I open my eyes to figure out that I had dozed off with my head on Jace's chest, his hand wrapped around my shoulder and my hand resting on his chest too.
I've never woken up next to Jace before now.
It doesn't feel bad at all....but I shouldn't be waking up, all cuddled up with my boyfriend, at least not in my mom's house.
I need to be sure she's okay with my relationship with Jace since she already seems to know about it.
I still don't know how she knows about it though.
"Babe, you awake?" I hear Jace ask.
He's awake......
I had no idea.....
"Oh.....yeah. I'm really sorry, I didn't know when I fell asleep on your chest." I say, trying to lift my head off Jace's chest.
Jace pulls me closer, making my head fall back on his chest.
"It's okay. You don't apologize for waking up like this." Jace says.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Don't you like us waking up like this, in a cuddle?" Jace asks.
"Well....I do like it. It feels nice." I say.
"Yeah.....I wish it could be like this, every day." Jace says.
"You know that's not possible. It's not like we're married or anything." I say.
"But we could make it possible, you know." Jace says.
I lift my head and look at Jace.
"Seriously Jace?" I ask.
"Seriously." Jace says with a smirk.
I take the nearest pillow and hit it on Jace's chest.
"Ouch! What was that for?" Jace asks, sitting up on the bed.
"Actually, I don't know why I just did that." I say.
Jace scoffs.
I smirk in return.
"You're adorable when you smirk like that." Jace says.
"Dude, don't flatter me. Thanks though." I say.
"Well.....as adorable as you may be and as tempting as it may be to cuddle a little more, I should get going." Jace says.
"Get going where?" I ask.
"To a hotel. I already planned to stay at a hotel for few days before flying back to London." Jace says.
"Why hotel?" I ask.
"I can't possibly stay here. This is your family house. Your mom may seem cool with me showing up here but will she be cool with me staying here?" Jace asks rhetorically.
"Right.....but I could speak to my mom about it. I could ask her to let you stay here for a while. At least till it's time for you to fly back to London....."
"Mia.....I should go."
"Aww.....but we just got back together. We should spend some more time with each other. If you fly back to London, I won't be seeing you till next semester which is still months away by the way."
"We're gonna spend some more time together. If you or your mom wouldn't mind, I'm gonna be dropping by to see you. We could even hangout or do some other things. There's nothing to worry about, okay?"
"Fine. This is so heartbreaking." I say.
Jace chuckles at me. He plants a kiss on my forehead and stands from the bed.
"But where are your stuffs? You didn't come here empty-handed, did you?" I ask.
"Well, they're in my car." Jace says.
Sorry???
"Your car?" I ask.
"Yeah, my car. I have a car."
"Oh my goodness! You have a car?"
"Yep. It's not a new car just that I haven't driven it in two years.....apart from yesterday and the day before. My dad got it for me as a gift for getting into college. He did the same for Quinn so I guess it's a kinda family tradition."
"So you already had it before coming to LA?"
"Yeah. I didn't feel like bringing it with me to LA so I just left it there but I think I'll consider bringing it to LA next semester."
"Okay. That's not a bad thing to consider."
"I know. That being said, can we go meet the car, milady?" Jace asks, offering me his hand.
"Anything for you, milady."
No.....no!!
Not that....
My mind just flashed back to my sex dream, on hearing Jace say "milady"
The way he breathed "milady" against my lips.......
Pull yourself together, Mia!!
It was just a dream.....
Yeah.....
"Sure we can." I shake off my thoughts and take his hand, standing from the bed.
We proceed to leave the room.
Downstairs......
"Hey Mia, hey Jace." Amber calls out.
She's sitting by the kitchen counter with Michelle and my mom looks like she's trying to setup something for breakfast 'cause she's doing something by the cooker.
"Oh.....they're awake already. Morning guys." Michelle says.
"Morning Michelle and Amber, Morning mom." I say.
"Hey guys. Good morning, ma'am." Jace says.
"Morning, my darlings. You're finally awake." My mom says.
"Yes, we're." I say.
"I was just trying to make something for breakfast. You two should come and sit with Michelle and Amber." My mom says.
"Mom......actually....umm....I'm seeing Jace off now." I stutter.
"Huh? Seeing him off to where?" My mom asks.
I look at Jace.
"Uh....ma'am, thank you so much for your hospitality. It's a lot and I greatly appreciate but I shouldn't stay here longer. It would only be taking advantage of your kindness." Jace says.
"So where are you going to? Do you have any family or friends here.....friends apart from the girls?" My mom asks.
"I don't have any family or friends here. I'm going to lodge in a hotel for a while before travelling back to where I came from." Jace says.
"A hotel? No, son." My mom walks closer to us "I can't let you spend your money on a hotel room when we've empty rooms here. You're staying here."
"But....."
"But nothing. Call it taking advantage of my kindness, I say otherwise. You'll stay here with your friends till when you're ready to travel back to where you came from, which is?" My mom asks.
"London, ma'am." Jace says.
"London?" My mom asks.
"Yes, ma'am. That's where I'm from." Jace says.
"He's British-American, mom." I add.
"Oh.....Speaking of that now, do you really think I'd let you go like that after flying here all the way from London. That'd be heartless of me. You should stay here." My mom says.
"I really don't want to be an intruder or something." Jace says.
"You're not an intruder, Jace Harris. I meant it when I told you that you're part of us now so go and sit with your friends and wait for breakfast, okay?"
"Mom, is it really okay with you if he stays here?" I ask.
"Of course, Mia. A hundred percent." My mom says with a smile.
"Thank you so much, ma'am." Jace says.
"You're welcome, son. I look forward to getting to know more about you." My mom says with a smile.
"Sure, ma'am." Jace says, smiling back at my mom.
"Thank you, mom." I say.
"It's nothing, my darling. Now you two should take your seats, lemme hurry with the breakfast." My mom says, walking back to the kitchen.
"So we're having this cute couple in the house. It's gonna be awesome." Michelle says.
"I know, right?" Amber says.
"Shut up, guys." I say playfully.
We chuckle.
"Mom, I'm going with Jace to get his stuffs from his car." I say.
"Sure. Go on." My mom says.
"Jace has a car?" Amber asks.
"He does." Michelle says.
"Anyway, let's go get his stuffs." I say, taking Jace's hand as we start walking away.
************************************
"Mind if I join you, mom?" I ask.
I just met my mom, looking out the balcony of her room, her hands placed on the railing.
"Get over here." My mom says.
I walk closer to where she's standing.
"When was the living room cleared out?" I ask.
"Mr. Richards had the event planning team clear it out last night." My mom says.
"Okay. I guess you're staying home today." I say.
"Not really. I'm gonna step out for a bit and then come back before dinner time. Mr. Richards will be here for dinner tonight." My mom says.
"I thought he was gonna stay over after the party."
"He wanted to just that he had something he needed to settle with his family. He may stay over tonight." My mom says.
"Okay." I say.
Silence......
"How did you two meet? You and Jace."
"Well.....do you remember my history professor that I mentioned to you before?" I ask.
"Professor Harris, right? Wait....Harris..."
"Exactly. Jace is Professor Harris' nephew." I say.
"Oh...."
"Professor Harris had called me to his office, beginning of the semester. He asked me to help tutor his nephew 'cause he had a little academic issue and I agreed. That was when I met Jace. He was in the office too." I say.
"When did you two start dating?" My mom asks.
"Like two to three months ago. It would've been more than that if some things didn't come up."
"I won't bother asking you the "some things" that came up but I'm going to ask you this. Do you love him, Mia?" My mom asks.
"Yes, mom. I love him.....a lot."
"Given the fact that he flew here all the way from London just to see you, I believe he loves you a lot too."
"He does." I say.
"Alright then, I wish you two a happy dating life." My mom says.
"Are you like....giving my relationship with Jace an approval?" I ask.
"Your relationship already started without my approval." My mom says.
"Right.....thank you so much, mom."
"You've nothing to thank me for. I'm just glad you waited to be a young adult before getting into a romantic relationship with anyone." My mom says.
I utter no word.
"Anyway, thank you, Mia."
"For what, mom?"
"For not letting the clueless statement I made to you a long time ago prevent you from doing what you want. Telling you to never trust guys or avoid them if possible was pretty extreme. I let my anger push me too far to say that. When I realized what I had done, I thought of a possible way to undo it and that's why I said what I said that day your father was buried. That's why I said that I hope you'd find a good guy to spend the rest of your life with, so it wouldn't look like I have something against guys. I'm really sorry for almost ruining your life, Mia." My mom says.
"Mom, don't say that. You didn't almost ruin my life. I'm sure you didn't mean it when you said it." I say.
"Of course, I didn't. It's not like all the guys use and abandon someone. I'm just really happy you didn't let that get to you." My mom says.
"It did at some point but I decided to shake it off."
"Well, that's good. My daughter has a boyfriend. I can't believe it." My mom says.
"I can't believe it either." I say with a chuckle.
My mom chuckles back.
"Speaking of, how did you know he's my boyfriend earlier? You know....when you said "I know he's your boyfriend" last night. I was pretty surprised when you said that."
"I just knew." My mom says.
"But how?" I ask.
"I'm an elder, sweetie. I know things that you don't know that I know. I bet you'd be more surprised if I told you that I know you two must've had a misunderstanding before you left LA." My mom says.
What???
How did she know that too????
"What're you, mom?" I say. I'm sure there's a surprised look in my eyes right now.
"Like I said, I'm an elder that knows things you wouldn't believe I know."
"Elder indeed." I say.
My mom and I chuckle.
"Come here, sweetheart." My mom beckons on me to hug her.
I do so.
"Did I ever tell you how proud of you I am?" My mom asks.
"A million times. Thank you, mom. Thank you for letting Jace stay here." I say.
"You're welcome, honey. I know you don't want him to go." My mom says.
"I certainly don't want that." I say.
************************************
"Hey" Jace calls out against my ear, startling me from the way he grabbed my waist, hugging me from behind.
I'm in the kitchen, cutting up some veggies for dinner.
Jace just came into the kitchen.
"Jace!! Gosh!!" I yell a little.
"What?" Jace asks.
"You scared the crap outta me." I say.
"Did I? I'm sorry." Jace says, kissing my neck, tinkling me so much.
"Stop that!!!" I say, giggling.
"No. I can't." Jace says as his lips proceeds to the bare part of my shoulder.
I'm wearing a big T-shirt that exposes one of my shoulders.
"Jace, you do realize I'm holding a knife." I say, still squirming at Jace's lips moving on my neck and shoulder.
"I really can't." Jace says.
"Come.....on...." I manage to turn to face Jace. "You should really stop."
"Why? Don't you like it?" Jace asks.
"I do like it but....we're supposed to be really careful about the things we do here. You know.....with my mom around. Take your hands off my waist too." I say, pulling Jace's hands off my waist.
"Oh, come on.....it's not like your mom is home now." Jace says, holding my waist again.
"Still, we should be careful." I say, removing his hands once again and moving away from him, to the counter.
"Ugh.....that's not fair." Jace grunts as he turns to me.
I chuckle.
"How did it go with Mr. Richards by the way?" I ask.
Mr. Richards had arrived earlier and asked Jace to join him on a little errand.
"It went really well. Mr. Richards is just as nice as everyone have been since I got here. I could even say we're bonding." Jace says.
"That's great to hear." I say.
"Yeah. I thought you were with Michelle and Amber. Where are they?" Jace asks.
"They went to get some cooking stuff from the store. It hasn't been so long since they left." I say.
"Okay....umm....well....I've been thinking of something." Jace says.
"What?" I ask.
"How about we go for a ride in my car tomorrow.....if you don't have anything to do?" Jace asks.
"Is it like a car date or something?" I ask.
"Yeah, it's a car date and also an opportunity to show off my driving skills to you." Jace says.
"Someone wants to be a show off. Well, I'm in. Let's see what you got behind the wheel." I say.
"Alright, we'll see." Jace says.
"Hmm...." I utter.
"Well, that being said...." Jace moves closer to me and I move backwards.
I just realized that I'm only a little inch away from the counter 'cause I just felt my backside hit against it.
Jace is now very close to me, his hands placed on the counter and his body pressed against mine. He brings his face closer to mine, in readiness to kiss me for sure.
"No...." I say, giving him a gentle push by his chest.
"What? Why? You do realize we haven't properly kissed today." Jace says.
"I know....and I'd love to have a proper kiss but anyone could come in here anytime." I say.
"No one is coming in here except maybe your friends and I'm sure they might've seen us kiss before. Your mom is not back yet and Mr. Richards is still at the garage." Jace says.
"My friends did see us kiss but it was one time and it wasn't even a serious kiss as you said that day. I'm sure what you're about to do now is serious." I say.
"Sort of. If you're so worried about getting caught, we should make it brief." Jace says, leaning closer to me again and fanning my face with his breath.
With how Jace's body is pressed against mine and how close our faces are, I don't think I can still resist.
God!!
I should still try....
I push Jace again.
"I think we should just save it for later.....in the room." I say.
"I can't, Mia. Not with how I feel right now. I may die from the hunger for your lips if I wait that long. So....what do you say?" Jace asks in a low voice, brushing his nose against mine this time.
What is he doing to me????
It is clear now. I'm gonna lock lips with Jace.
"Jace, if we get caught, I'm gonna kill you." I say in a low voice.
I hear Jace chuckle lightly before sliding his lip into my already parted lips. Kissing me gently and thoroughly, his hand goes to my thighs. My heart skips a beat at his touch, my knees goes weak suddenly.
Next, I feel myself being lifted over the counter.
"Hey!" I call out against Jace's lips before pulling away.
"What's wrong?" Jace asks.
"I wasn't expecting you to lift me up like that." I say.
"Well, expect it from now on. It can come anytime." Jace says with a smirk.
"You're unbelievable." I say with a shy smile.
Jace smiles before taking my lips into his again.
I wrap my hands around his neck, completely melting into the kiss like nothing else matters.
I now feel his hand running on my thigh.
I can't explain how much I've craved for Jace's touch on my skin. I feel so good right now.
His hand is slowly going under my T-shirt. I just realized that I'm not putting on any short under. If I don't stop Jace now, his hand may get to my panties.
But I can't stop him though, I can't stop this.
Oh.....no....
I'm really enjoying this. I wanna feel the kinda pleasure I felt in that dream....I'm already feeling the pleasure with how thoroughly Jace is kissing me.
How can I want this to end?????
"Mia, you there....oh...." I hear my mom's voice.
Shit!!!
Jace pulls away from me almost at the same time I was gonna do it. I quickly jumped down the counter, wiping my lips and adjusting my T-shirt while Jace moves to away from the counter scratching the back of his head.
I look up and see my mom standing by the entrance of the kitchen, looking at me and Jace.
I'm in trouble.....
I guess we both were lost in the kiss that we didn't hear my mom come in.
"Uh....mom...." I call out.
I feel so embarrassed that I can't properly look my mom in the eyes now.
"Mia...." My mom utters.
"Mom.....I....uh....."
"Are you done cutting the veggies?" My mom asks.
"Umm.....yeah....almost. Michelle and Amber went to the store to grab a few more things." I say.
"Alright. Jace...." My mom calls out.
"Yes, ma'am." Jace responds, turning to my mom.
"Is your errand with Mr. Richards done?" My mom asks.
"Yes, ma'am. Just few minutes ago." Jace says.
I can feel his embarrassment too. He's trying hard to hide it though.
"Where's he now?" My mom asks Jace.
"He was at the garage the last I saw him." Jace says.
"Okay. I should go find him." My mom says.
"Okay, ma'am."
"Sure, mom."
Jace and I say almost at the same time. We look at each other.
Shit, does it get any less awkward??
I manage to look at my mom.
She shoots me and Jace a kinda glance before leaving the kitchen.
Phew....
I let out a sigh of relief.
So did Jace.
Jace and I look at each other again.
"I'm gonna kill you." I say to Jace.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know when she came in. Neither did you." Jace says.
"I think we're gonna die of embarrassment at dinner tonight. Brace yourself." I say.
"Sure." Jace says.