You changed my outlook on love, I was a fool thinking all guys would play me. But you came out of the far above and you opened my eyes and helped me see.
You’re nothing like the guys before, more gentle, loving, and caring. I never knew what was in store, until you walked into my life.
Jace and I had been official ever since the atrocious night of my birthday. We took a leap and never looked back. Spending close to every waking moment together we wrapped ourselves up in the new romance. After dating for a month, Jace made reservations at a really fancy Thai restaurant. I was surprised; people celebrated being together after only a month? The idea seemed silly to me, but it excited Jace, so I humored him.
After sharing egg rolls and yellow curry, Jace drove us out to the same beach where we had shared our first kiss. We entered the cave, the moon was dancing off the rocks and it almost felt too real. Jace kissed me quickly before ripping off his shirt.
“What are you doing?” I asked, finding myself hot instantly by his shirtless torso.
“What do you think I’m doing?” He asked with a coy smile.
“I’m not sure,” I stammered, nervous energy spilling off me. Jace reached for the zipper on the back of my dress. “Jace…” I began, shaking.
“Shhh,” I heard from behind my right ear, sending goose bumps all over my body.
“Jace,” I repeated. “I’m not sure if I am ready….”
He finished unzipping me and the dress instantly fell from my body onto the rocks below us. I was left standing in my bra and panties. I quickly threw my arms in front of my body, attempting to shield him from seeing the part of me I hated. “Do you trust me?” Jace asked softly.
I nodded. “More than anyone.”
“Good.” He grabbed my arms and moved them off of my stomach, then he fell to my feet.
“What are you doing?” I asked, curiously eyeing the back of his head beneath me.
I felt his lips press against the top of my foot, making me giggle. They moved up to my ankle, where he kissed it sweetly.
“Jace?” I tried to get his attention, but he was clearly ignoring me.
His lips had now made their way to the back of my legs, sending chills all over my body. He moved his hands softly across my body following his pattern of kisses. He kissed my knees next, both of them. His hands were still moving up, they were now dangerously close to my hips. He kissed my upper leg and seeing how close he was getting, I instantly threw my arms back over my stomach.
“If that is what you are worried about…we can fix that, together. I love you just the way you are…but if it is really bothersome to you, I will help you tighten it. We can go to the gym every day if you want to.” He looked up at me from his crouched position. “I love every inch of you Peyton Lane, and I am going to prove it to you.” He effortlessly pushed my arms away and began smothering my stomach and extra skin with kisses all over. “I loved you before you lost the weight—I love you now.”
“What do you love about me though?” I pushed, still staring down at him.
He stood then, running his fingers through my choppy layers. “I love how talented and passionate you are. I love your blunt honesty. I love your heart.” He pressed his hand over my heart gently. “I love your determination…” He paused slightly before continuing. “I fell in love with the girl in here.” He pointed to my heart. “I didn’t fall in love with a body or an image—I fell in love with the whole person, you.”
I kissed him eagerly then, parting our lips with my tongue. He nibbled and sucked on my bottom lip ever so gently, which drove me all sorts of crazy. “I’m sorry about this.” Jace broke from the kiss, lightly running his finger over my scar. His expression was etched with guilt.
“That’s not your fault.” I reached up to squeeze his hand and press it against my cheek.
“I know, but if I hadn’t been such an ass I would have saved you from ever going through it.” He was looking down into my eyes then, searching for forgiveness.
“You couldn’t have known Jace…don’t beat yourself up about it,” I said lightly.
“Even though I was stupid, I knew I wanted you from day one. I knew I wanted to get to know you, be around you…”
I smiled lightly back at him. I hated playing the ‘what if’ game. What if he had pursued me from the very beginning? Would Jax still be dead? Would I have had anything to do with Jax more than talking? Would Colton and I have still had our affair? It was all too overwhelming to dissect.
“Can’t we just be thankful that you finally realized the error of your ways?” I smiled again, attempting to get him out of his funk.
“And boy did I…” He kissed me passionately. “Peyton, you’re irresistible to me…” He pushed me up against the same wall of the cave we had met with in an earlier passionate encounter. The rocks jutted out into my back, but I didn’t care. All I wanted to do was stay wrapped up in Jace for as long as possible.
His lips made their way to my ear, which he sucked, nibbled, and then even tugged on a little with his teeth. I had never been more turned on in my life. He swiftly moved his mouth gingerly over my neck, trailing it with kisses, then his tongue, and even leaving a few hickeys.
“Eww, don’t do that,” I barely got out as he left yet another hickey on my neck.
“Are you sure about that? You seemed to rather enjoy it…” Jace’s blue eyes were sparkling as he grinned back at me.
Damn him.
I spun him around so that he was thrown against the rocks for once. His eyebrows rose animatedly as I took charge…something I had never dared to do before.
I kissed him roughly, passionately, and took his bottom lip in mine, sucking and then slightly biting on it, causing him to moan out in pleasure. I was smiling inwardly.
“God you’re sexy,” he said breathlessly, as I had made my way to his ear. I was sucking lightly on the bottom of his ear, rolling my teeth over it, back and forth, back and forth. “You better be careful…if you continue that much longer, I may not be able to stop.”
I looked in Jace’s eyes and there was passion, yearning, and love I could see.
I kissed him slower this time, savoring the taste, the feel, the closeness. The heat between us had not died down in the least. His hands were running all over my body. He was pulling me into him, grabbing at my hips. And he wasn’t pulling away disgusted…
I love him. Every time that thought came to mind, I would wear a huge smile plastered across my face for hours. He had that effect on me. He was mine.
I couldn’t stand being apart from him any longer. I jumped on him; aggressively kissing him, sending us crashing into the cave wall. “Ouch.” Jace chuckled as he took the brunt of the impact. “Tell me what you love about me,” he whispered into my ear.
He was still holding me up in the air, it was so sexy. “Everything,” I answered, and for once, I meant it. I loved every part about Jace…the good, the bad, and the ugly. He was my savior.
“What a cop out,” he joked, poking me in the side.
He gently laid me down on the floor of the cave, climbing on top of me, and kissing me lightly. He was just about to stand up when I grabbed his arm to stop him. “Where do you think you’re going?” I pulled him roughly back down and pounced on him.
We stayed like that, rolling around on the ground of the cave, sharp and jagged rocks pressing into our backs for hours---but I didn’t care. I had loved Jace since the first time he spoke to me, and I had never felt worthy enough—until now.
I ran my fingers through his fuzzy hair that was growing in. “Tell me the story about when you first realized you were in love with me…”
“You already know this story.” Jace eyed me down.
“I know,” I pouted. “I just want to hear it again.”
He smiled back at me. “It all began with a case of mistaken identity…”
* * *
Jace and I spent the rest of the summer basking in true love. He taught me that I didn’t have to be perf
ect all the time and it was actually endearing to be imperfect. He helped me grow into the person I wanted to become; the person I always knew I could be. We spent nearly five weeks diligently working out at the gym to help tighten my loose skin, and just like Jace had predicted, it was working. I was feeling so much more confident, and I owed it all to my loving boyfriend. Just being able to refer to him as my boyfriend made me giddier than seeing a Backstreet Boys reunion tour.
In the beginning I always felt like I was beneath Jace, like I was never good enough. My own sister was embarrassed of me; I assumed he would be too. But Jace treated me like a human being from day one…it was the trait that had made me fall for him instantly. He never looked at me like I was disgusting or fat…he looked at me with wonder in his eyes…he looked at me with curiosity.
Jace had been my knight in shining armor countless times over the past year. I had dreamt of my first boyfriend; my first kiss; holding hands endless nights. I would toss and turn wondering when it was going to be my turn. Guys never even gave me a second glance. And then one day one boy turned and stared…gave me the second glance I had been wishing on for years…gave me an in. Even though he had aggravated me, insulted me, and hurt me, my first love had been everything I had wished for and more.
I had loved Colton around the same time…but it was a different kind of love. He was a stepping stone to my relationship I was meant to build with Jace. Colton helped me to begin to accept myself—Jace showed me how to love myself. He walked into my life and nothing was ever the same. While there would always be love in my heart for Colton, I was and had always been head over heels in love with Jace Austin…I fell in love with his image but stayed in love with his personality and heart.
My band had been put on a stand still while I pursued film acting alongside Jace. We had been to a handful of auditions and callbacks and life had never felt sweeter. Brooklyn moved in with her aunt in Atlanta, after the summer was over. They had a job ready for her at their self-owned photography studio. She was beyond excited. Plans were already in motion for a visit from Madison and me.
Madison had stayed local while working towards attending Berkley School of Music in the winter.
Noah met a girl, more of a plain Jane than he was used to, but she has been great for him. I had never seen him happier than when he was with Alyssa, and that’s all I could ever hope for Noah. I just wanted him to be happy.
Kayleigh broke up with Bentley…again. It was a mutual decision due to the fact he was moving to Oregon on a football scholarship to play for the University of Oregon Ducks, and Kayleigh was headed all the way to California on an academic scholarship.
My life had changed so much from the previous year and my first day on campus. I was still having trouble grasping that this was my life and not some kind of fairytale. I looked different; I felt different; hell, I was different. I was so far from the broken person Jace had vowed to fix. I had gained strength, I had found my happiness.
“You nervous?” Jace asked when he picked me up in his new red Mustang his grandmother had bought him as an early eighteenth birthday gift. It was extremely generous given the fact that his birthday wasn’t even until December.
“Why would I be nervous?” I shot back, before climbing in the passenger seat and giving him a quick kiss on the lips.
“It’s the first day of our senior year,” Jace responded like he was telling me something I didn’t already know.
“Uh huh.” I nodded, almost mocking him.
“Hey!” He exclaimed playfully as we rounded a sharp corner.
“Why would I have anything to be nervous about when I get to walk in on the arm on the most handsome guy in school?” I gushed.
Jace glanced back at me lovingly. “Good answer.”
After parking the car and grabbing our backpacks, Jace extended his arm out to me. “After you my lady.”
I smiled back doing a fake curtsy. “Don’t mind if I do.” This is why I knew without a fraction of a doubt he was the one; I could be myself around him knowing that he accepted every inch of me—and he loved it.
Epilogue
I’m ashamed of myself. I’m ashamed I put so much emphasis on what my peers were going to think. Peyton’s size had never bothered me—whether she was thin as a rail or wide as a house. I had fallen for her soul; the person inside.
I wasted so much time worried what others would think of me, I almost lost her…multiple times.
I couldn’t even imagine a life without her enticing stare or beautiful smile; her well scripted words or her gentle loving heart.
I knew from the moment we met that no one could ever compare to the effect she left on me, and I didn’t want them to.
Peyton was finally mine after close to a year of secretly lusting her. I couldn’t help but feel as though I’d won the biggest prize in life…her heart.
Chapter Two
The Fighter
The Fighter
A Foundation Novel
By: Kira Adams
The Foundation Series
Pieces of Me
The Fighter
The Road Back to Us
Copyright © 2014 Krista Pakseresht. All rights reserved.
http://kristakakes.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/KiraAdamsAuthor
http://www.wattpad.com/user/xKiraAdamsx
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7179367.Kira_Adams
Cover design by Cover Me Designs
Editing by Joanne LaRe Thompson
Table of Contents
Prologue
One – Compromises and Confrontations
Two – A Flow Like None Other
Three – A Hero’s Tale
Four – Confusion & Confessions
Five – Forbidden Feelings Surface
Six – A Depressing Realization
Seven – Breaking News & Breaking Hearts
Eight – Danger Jace Austin, Danger.
Nine – A Harsh Reality
Ten – In the Mourning
Eleven – A Human Tornado
Twelve – A Small Step in the Right Direction
Thirteen – Desperation
Fourteen – Face the Music
Fifteen – Jailed and Conflicted
Sixteen – Freedom at Last
Seventeen – Falling Back into Place
Eighteen – I Know What I Want
Nineteen – Right Where We Left Off
Twenty – Embracing the Darkness
Twenty One – A Human Tug-of-War
Twenty Two – The Most Unexpected Surprise
Twenty Three – As Close As Physically Possible
Twenty Four – Lights, Camera, Action!
Twenty Five – Am I Being Punk’d?
Twenty Six – Damn Near Perfect
Epilogue
Prologue
He took me on a roller coaster of emotions from the moment I laid eyes on him. Others paled in comparison. He was damn near perfect.
There was not a day that passed that he didn’t run across my mind. He was intoxicating in all the right ways. Some days I had to pinch myself. It was hard to believe Jace was mine for the taking.
One: Compromises and Confrontations
My reflexes had never been sharper. My heart was racing a mile a minute. I gulped loudly then glanced back at the wall which had just been assaulted by our former toaster. In fact, the wall may have lost, judging by the gaping hole staring back at me.
He was drunk again. Not surprising. What was surprising is that he hadn’t drunk himself to oblivion yet, and was still conscious. Normally I could slip out unnoticed in the mornings. The nights were more challenging. After Jax passed away my father went full on looney toons…ape shit. He lost his job and everything else. Now, he could be found spending his days drowning his sorrows in a bottle of Jack and blaming me for his troubles. It didn’t help that I was the identical resemblance to the son he lost. I got punished almost daily for it.
“You worthl
ess piece of shit,” he snarled at me, slurring his words. That was his favorite insult, other than the obvious, ‘Why wasn’t it you?’ bit.
“It’s not even 7:00 a.m. Frank, you should be waking up right now—job hunting, but what are you doing? Wasting away as usual. This needs to stop, be the parent for once.” I knew the truth would get my ass kicked from my house to Japan, but I was sick and tired of his reckless abandon.
“You better watch it boy!” Frank threatened, his finger pointed in the air at me.
“Go fuck yourself,” I said, nearly under my breath and then turned to walk away from my sorry excuse of a father.
I heard his barreling footsteps before I had a chance to react. He tackled me, taking me to the ground roughly. My face was being smashed into the hardwood floor violently.