Page 13 of From Me to You

My heart pounded as I reached the landing and opened my door to him shyly.

In all this chaos, it completely slipped my mind that Jay would be in my bedroom. Oh God, did I leave my bra out? I quickly glanced around my room, but no bra was in sight. I exhaled in relief. I was safe for now.

“Pink bunnies, uh?” Jay grinned, gesturing to my bed. His presence dominated my small bedroom. It felt very, very hot in here, and it was definitely not because of the weather.

“It’s my favorite sheet,” I answered. I have had my pink bunny sheet since I was ten. The brushed cotton had been washed so many times that it was the softest thing I had ever felt.

“If you say so, sweetheart, Let’s get started then.” He pointed toward the boxes.

Jay took off his jacket, placing it on my bed. The lean muscles strained against his tight black T-shirt making him look so hot.

He caught me gawking and winked.

I quickly averted my gaze. Cotton candies.Yes, let me think about cotton candies. They are fluffy, pink and sweet. Not hot, warm, and delicious like the sight in front of me.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through tonight.

We lost track of time as we unpacked the first few boxes, which were all my clothes. Jay helped me arrange and put them all away neatly in my closet, and thanks to his height, he placed all my boxes on the upper shelf, a place I definitely could not reach. He was actually very helpful.

I stood in my closet, color-coordinating the clothes, to satisfy my brain.

“This is one box I would love to open.” I turned to look at Jay holding open my lingerie box.

My pink lace panties dangled on his index finger as he full-on grinned, proud of himself.

My cheeks tinted pink, and I was utterly mortified.

“You weren’t supposed to open that box. Give me that!” I cried out as I reached for him, but he lifted his arm above his head, putting it out of my reach.

“Come on, Jay! It is not funny! Give it back to me.” I jumped around like an idiot trying to grab my panties. He just laughed, gesturing at how tiny I was.

“Jay!” I suddenly tripped on something and fell forward. Strong hands gripped my hips and pulled me close—my hands ended up on his shoulders as I peered at him. His blue eyes were an inch away from mine. I sighed, getting lost in them.

“You keep calling me that. Jay,” he murmured, a little too close to my lips.

“Uh.”

“Jay, you keep calling me Jay.”

I realized I had been calling him Jay. Out loud. “Ah, sorry. Emerson,” I said, still lost in his blue-blue eyes.

“Why?”

“Hmm?”

“Why do you keep calling me Jay?”

“Your eyes are blue, like the feather of a Blue Jay. It’s so beautiful,” I mumbled without thinking.

He laughed, his eyes sparkling in the yellow bedroom light. “Or you are actually my die-hard fan who knows my middle name is Jayden and that I go by J.J. on stage.”

“What?” I looked at him, shocked. “Your name is actually Jayden, like, actually.” What a weird coincidence for me to call him Jay. Mostly, I was just daydreaming about stupid things, but this was on a whole other level.

I resumed my musing when I suddenly realized that I was still in his arms. I shook out of his grasp and tried to keep a healthy distance between us. Which was hard considering my room was minuscule. And he was just too tall.

“Yeah, everybody knows that. It’s even online. Only my family and close friends call me Emerson or Em. Everyone else calls me J.J.”

“Wait, what? Online, like Google? You are Googleable? Is that even a word?” I asked him, confused. “I am sure it’s not. But I did not Google you. I didn’t even know you existed until yesterday. I know you guys play in a band, but I didn’t know you were famous like that. And I call you Jay, not J.J. like everyone else.” I scoffed.