Chapter 4
Jess's confidence died a little when Rory opened the door to her house. He really didn't know what to do or say. He hadn't really thought all of that through. He just wanted to win the auction, and he figured the rest would come naturally. Usually things did with him and Rory.
They had a natural chemistry and flow of conversation that he never had with anyone else. And this was on top of the fact that there was a sexual tension between them that you could cut with a knife. However, standing in the kitchen of Rory's house, knowing no one was home and no one would be home for a while, he felt like a kid on his first date.
He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and turned to Rory, who was standing awkwardly in the kitchen. "So, what do you want on your pizza?" he asked, picking up the phone.
"Oh, pepperoni, sausage, ham, extra cheese, and black olives." Rory said, her eye bright at the thought of pizza. He almost laughed. Only she and her mother could look like super models and still pack away enough food to feed an army.
"Ok," Jess said. He would eat anything if it meant he could hang out with her. So, he quickly ordered the pizza and then sat next to Rory in the kitchen. "30 minutes," he relayed what the woman on the phone told him.
She just nodded. "So, do you want to see that book?" Rory asked. The silence in the room was deafening, and she couldn't take it anymore.
"Sure," Jess said, pulling himself out of his chair. He followed Rory into her room, very aware of the fact that he hadn't been in her room since the night they met.
"It's over here," Rory said, opening her make-shift book shelf. She pulled the book out delicately and handed it to Jess. "My grandfather found it a few weeks ago. He gave it to me when I told him that I was getting into Hemingway." She explained.
Jess looked up at her when she said that. "You reread him?" he asked, truly surprised. Though he had to admit he had read through The Fountainhead twice since he met Rory.
Rory blushed and grinned as she looked down at her feet. Jess could have kissed her at that moment. "Yeah, well I reread The Sun Also Rises. I think the deal with Hemingway is that he's always better the second time around. It wasn't half bad," she said with a smile as she sat down on her bed. Jess hesitated and hen joined her, flipping through the pages of Farewell to Arms that had to have been 70 years old at least.
Rory watched him in awe as he leafed through the pages of the book. She loved that he was as amazed by these things as she was. Dean would have thought she was crazy for getting excited about an old book. Thinking of Dean made her thing of her theory about him in regard to The Sun Also Rises. Before she could stop herself, the words flew out of her mouth. "I think Dean is like Robert Cohn." She said, a little surprised that she said it.
Jess looked up at her, a glint of surprise in his eyes, but there was still that smirk on his face. "Don't you think that's a little mean to say about the guy you are supposed to be dating?" he questioned, but he was damned glad that Rory had just compared her boyfriend to a pathetic stalker from a Hemingway novel.
Rory grinned, despite herself. There was no use lying about it. Jess was no idiot. They had something, and as much as she knew it was bad, she didn't feel like pretending it away. At least not right at this moment. "And you are Jake Barnes." She laughed.
"Ouch!" Jess said, "So now you bruise my male ego by running away from me after a kiss, then you want to call me impotent?" he asked in mock outrage.
Rory laughed lightly. "Well, look at the bright side. That makes me Brett, so I'm a slut."
There was a silence between them as her word hung in the air. This time, the silence wasn't awkward. They looked at each other, and there was an understanding between them. No matter what they told themselves or each other, they both knew that they couldn't hide from each other on anything. Jess could see right through Rory's insecurities and Rory could see past the wall Jess put up for everyone.
"You know, Rory," Jess started, his voice softer than he had intended. "We really can't keep pretending."
"Pretending what?" she asked, but she knew exactly what he was talking about. As he inched closer to her, she knew she should run. She could. She knew he wouldn't stop her. Jess may have liked her, but he did still have his pride. But something in her kept her planted in her spot as Jess moved closer.
"That this isn't happening," he breathed before his lips descended on hers. She moaned at the sensation of his lips on her's again. As wrong as it was, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. His arms wrapped tightly around her back, pulling her flush against him.
"Rory," he breathed as he kissed a path down her neck. She threw her head back, allowing him more access to the tender flesh of her throat.
DING DONG! The bell rang and Rory jumped out of Jess's arms. Fuck! He would kill the Pizza guy. Rory would run for sure. He watched her walk out of the room and answer the door. Her food needs must have been more important than anything else, he relized. She was going to put off running until her stomach was full, but after that kiss, she would be gone for sure. Back to the arms of that farm-boy idiot.
He sighed and pulled his body off the bed, making his way into the kitchen to join Rory. Before he could get fully into the kitchen, thought, Rory set down the pizza and made her way over to him. She pushed him up against to doorframe, attacking his lips with her own.
He was startled for just a minute, but quickly returned the kiss, pulling her back into her room and kicking the door shut behind him. She had a second to think, and she wasn't running. It was a victory in his book.
Rory didn't know what she was doing, but she was going with it. She turned her mind off the minute she shut the door to the pizza guy. She wanted Jess. She wanted to feel him against her, and she had been waiting almost 3 months for this moment.
Jess's knees his the bed and they both tumbled on top of it, hands roaming and lips everywhere. "Jess…" she breathed as he climbed on top of her. Her hands moved underneath his shirt, caressing the skin of his back.
"What are you doing?" Jess asked, not really sure why he was questioning this.
"What I've wanted to since the night we met," Rory almost moaned as he kissed her neck again. God, he already knew her hot spots. Dean still didn't have them down.
Jess seemed content with her answer because he began unbuttoning her shirt, pushing the material down her shoulders. Normally, Rory would have freaked out and bolted at this point, but as Jess caressed her breasts through the material of her bra, all she could think was how much she wanted more.
"Rory," Jess moaned as she bucked her hips into him a few times, trying to scratch the itch he created in her. "Stop…" he almost begged, pulling away from her.
"What's wrong?" she asked, feeling the need to cover her body again. Maybe she misread the signals again.
"We can't do this." He said, pained. He was torn between throwing her down and fucking her senseless and running away.
"I thought this is what you wanted," Rory said, sitting up and looking down at her hands.
"I do!" he said, quickly, "but not like this. Not while you are with someone else." He explained.
Oh yeah, Dean. She had completely let him slip her mind. Her silence enraged Jess. "You were never going to break up with him, were you?" Jess questioned, getting up and pacing the room.
"Jess…" she started, but he cut her off.
"No Rory! I know everyone in this town loves you, and you've had everything handed to you on a silver platter, but you can't just do this to people!" he yelled.
"What did I do!? You are the one who bid on my basket! You're the one who keeps talking to ME! I told you we should have just let that night go, and you wouldn't! I can't help it that I'm drawn to you!" Rory yelled back, rationality going completely out the window.
"Maybe you should ask youself WHY!" Jess replied, his voice no longer booming. "Why do you stay with a guy you don't even really like!"
"I like him," Rory defended.
"Really?" Jess asked, almost amused now.
"He's a nice guy." She amended.
"That isn't what I asked." Jess reasoned.
"You don't understand," Rory said exasperated.
"Explain it to me." Jess said, casually.
"I can't just break up with him. He did a lot for me. He put up with a lot, and he's been there for me. He loves me. This…this thing with you is just hormonal." She said, trying to make herself feel sure about what she was saying.
"Well, that sounds like a great relationship." Jess scoffed. "So, you keep him around because he does things for you, you don't want to hurt his feelings, and you think you just get horny when you are around me?" he summed up.
"It sounds stupid when you say it." Rory said.
"That's because it IS stupid, Rory." He said, moving next to her on the bed. He took her hand in his, and she didn't pull away. "Look, I'm only going to wait for so long." He said, "I've got patience, but not a lot. You've got to decided what it is you really want."
Jess got up and began walking out of the room. Rory's mind screamed at her. Do something you idiot! She made a decision. She got up off the bed and followed Jess to the door. "Stop," she said, right behind him. As he turned around, she grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him to her.
She kissed him hard and deep, hoping he felt her feelings for him. She never was that good at saying how she really felt, and she'd bet money Jess couldn't either.
He pulled away from her, still dazed from their kisses. "What was that?" he asked, almost ready to just let her get away with kissing him while she was with someone else.
"I'll talk to him tomorrow night," Rory said, looking Jess straight in the eye. He smiled a natural smile. Not a grin. Not a smirk. An honest-to-God-smile.
"Ok, well call me when you do." He said. He leaned down and planted a chaste kiss on her lips before walking out the door.
Rory sighed with contentment as she leaned against the door. She didn't know what she was doing, but she hadn't been this happy in a long time.