Chapter 43 (8/16/16)

            After talking to Jamie and looking for plane tickets, I settled on a trip out there in about two weeks.  I just barely had time to sneak in my request for the time off, but it was approved and I excitedly prepared.  I’d never been to Seattle, so I was looking forward to playing tourist and seeing Jamie.  

I saw Jesse once during the two weeks before I left for Seattle.  I had fun but I realized that I felt very little for him.  I ended up telling him I didn’t want to see him anymore.  I felt a little sad about it, but I knew it was the right decision.  He wanted more, and I wasn’t there.  And I didn’t anticipate myself getting there anytime soon.  I couldn’t keep him around just because it was fun for me.

I was really looking forward to my trip out to Seattle to clear my head.  I knew that Jamie would never be anything but a no-strings friend with benefits because he lived so far away.  I hadn’t responded to Ryan’s email, and he hadn’t pursued further communication.  I wasn’t ignoring him to be spiteful, I just truly didn’t know how to respond or what I wanted.  Either way, I spent far too much time thinking about it before I left for Seattle.  Once I left, though, I tried to put it out of my mind. 

I was spending 5 days in Seattle.  I flew out on Monday morning and got there around lunchtime.  Jamie had taken a half day off of work to come get me at the airport.  He had to work a couple of the days I would be there, but I didn’t mind entertaining myself a bit.

“I’m here!” I exclaimed excitedly into my phone when he answered after my plane landed. 

“Did you check a bag?” Jamie asked. 

            “Nope, I carried on,” I told him.  “I don’t have to wait.”

“Okay,” Jamie said.  “I’ll pull up at arrivals.”

I went outside and waited impatiently until I saw him pull up.  He parked next to the curb and put his hazards on and then jumped out.  “Hey, baby!” he called, throwing his arms around me.  I laughed at his use of the pet name.  Back in college we had started calling each other that while teasing a friend who never used her boyfriend’s name and only called him “baby” or “babe.” 

“Babe!” I exclaimed, laughing.  When we separated, he grabbed my carry on bag and tossed it easily into his trunk.  We stopped and grabbed some food on the way to his apartment and then ate on his couch as we caught up a little bit. 

“I have to admit that you surprised me when you called,” he said, raising his eyebrows at me over the edge of his water glass.  “I didn’t think you’d actually take me up on my invitation.” 

“Well, here I am!” I replied, grinning.  I hoped he didn’t notice my uncomfortable shift.  Ryan certainly wasn’t the only reason I was here, but it was a major catalyst to getting me to pull the trigger on the trip. 

He chuckled.  “That you are.  So anything in particular you want to do while you’re here?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” I told him.  “I’m just really looking forward to the break and being off of work.  And hanging out with you, of course.” 

“Of course,” he replied, grinning at me.  “Well, I have an air mattress for you that I can—“

“I’m sorry, what?” I interrupted, in mock outrage.  “An air mattress?  That’s all I’m worth to you?”

“Well, if you would have let me finish, I was going to say I have an air mattress for you that I can inflate if you don’t want to just sleep with me.  But you had to get all indignant and assume I wasn’t going to invite you to sleep in my bed with me, so now maybe I’ll make you sleep on it.”

I cocked an eyebrow.  “Make me, huh?  What will you do if I sneak into your bed in the middle of the night?  Wake up and throw me out?  Lock the door?”

Jamie grinned mischievously.  “Probably just tie you up,” he replied casually.  “Tie you up and drop you on the air mattress and put in my ear plugs so I can’t hear you swearing at me while I lay in my comfortable bed.”

“You would tie me up,” I said, rolling my eyes.  “I’d like to see you try.”

“Don’t tempt me,” he warned me, his eyes sparkling.  “You know I can’t turn down a challenge.”  I merely sat there and stared at him, one eyebrow slightly lifted. 

I yelped as he pounced on me, and we wrestled on the couch until he had both my arms pinned behind my back and my legs pinned between his.  “So, what were you saying?” he taunted me.

“If you’re going to be on top of me, at least make it worth my while,” I replied, looking up at him innocently.  He laughed and leaned down, kissing me lightly on the lips.  He shifted, letting go of my hands and rest on his forearms to kiss me again.  I wound my arms around his back and slipped my hands up under his shirt.

“Tell the truth,” Jamie teased, moving his lips to my neck.  It tickled when he talked, brushing them against my skin.  “You came out here just for this.”

I laughed.  “Did not,” I disagreed.  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Well you could at least let me pretend,” he said, shaking his head.  He sat up, and for a second I thought we were done, but he stood and then bent down and slipped one arm under my knees and wrapped the other around my back.  “Let me show you where you’ll be sleeping,” he said, carrying me into his bedroom.  He tossed me onto the bed and climbed up next to me.  “Will this do, princess?”

“Oh, don’t you even,” I said, laughing.  “Get over here and kiss me.”

He listened, scooting as close to me as he could get and kissing me.  We fumbled a bit, getting used to each other’s bodies again.  We laughed when we knocked our foreheads together, and then again when I accidentally kneed Jamie hard in the thigh.  Eventually we got it together, and I cuddled up to him when we were done, satisfied. 

“That was fun,” Jamie said, wrapping his arms around me and resting his cheek against my head. 

“Uh huh,” I agreed drowsily.  I’d had to get up pretty early to get to the airport on time, and I was quickly moving towards a post-orgasm nap. 

“Oh!” Jamie exclaimed suddenly, making me jump.  “Sorry,” he apologized quickly.  “I just realized I forgot to tell you my news.”

“What news?” I asked.  I shifted, trying to get comfortable again after being startled out of my comfortable position. 

When I finished wiggling, Jamie said, “I was contacted by a company in Duluth.  My dad apparently met the CEO while he was doing some business with them.  They want to interview me for a position they have opening up in a couple months.  I love Seattle, but this is pretty much my dream job, Jenna.”