MIRACLE
___________
THIS HAD MAYBE BEEN THE MOST PEACEFUL DAY I'd had since the holidays began. I was curled up on my porch swing, reading a smutty romance novel and definitely not picturing the blue eyed, brown haired lead as Jack, and the brunette female lead as myself. I was mid sex-scene, trying to push back my blush as I read about the dominant male lead and all the things he wished to do to the girl in the book in a public change room.
I was finally through the chapter and onto the next, a twist in the novel that had me hanging onto every last word, wanting to know more, when I felt the swing move from under me, a presence sitting beside me, leaning across to peer at the pages of my book.
I snapped the novel closed, frowning at the boy beside me. He was dressed in a grey sweater and jeans, a cap on his head turned backwards and some white Nike's on his feet. He looked equal parts causal and nice, and I was trying to figure out how he did that. He was gazing up at me with amusement behind his eyes, knowing he was being annoying by trying to read my book, like he used to when we were kids.
"What are you doing?" I snap, annoyed that he'd ruined my moment of peace with his ocean deep eyes and kissable lips.
He shrugs, leaning back casually. "Come to pick my girl up."
Rolling my eyes, I turn away from him. "Too bad she doesn't live here."
Jack's grin grows, he knows he's getting under my skin, and he loves it. He's always loved it. "I think I'm looking at her right now."
"Don't think so," I mumble, pouting as I cross my arms over my chest. Sure, Jack had been a lot flirtier than usual, he'd even made me come a few times, and there was no doubt tension between us that was getting thicker and thicker by the day, begging one of us to crack and give in. I didn't want that person to be me, I wanted it to be Jack. Still, he hadn't kissed me yet, so I was in no way his.
"Is this about kissing you?" Jack mumbled, brushing his nose against my cheek, asking for attention. I stay facing away from him, still with a pout. Jack chuckles at the realisation that it is, and nudges his nose to my skin again. "Miracle."
"Go away," I groan, pushing at his chest. He takes the opportunity to grab my wrist in his hand, yanking me towards him. I gasp, staring right into his eyes, my breath hitching in my throat at how close we are, how close Jack has made us be.
"Let's go shopping," he grins, and I give him a glare. He mocks me, glaring back. "Come on, baby doll. I've got money to blow and you need a dress for the wedding."
"Im not going," I snap, fully knowing that I'm acting like a child, but not really caring.
Jack rolled his eyes, changing position so that he was now crouching in front of me, looking up through his lashes at me as he held both my hands. "Because I haven't kissed you yet?"
"No," I mumble, blushing.
Jack figures me out in a split second, and his smile grows. He stands from his place in front of me, a still with my hands in his, pulls me from my place on the swing and guides me effortlessly towards his chest.
"I told you I was waiting until the time is right," he whispers, moving my hands to wrap them around his neck before placing his own palms on the skin of my cheeks. He rubs his thumbs over my jaw. "I'm trying to make it special, Miracle, do it right. I'm trying not to hurt you."
"It hurts anyway," I admit, my voice matching his, barely a whisper. I can feel the anxiety creeping in, like it often does whenever Jack hurts my feelings. Like it has so many times before. I push down the feeling, blinking back tears I didn't want to cry. "It feels like you don't want to kiss me."
Pulling out of his hold, I turn myself away from him, attempting to grab my book and my blanket and rush inside to escape him. Jack doesn't let me get very far. He wraps a hand around my waist, pulling me toward him with a frown. My body collides with his chest, my hands coming to rest on his shoulders as his resume their place on my cheeks.
"I want to kiss you," he whispers, fingertips tracing the hallow of my cheeks. "I want to kiss you so badly, Miracle."
His nose is brushing against mine, our lips grazing painfully, teasingly, begging me to close the gap. I don't. I won't. I need to know that he wants to do it, that his words aren't just words.
"Then why—"
Jack presses his mouth to mine, gently at first, as if testing the waters, seeing if his move was okay, if he was allowed, and then, when I don't pull away, he's kissing me harder. Passionately, with every fibre of his being. It feels like my stomach has been put on tumble dry, or someone's just thrown me over a cliff, and maybe that person was Jack and maybe he's jumped off that cliff with me.
My fingers find their way into his hair like it's second nature, like they belong there, like they've always belonged there, and they pull. A tiny moan slips past Jack's lips, his mouth opening slightly and begging me to deepen our kiss. I want to, I want to so badly, and so I do.
"Jack," I whisper, gentle enough that only he'd ever hear it, his hands fall from my face, trailing down my neck, my shoulders, my arms. Fingertips dancing over my exposed skin, leaving goosebumps as they go. He settles on my waist, gripping tightly, like he doesn't want to let go. Like he never wants to let go ever again.
Another groan falls from his lips at the sound of my voice, and I want to pull him closer to me somehow but we're already so close to each other it's almost painful, almost hurts. But the good kind of hurt.
"Baby," he breathes, his heartbeat an immediate echo of my own.
Three words threaten to spill over my lips, like they've always been there, and maybe Jack knows, maybe he's waiting for me to say them, but I force them back.
The door creaks open behind us, and both of us jump apart, breaths batted and eyes wide. Quinn walks out with Ellen, Jack's mum smiling so big she looks like she's going to split her lips open.
"Uh, um, uh," Jack is lost for words, and his cheeks are pink and his lips are red and his hair is sort of a mess and I imagine I look just as flustered as he does in this moment. He turns to me, still blushing. "S-so are you coming with?"
"I, um, yes," I whisper, not daring to make eye contact. "Let me just go get my coat."
"Okay," he breathes, the clears his throat as I make my was past Ellen and Quinn, ignoring the smirks they both clearly have, and run up the stairs two at a time to throw on my winter coat and some shoes.
I couldn't believe what had just happened, and the fact that we'd been caught mid-kiss. I could see why he was waiting for the right time now, to avoid exactly this. Now we'd never hear the end of it. If Quinn knew, Luke would know in minutes, and if Luke was good at anything, it was opening his big mouth to everyone we knew. And if Ellen knew, my mother would no doubt already know too.
There was no escaping this one, not even a little, besides, I'd basically gone and asked for it.
I grabbed my coat, shrugged it over my shoulders then ran back down the stairs, not bothering to tell my family I was going out with Jack and slamming the door closed behind me. He was waiting by the porch, looking down at his phone as he adjusted his hat and leaned against the porch railing. He looked up at me, his cheeks still flushed, and smiled.
"Ready?" He grinned, somehow fully recovered, then turned on his heels and walked over to the car Ellen and Quinn sat in, the eldest Hughes brother driving. Jack climbed in first, before I followed after him, sitting by the window.
Jack could have sat by the window too, you know, saved me some sanity, but he chose to be weird, and sit in the middle seat, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and slouching in his seat so that we'd be closer.
"I've wanted to do that since our first kiss," Jack admitted, whispering to me in the back of the car.
My cheeks must be on fire at this point, so I don't look at him. "Why didn't you?"
He only shrugged, nudging his nose against my cheek for the third time that day. "Can I do it again?"
"Right now?" I breathed, my chest heaving. Was he crazy?
"No, not right now you dirty girl," he chuckled, shaking his head, he laced our fingers together, playing with my hand absentmindedly. "When we're alone again."
"So we're going to the city," Ellen announced, turning in her chair to speak to us. She smiled right at me. "I'm glad you're coming, Mira, I'm also glad my son finally decided to make a move."
"Mom!" Jack whined, tossing his head back. "Don't!"
Ellen grinned, evil as all hell. "Why, Jack? You've only been talking about Miracle since you were nine."
"Mom!" He groaned. "Please!"
"But this is so much fun!" She grinned, winking. "Making your life hell is my job, sweetheart."
I giggled, squeezing Jack's hand. "I too enjoy making your life hell, Rowdy."
"Yeah, yeah," he mused, rolling his eyes and slouching further in his seat. "At least you're cute about it."