Virgin Marriage by Alexa Riley

Chapter 2

Jason

“Over my dead body!” I shout as I roll onto the floor with my little brother.

“If you give Marco a black eye that won’t heal before the wedding, I’ll kill you all.” I hear my sister say from behind me somewhere as I feel arms tugging at me. “You better quit! Here comes Ma.”

The sound of my mother's footsteps makes me come to my senses long enough to release the grip I have on Jon and let go. Marco gets in between us and pushes us apart.

“What’s going on?” Mom asks as she looks around the room. Finally her eyes narrow on me as she steps forward. “Jason, can you help me in the kitchen for a second?” I watch as she passes a first-aid kit to Jon and he moves to Skyler.

“If you put on finger on her, I’ll remove it,” I warn him, and he stops in his tracks. Then I look at Skyler and see her knees are bleeding. “Shit.”

“Jason.” My mom’s voice is stern and I have no choice.

I walk over to Skyler and pick her up and then grab the first-aid kit out of Jon’s hand as I go into the kitchen.

“Put me down,” Skyler protests, wiggling in my arms and I nearly pass out from the pleasure of her against me.

“No,” I manage to say through gritted teeth as I sit her down on the stool and open the little box.

“Jason, I wanted to speak to you privately.” My mother tsks as she comes up beside me and helps me open the alcohol swabs. “Let me do this, your hands are too big.”

I step to the side and watch as Skyler looks away and her face pales. She’s terrified of blood but never told me why. I didn’t get the chance to ask either and it’s another thing on my list of things I want to know about her.

“Does one of you want to tell me what that was all about?” Mom looks to Skyler and then to me.

“Breathe through your mouth, Sky.” I take her hand and she doesn’t pull away from me. The warm feel of her delicate fingers in mine is like a shot of heroin into my system.

This is the reason I left her before. This feeling right now is why I had to let her go. Because one fucking touch with her and I become something different inside.

Her eyes lock with mine as if she feels my blood boiling. Where there should be fear and disgust I see longing and it turns my stomach. I couldn’t tell her what I felt because I knew she’d run away screaming, but maybe I should have because having her so close is testing me once again.

I was working late when there was a soft knock on my door and she walked in. She was part of the late night cleaning crew that worked for the building I leased my office space from. I’d stayed late plenty of times and never saw her before. It was her first day and she spilled bleach all over her uniform. I ended up giving her my old T-shirt, telling her boss that I ruined her uniform so she wouldn’t get into trouble.

That’s where it all began.

A while back I took a chance in a new business venture and it ended in bankruptcy. It was an experience that changed me and made me see all of my shortcomings at once. I lost it all, but in a way I found myself. I realized what I had to do to stay on top and I would climb my way back eventually. It took time, but I swore that if I ever got back where I was I’d never be foolish enough to lose it again. When I met Skyler it was like everything around me dissolved, leaving only her in my sight.

I didn’t care that I’d lost it all or that I was about to turn my life around. All I wanted to do was be with her and breathe the air next to her for as long as I had left on this earth. Skyler consumed me and there’s no other way to put it. She was and still is my entire world.

“Ouch,” she hisses and closes her eyes tight.

“I’m sorry, honey.” Mom blows on the cuts and leans back. “I’m just trying to clean it up. It’s nothing terrible, just a lot of little scratches. I think the worst of the bleeding is over and I can just put some Band-Aids over it.”

“Thank you so much,” Skyler says as she flinches.

“Which one of you is going to tell me how you know one another?” Mom looks between us and I see a little pink tinge in Skyler’s cheeks.

“We met a little while ago.” Skyler shrugs and I clench my teeth at how nonchalant she is.

“She belongs to me.”

Both my mother and Skyler stare at me and now it’s my turn to shrug.

“You’ve got a funny way of showing it.” Skyler narrows her eyes before she turns away and tries to tug her hand out of my grip.

“You don’t understand,” I sigh and shake my head.

How can I explain to her that staying with her will only make her miserable? I can’t be with her, but I can’t let her go and I know that makes me an asshole. I just don’t care.

“Oh, I’m sorry, were you going to explain to me why you just disappeared overnight and then I see you with he—” She clamps her mouth shut, but it’s too late. I saw her eyes dart over my shoulder to Gia where I know she’s sneaking around behind us, trying to hear what we’re saying.

“My sister had some drama with her fiancé, but they’re okay now.”

Her eyebrows pull together as she looks up at me again. “Is that why you left?”

“No.” I can’t lie to her, but I don’t know if she’s ready for the truth.

She rolls her eyes and looks away. “I need to leave.”

“Why don’t you stay for dinner first?” my mom offers, ignoring my sounds of protest. “Then I’ll make sure you get home safe and sound personally.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I say as I grab Skyler by the upper arm and help her stand up from the stool. She’s all bandaged up and I need to get her out of here. “Let’s go.”

“Jason?” my mother calls from behind me as I walk Skyler out of the kitchen and out the back door so no one else can stop us.

“What are you doing?” Skyler hisses at me when I get her outside and next to my truck.

“Taking you home,” I scold, opening up the door and picking her up. “It’s where you should have been to begin with, not running into my brother.”

“I was just trying to get some pie. Like I had any idea who he was.” She’s good and pissed now, which for some reason makes me want her even more.

“I’ll be the only one getting you pie.” I slam the door closed and walk around to my side. I realize that I sound crazy but I can’t stop myself. I’m a loose cannon when it comes to her. When I get in the cab I crank the truck up and drive towards her apartment. “We’ll stop and get you one on the way.” I grip the steering wheel tighter and force myself not to look at her. If I do, I won’t be able to let her go.

“Jason, this is insane. Just let me out of the car and I’ll get my own ride home. I don’t need you to take care of me.”

“Well, that’s where you’re wrong.”

“Ugh.” She throws her hands up and I can hear the frustration in her voice. “You make no sense. You say stuff like I’m yours, but you ghosted me.”

“With my sister?” I glance over to her and she rolls her eyes again.

“I may have seen you with her and assumed she was another woman, but that doesn’t explain why the hell you disappeared. One second you had your hands on—” She blushes as she looks out the window and clears her throat. “You just seemed interested and then you weren’t. It felt like something changed and I don’t get it.”

“Goddamn it, Sky.” I bang my fist on the steering wheel as I park in front of the pie shop I know she loves. “Sit here and wait. Do you think you can do that?”

She doesn’t look at me as she nods and I get out. I try to be quick because I’m terrified she’s going to run. I got lost in work for one hour before I headed to my parents for family dinner. I wasn’t checking the tracking on her as closely as I should have been throughout today. She slipped through my fingers for a second and then she shows up out of nowhere with Jon. I’m going to murder him when I get back to the house, but I can handle that. What I can’t handle is Sky walking around the world without me by her side to protect her from shit like getting knocked down and scraping her knees.

“I need three key lime, one lemon, a strawberry, and two cherry,” I say as I slide the cash across the counter.

I glance back over my shoulder and when I see she’s still in the cab some of the pressure in my chest releases.

I’ll never be whole, not as long as I’m not by her side every moment of every day, but she doesn’t deserve to have me on her like this. At least with her knowing about it.

It’s not right, a man wanting to be on a woman like I do with her. I have the urge to lie on top of her and shield her from everyone else in the world. I want to carry her in my arms all the time so she’s safe and protected. I want to know every single thought inside her head and share every moment of her day with her. This kind of obsession is so over the top that I know I’ve probably lost my damn mind. But Sky is what my whole life revolves around and if I have to do that from a distance to keep from putting out her light, then I will.

I thought by stepping back that she would be better off, but the hurt in her eyes when she first saw me cut a piece of my heart. I don’t want her to hate me, but what choice is there? I thought I could love her from afar. That it would be enough but today proves that would never work. When I saw my brother touch her, I lost it. It would only have been a matter of time before she went on a date and I could have come unhinged then. This was inevitable.

I grab the stack of boxes and walk out to the truck. I place them between us and I hate the separation. I should have just tossed them in the back and hoped for the best, but I want her to have everything her heart desires.

“Which one is mine?” she asks softly and I hear her stomach growl.

“All of them.” I answer, surprised she didn’t realize that to begin with. “Whatever you want, it’s yours.”

“Jason, I can’t eat all these.” But I notice she pulls the stack closer to her.

“You need to. You’re losing weight.”

“How would you know?” She sounds offended again and it’s my turn to roll my eyes.

“Don’t ask stupid questions.”

“You’re so frustrating. You say the nicest things and then follow it up like that. Why are you so cryptic? Are you in the mob or something?”

For the first time in what feels like years I let out a loud belly laugh.