Page 128 of Under the Waves
Jasper Ridge wasn’t just my unbecoming; he was also myambition.
A moan slipped from my lips as he massaged the shampoo into my scalp, softly eliciting waves of warmth to spread around my body like butterflies.
When his movements seized, my eyes flew open in panic.
Ohmygod, what had I done?
As I attempted to turn around, a firm grasp landed on myarm, locking me in place. My body molded into his as his rushed breaths danced across my skin.
“The man you turn me into, Wellsy,” Jasper rasped, voice deep and uncaged, the sound vibrating straight to my core. “You have no idea how long I’ve dreamt of doing this.”
“Washing my hair?” I asked, brows pinched.
“Justbeingwith you.”
The words he spoke earlier flooded back to me. He spentyearslearning how to do this—how to take care of my hair. When others turned away, reciting those old and familiar excuses of how unmanageable and untameable it was, there Jasper Ridge was, learning how to do it all on his own without me even having to ask it of him.
My heart seized. “I—what is this between us, Jasper? Because—”
“It doesn’t feel fake anymore,” he finished for me, somehow knowing exactly what I was going to say. “At least, not for me. It hasn’t been for a while.”
I stopped breathing, my entire body seizing up as all words abandoned me. I could barely think, yet alone form a conscious string of words that would make sense right now. “Please let me turn around,” I pleaded. “I—I want to see you.”
His fingers dropped to my sides, brushing against mine. Electricity sparked at his touch, sending tingles throughout my entire body, setting my skin aflame. Our hands joined in unity, fingers entwined as his thumb drew small stars against my skin.
“Let us have tonight, Wellsy,” he whispered, pressing a small kiss to the side of my cheek, his head lingering there as he continued, “one night of no pretending and then—”
“Everything can go back to the way it was,” I finished for him.
Back to the safety of being rivals and nothing more.
He nodded, those brown curls sticking to his forehead and the side of my neck as he lent down and rested his head between the crook of my neck and shoulder blade.
Just one night of giving in to whatever this was between us. One night to finally breathe among the chaos. Even if everything did go back to the way it was tomorrow, at least we’d have tonight—something no one could ever take away from us. A memory we would always share. A piece of my heart he wouldalways own.
“Okay,” I breathed, eyes fluttering closed. I trusted him, despite everything I had grown up chanting to myself. I trusted Jasper Ridge to keep me safe.
“Okay,” he whispered back to me before pulling us both under the hot spray of water from above. I heard his laugh as it vibrated through my entire body. My own lips tugged upwards into a smile as I twisted my body around to face him. Jasper didn’t stop me this time, and not until my eyes met his did the force of us hit me like a wall of bricks.
He wasmyJasper,mySpiderman.
Just as much as I was his Wellsy, his Gwen Stacy.
We were each other’s half, and together, we made each other whole.
When I reached for the conditioner, Jasper bundled my hands in his and lightly kissed the tips of my knuckles one by one. “Let me take care ofyoutonight, Poppy.”
“I should be the one taking care ofyou,” I retorted. “You’re hurting.”
“I’malwayshurting. Tonight’s only different because I let it get to me. You have to know I never do this—”
“I know,” I breathed, squeezing his hand. “I believe you.”
“You do?” He asked, brows pinched.
“Of course I do. I knowyoutoo, Ridge. What kind of rival would I be if I didn’t know all of you?”
He stood still. Stunned.