Content warning:

This chapter will get a little hot and heavy/NSFW so I just wanted to let my readers know to tread lightly if that isn't your cuppa but enjoy. It's mid-chapter, so if you wanna skip that part you can.

Chapter 22

Seize the Moment

Emma furrows her brow as he asked. How could he ask her that at this moment? She pauses and calmly states, "I don't want to talk about it, can we drop it?"

"Why not? Emma just could you answer the question."

Emma tried to laugh him off, but he was all sorts of persistent. She didn't want to argue or make waves fighting back playfully, "Uh, I don't know because it's stupid and I'm hungry reason enough?"

Jay got serious for a moment and asked her, "If it's stupid then why is it on a box on your shelf?"

"We are not having this conversation right now."

Not backing down he stated again, "Just answer the question."

"It's just my parents' wedding anniversary alright?" Emma managed to blurt out to Jay a half-truth. She was happy that he accepted that as the answer. She never planned on opening the baby blue and green box however in front of him, that is too sacred.

After she told him, she led him downstairs through the basement door and even though her answer was only a half-truth and she wasn't being entirely truthful. Jay was off her back about the mysterious date scrawled on the box in her bedroom. She was somewhat irritated but didn't let it show. Of all nights to argue she didn't want to go down that road with him. Jay smirked and laughed, "That all, was that so hard to tell me that?"

Jay had no idea. "I could ask you why you were snooping?"

"It's clear as day, it's not exactly snooping."

Manny didn't hear them banter back and forth and was obviously feeling a buzz coming on as she waved to them when they made it down to her level. She had a deck of cards in her hand, "Jay you know any drinking games that involve playing cards?"

"As a matter of fact I do, we're going to play KINGS."

"What's that?" Emma asked, never having played yet.

"It varies but each card has a meaning."

"Such as?"

"2 is for you. 3 for me. 4 is touching the floor. 5 I drink because I'm one of the guys. 6 is you two drink because you're the chicks. 7 is pretty much if 4 is touching the floor, 7 you touch the sky or point toward the sky. 8 you make a date pick someone to drink with. 9 is rhyme time which is basically you rhyme what I say if you fuck up you drink no repeats either, 10 categories self-explanatory or just everyone drinks. Queen cards are questions you ask questions and answer in questions if you answer the question without posing a question you drink. J never have I ever put three fingers up and the first person to lose all their fingers up loses and must drink, then there's Ace waterfall which is when I stop drinking you stop drinking and so on. Lastly, the KING cards are you make a rule for everyone to follow sometimes it lasts a turn and sometimes it lasts for the entire game. Rules can stack and overlap or they could just be for the turn. Anyway if you break a rule, mess up, are the last to do something you must drink."

"Sounds fun." Emma told Jay, "let's play."

….

After they ate and played, Manny started to get tired so she decided to bring her blankets upstairs on the living room couch to give Jay and Emma some privacy. On her way up she shut out the lights leaving only dim candlelight from earlier when it was just Emma and Jay.

Emma walks over to the bedside table and blows out the candle and to the bed wordlessly hinting she wants her to join her there. Jay without missing a beat sits beside her. He cups his hands around her cheeks and kisses her passionately. They fall back onto the bed and go deep-sea diving into a sea of bright blue blankets. She manages to wiggle her way to the middle of her bed her pillow was then under her head while being enveloped still in Jay's arms. He pulls away for a moment beams down at her whispering, "I had a lot of fun here tonight with you."

"Me too," Emma beamed reaching upward for him by his shoulders pulling him close into another kiss. It was long and passionate. She slowly pulled away and teased, "Perhaps now we could have a little more fun."

"Sounds like a plan. I was hoping you'd say that" Jay told her seductively as he leaned down and kissed her neck softly and trailed kisses to her lips after a few moments causing her to want him even closer.

She loosely wrapped her legs around him and sort of ground her hips against him as they continued making out on her bed. He quickly sat up as he tore off his shirt after some time as things got seriously heated. He touched every part of her and awoke her most devious desires. He noticed she still was wearing Manny's dress, he carefully lifted it so that he had better access to her body and he placed his hands on her hips and removed her black lace booty shorts she wore under the dress. He nibbled her bottom lip in a kiss and a hushed moan escaped her lips, she caught herself and whispered quietly, "Oh my goodness do that again."

Jay loved testing his boundaries but was hoping not to cross any lines or step on any but Emma was almost testing almost urging him to throw caution to the wind and change his mind. "Oh what? This?" He whispered before obliged as she tried her best to be quiet and careful not to wake Manny upstairs.

"Yes," She whispered breathing heavily.

"Is that all you want me to do?" She shook her head no, he knew damn well what she wanted he just wanted her to say it or rather show it.

Emma leaned upward and looked up at him shaking her head, "Please don't stop, I just want more of this more of everything with you."

"Well, alright then," She slowly reached her hands to his belt and undid it and removed his pants revealing his boxers and then he helped guide her hands with his. For the first time was making the conscious decision to make this move. Before they would simply lead-in and it would just happen in the heat of the moment after getting too carried away with their urges.

She looked up at him once more and told him, "You're always taking care of me, why don't I take care of you? Switch with me?"

Jay kissed her forehead and adjusted himself to where she had been lying and she fumbled herself around and straddled her legs around his lower body. She reached from underneath as he guided her by the hips where he wanted her to go. He watched her move and he held her close as she rode him on the bed. Emma kept moving her hair out of her face so she could see him, while he normally looks at their body he didn't do that with Emma. He kept his eyes on only her in the dark lit room. He was somewhat nervous and careful unlike his past hookups he let her take the lead and he never does that but he liked that she took initiative. Between breaths, she asked, "How is that?" She questioned him quietly asked not entirely sure of herself but wanting to make sure she was doing this right. He was enamored with her, he didn't want to say what he was really feeling but he was only holding back because of the timing, but one thing was for certain this wasn't lustful it was intense and romantic for him. Emma was beginning to trust him and he was beginning to trust her.

"If it feels good to you, it definitely feels good to me," She beamed as he pulled her closer so he could kiss her again, "c'mere I wasn't lying when I said I could kiss you all night." Emma kissed him hard as they continued what they were doing with each movement she was feeling closer and closer to him. He loved her and some of the quiet sounds she made. He again trailed kisses to her neck carefully caressing her with his lips.

Jay felt her legs sort of twitch a bit around his thighs, and a few moments later she had hit her climax and was starting to feel weak and tired from all the movement. She made eye contact with him as he softly and carefully switched to him on top of her and then she managed to fully feel all the effects of the afterglow. She simply just felt complete and total surrender and calm wash over her. She needed time to recover, Jay pulled her into his arms and she cuddled him.

Their first time he wasn't concentrating on her too much it was more or less driven by hormones and primal urges because he had felt rejected and lusted for her but this time he was one-hundred percent wholeheartedly into her and focused on her. He wanted to do things right. He wanted her to feel good. He wanted her to experiment, take the lead a bit and more and she did and then some.

…..

"So tell me about your parent's wedding," Sometime later they were lying close to one another, Emma was resting her head on his chest catching her breath as he ran his fingers through her long locks. She thought back for a moment and was silent, something about what happened between her and Jay and how it felt so right. She had never felt more close to him and she didn't want those feelings to go away. She was content, and even though they had never minted anything in stone she had a feeling he felt the same way as she did for him, he asked her quietly and softly nudging her, "You asleep?"

"No still awake, just tired," She turned her head to face him and sat up she yawned a bit. She was wearing nothing but his tank which was much too big on her and loose like a dress, "I wasn't entirely honest, it's sort of a long story." She brushed her hair out of her face with the arm the bracelet Jay gave her on and prepared herself for honesty, "It's sort of a double anniversary."

Jay raised his eyebrow, "A double wedding?"

"Not at all, silly. It's just Sean and I started going out at the wedding. He literally asked me to be his girlfriend after we danced and shared my first kiss. Back then, he seemed so close to me but now he's so far away I mean like it just doesn't have the same old feelings when I think about it now. If you'd ask me like last year or a year ago it'd be another story."

"That's nostalgia for you, nostalgia's a bitch."

"Yeah, it can be. I guess now I'm seeing things differently now."

"Meaning?"

"I thought I was in love back then. I didn't think there'd be anyone after, end all be all and imagine my disappointment when he and I split up the way we did."

Jay told her, "I used to love getting involved with people's lives and screwing them up for the fun of it for no apparent reason because I guess I was unhappy. Anyway, I'm sorry for my part in it. Looking back on some of the shitty crap I've done I realized how alone and upset I really was."

"Water under the bridge, Jay. I'm just now thinking, I wouldn't ever have it any other way." She saw the wheels turning in his head as if he got this crazy idea and she asked, "What's on your mind?"

He continued thinking and then he blurted out, "I was thinking Em, we haven't really talked about it though. I think we're on the same page but how about we make September 16th, 2005 or rather 9-16-05 just as special."

"What's September 16th, 2005?", Emma thought for a moment and tried to grasp what he meant, and then she understood he was being crystal clear transparent as he could get and she gasped wide-eyed before excitedly asking with her hands over her mouth, "Oh crap it's today. You want to go official?"

Jay affirmed, "That's right, it's time. I mean I like you and at least I think you like me. What do you say?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

….

It was early Sunday morning and the birds were chirping the sun was out. Jay was quietly climbing out the basement window so she and Manny wouldn't get in trouble if the parents returned early. He didn't want to wake her he even cleaned up a bit, but just before he left he jotted her a quick note.

While sleeping next to Jay, Emma didn't have any nightmares. Jay stayed up reading the book Emma let him borrow because he wasn't very comfortable in Emma's twin bed. She was curled up next to him in dreamland once they went to sleep. After about an hour she noticed there was a note in her handwritten by Jay. She sat up and read it. It was cute and thoughtful.

Emma,

I had to run home I hope you're not upset with me, bc I didn't tell you goodbye.

Your bed officially sucks for sleeping haha but you looked so cute I didn't wanna wake you. Writing to tell you last night was awesome, I had an amazing time with you.

Looking forward to many more nights like that.

Talk later?

J

Emma knew Jay disliked when she'd think things like that, but if anyone would've told her that Jay Hogart would be writing her a love letter she'd look at them like they were crazy.

Her head was pounding and her stomach was in pain but the letter was a silver lining. She slowly sat up and felt the need to hurl, she quickly ran to the bathroom and threw up. Fortunately for her, she made it and didn't miss the toilet. She brushed her teeth and hair and gargled some mouthwash. She didn't drink as much as Manny but she was pretty tipsy so it didn't come as a shock to her that she got sick. It'd never happened to her before.

Manny slowly came down the stairs prepared to help clean up the mess they made last night but saw that Jay had taken the trash out. She had a major hangover too. Emma wiped her mouth with a tissue and took some notice of Jay's effort to clean up this morning, "I take it he went home, but from the looks of it he already cleaned up. I guess he's not so bad."

"I'm glad you don't hate him so much anymore." Emma beamed as she walked back to her bed, "I feel like shit. This weekend seemed to fly."

Manny sat beside her, "Me too. Alcohol is not my friend I really don't want to go to school tomorrow."

"Neither do I."

Manny could sense that Emma was happy for some reason, "So what happened after I went to bed?"

"What do you think?"

Manny gasped with a wide-open surprised expression on her face, "Shut up."

"And we're officially official."

"So how was it?"

Emma couldn't wait to gush, "Amazing, we tried something new and ugh it felt really good and it just gets better and better."

"I must say it's been ages since well, you know. I hate you." Manny remarked jokingly, "I am so jealous you got some."

"Well, maybe this year you'll meet someone special."

"Unlikely."

"Well, what about Craig? He invited to his show that's got to count for something. Maybe he's interested in you."

"No, he was just being nice to me because he feels kind of sorry for me. However, I might check out this group therapy thing at the rec center after school tomorrow. He said he'd pick me up."

Emma shook her head, "Look at that, I doubt he's only feeling sorry for you. How do you even know for sure? I don't think so, Manny honestly what do you have to lose?"

She quickly changed the subject, "Well I don't know about you but I need to get a shower." Manny then exited the bedroom and went to the bathroom to shower while Emma logged into her Myroom profile, and then she changed her relationship status to In a relationship with Jay Hogart.