Love Scars - 4: Exposed Read Free Page B

were coming to it again. Close to the thing I’d never told anyone, not even the therapist. I didn't even remember what it was anymore. Something terrible, kept safe behind a wall in my mind. A wall I never stepped around or looked behind.
    “Nora, I’m so sorry.”
    J.D. took hold of my hands. They’d clenched into hard fists again. He kissed one and then the other. Silently, he rubbed them one at a time until they were open and relaxed.
    “What about you?” I said. My heart was pounding. Couldn’t he hear? If this conversation didn’t get back to a safer place, I wouldn’t be able to account for myself. “I take it you weren’t a legacy, so you got into Stanford on your own. Were your parents supportive, aside from your mom crying?”
    “My mom is great,” J.D. said. “You’d like her. She’s an artist, and she’s amazing. Other than naming me Jaxom Draco, as a mom she’s done everything right.”
    “Come on. That’s a very cool name.”
    “Maybe now. Let’s just say my life as a kid improved immensely after I got everyone to call me J.D.”
    “What about your dad?” I said. “What’s he like?”
    “Who knows? The asshole walked away from us when I was five. I never saw him again until I was eighteen. I’d had some good luck then, and he showed up wanting to share in the spoils.”
    “What, did you win the lottery?”
    “Something like that.”
    “Money changes everything,” I said. “Didn’t someone write a song about that?”
    “One or two people.” J.D. smiled again. I could look at his smile all day, every day.
    “Who knows?” I said. “I might win the lottery soon.” I thought of Steve’s bonus money. “I could pay for the rest of Stanford for Stacey. She’d start med school debt-free.”
    There was the check for fifty grand still in my bag. I decided we’d better forget about new cars, in the all-too-likely event there’d be no fabulous bonus. Stacey could ride her new bike at school and take the train home for visits. I didn’t need a new car. I’d have my AC fixed.
    “God,” I said. “Life would be so much easier if there was enough money.”
    “No one needs too much,” J.D. said. “But everyone needs enough. Not just material things. Enough love too.”
    I hoped he wasn’t throwing me a pity party. “I have plenty of friends.” It came out more defensive than I’d intended.
    “Friendship is good.” He moved closer. “But it’s not the same.” He fingered my earring and touched my earlobe, sending shivers over my skin. He searched my eyes. “It’s too easy to push love away. Easy to forget we need it as much as we need air and sunlight.”
    “J.D.”
    “Nora.” Suddenly his lips found mine, and his arms surrounded me. I fit perfectly in his embrace. His mouth was hot and eager. He kissed my ear and my throat, and I ran my fingers through his hair. He squeezed my breast, and I moaned a little. The space between my legs swelled and throbbed.
    “Mm.” The rumbling sound of his voice made me crazy.
    I stood up and took his hand. “Come with me.” It was time. I was taking him to my room, and he wasn’t getting away until morning. We walked back, under the Japanese maple, down the path and across the lawn, holding hands.
    Brad was sitting alone on the deck, drinking a beer.
    “Hey, guys,” he said. “Stacey said to tell you she left with her friends for the movie.” He looked from me to J.D. Comprehension came over him, and he stood up and grinned. “So I’m going to take off then.” He tossed his empty bottle into the recycling bin.
    “Can you give me a ride home?” J.D. said.
    The world lurched sideways, and I felt sick to my stomach. What just happened? What was the point of that crap about pushing love away?
    “Um. Sure,” Brad said. He looked as bewildered as I felt.
    The next few minutes held an eternity of awkward silence. J.D. didn’t look at me until he was in Brad’s SUV, his arm draped over the open window. As they backed away,