, we've always done it this way. "Yeah! I'd be happy if you came, I haven't seen you in forever" I say, genuinely looking forward to him coming.
"Awesome. I'll be arriving around noon, then grab a hotel for the night and catch the next flight int the morning" he explains, probably having looked at flights already.
"Sounds good, I'll see you tomorrow then" I answer, and see that Jace and I are near the exit already.
"See you tomorrow honey" my dad answers, and hangs up. The call with my dad was short, like it always is, but a big smile finds its way onto my face anyway.
"I guess you'll be meeting my dad tomorrow" I say, as we arrive in the city and look for a parking spot.
"You look happy" Jace states, smiling just like me.
"I am. I know I haven't told you many great things about him, but I think you could really like him" I say, unbuckling my seatbelt when Jace stops the car.
"Hey, I'm not judging anybody. If you're happy, I am too" he says, placing a sweet kiss on my cheek before opening his car door. I copy him, looking forward to the ice cream, and tomorrow of course. I guess in a way I'll always stay like a little child. No matter how old I turn, I'm always slightly nervous about my birthday the day before. In a good way.
Jace and I start strolling through the heat of beautiful Seattle. The city is busy this time of day, but the weather is making up for it. I'm usually not one to enjoy hot summer days, because sometime's they'll make me anxious about having to faint or not drinking enough water. Today, I focus on the happy feelings about tomorrow.
"There it is" Jace says, pulling me out of my thoughts. "The best ice cream in Seattle" he adds, leading me towards an ice cream parlour near the water. "What flavour do you want?" he asks me, grabbing his wallet out of his pocket.
"Vanilla, please" I say, knowing he won't take money from me.
"Of course" he smirks, ordering the ice cream for the two of us.
"Thank you" I say, when he hands it to me. He even remembered that I like to eat ice cream from a cup, not from a cone. I look over to Jace's massive mountain of chocolate ice cream and have to smile to myself. I wonder every day how this boy can eat so much without gaining any weight. I eye Jace closely as we both start eating, and the image from earlier pops back into my head. How can he look so good, even when he's just eating ice cream? I think I have a problem. Is an addiction to a person a thing?
"There it is again" Jace says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"What?" I say, clueless about what he means.
"Your face, your stare" he says, a smirk forming on his face. I tilt my head slightly, waiting for him to explain. He couldn't possibly know what I'm thinking. "I know you Mila Wilson" he says, leaning closer into me, so he can talk to me without anyone else hearing him. "I know exactly what's on your mind" he adds quietly, and my cheeks turn red right away. Of course he does. "Let me tell you one thing. If you want me, you only have to ask" Jace says, leaving goosebumps on my body from his words.
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What happens on Mila's birthday tomorrow?
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