Less than Perfect by S. J. Evans (love letters to the dead txt) 📕

He chuckled, brushing a thumb over her cheek. She shivered. Noticing her shiver, he pushed himself away from her a little. “Is something—?” He didn’t finish his sentence, only pulled upright and shook his head. “Oh, Skye, I’m sorry,” he breathed, worry creasing his forehead. “I’m making you uncomfortable, aren’t I?”
She frowned. Great job Skye, now he’s worried about you

, she chided herself. Why did I have to shiver? I mean, it was a good shiver, so why did it have to seem so wrong to him?

She was flustered underneath him, unsure of what she could do or say to give him the right idea—show him that she was perfectly comfortable with him even around the momentary unease. Her heart faltered when she looked into his distraught face, torn and cautious.
Sighing, she pushed herself onto her elbows, ignoring any small pains it inflicted, and shook her head slowly. “Jules,” she began, looking into his eyes with pleading ones, “please don’t apologize, okay? I’m doing just fine. It may take me awhile to get used to certain things again—but what you just did, I didn’t mind that. Please don’t worry about me so much. I’ll let you know if I can’t handle something.”
He looked away a moment before returning her gaze. Lips squirming around a frown, he sighed. “Are you sure, Trouble?” He hesitated. “I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable or afraid in any way. I want to make sure you feel safe, and happy.”
A smile curled up her lips. “Positive.” She giggled a little, relieved that he understood her feelings, or at least was trying to. Warmth flooded her body in an uncontrollable wave of security and strength as she looked at his tan, perfect face and wished he’d fill the void of space between them. “You make me happy, Jules, and safe. Don’t you forget that, ever.”
He ran a hand through locks of his tousled hair awkwardly and chuckled. “I guess I’ll try my best not to,” he said huskily, leaning closer to her.
She bit her lips to prevent herself from erupting in a chain of squeals and giggles, and tried to calm the beat of her anxious heart. She could feel his breath on her face already, the scent of mint and vanilla causing a new sensation to electrify her body, washing away any insecurities or fears she’d once had.
He leaned closer so that he was right above her, pressing his palms against the bedding beside the sides of her face. “Now,” he breathed against her lips. “Where were we?”
She shivered again, adding a smile so that Jules could tell it was a good thing, and closed her eyes in anticipation. “Right about here.” Fingering his shirt, she pulled him down, his lips meeting hers in a collision of eager kisses.
She could feel him chuckling, his body shaking a little. It charged an electric surge of energy throughout her entire body, warming her from the insides out as their lips parted and met, again and again. Pangs of butterflies fluttered up and down her stomach, springing a sensation so new yet so natural, she couldn’t imagine why it had taken her so long to find. With Bryan, even from the beginning, there had never been quite a spark or energy. There had been butterflies and moments of pure glee, but nothing else. It was then, in that moment spent mingling with Jules, that Skye realized just how wrong she’d been about her feelings for Bryan. She’d never loved him like that—and certainly, she had not felt the same way about him that she now felt about Jules.
“Jules,” she murmured, parting from their kiss and dropping her head against the mattress as she tangled her fingers through his hair and kept his face mere inches from hers. She had no idea why she’d said his name, it only slipped out, but once she looked him in the eyes she couldn’t help but smile and catch her breath quickly before pulling his lips back against hers.
He laughed around her lips, holding her face gently by the side. His hand knotted into the bedding as he broke away from the kiss and traveled down her neck, careful not to push Skye too far. She could feel how much he was trying not to hurt her and she couldn’t help but sigh in appreciation. Where had Jules been all those times when she needed someone as protective and gentle as he? She certainly would have been happy with his entry in her life long ago. But she also thought that if he’d come any earlier she would have missed him, missed something special. And they would’ve never fallen as deeply in love as they had.
And that thought scared her.
She made a small sound as his lips stopped in the crook of her neck, gently nibbling on the skin. She bit her lip and pushed away any troubling memories that started to well up in her mind, reminding herself that it was Jules—he wouldn’t hurt her. But the truth became too oppressive; the pain from when Johnny had taken a hold of her neck and just about cut her life short eclipsed her nearly healed skin, granting a small whimper from her lips.
Jules pulled away instantly, hair hanging in his eyes as he looked at Skye with an apology at the brink of his lips. “Skye—”
She shook her head and cut off his apology with a kiss, sighing when she pulled away for a moment. “Don’t Jules,” she warned, breathing heavy. “I told you I’m fine. That was just a weak spot. You don’t have to stop though…” she trailed off, brushing her lips over his cheek and giving him a slow, small kiss.
He smiled at her, brushed a strand of her hair out of her face, and lightly kissed her forehead. “I think maybe it’s best if we stopped for now,” he whispered. His eyes peered deep into hers, gaze not once moving away. “I don’t want to see us getting into things too fast, Trouble. We have all the time in the world, we don’t need to rush. Besides, it’s probably not the best idea to make out like this with your mother right downstairs especially. Wouldn’t want her to get the wrong idea, right?”
While part of her wanted to pout and object to everything he’d said, the other part—a much stronger part—told her that he was right. She shivered as his fingers grazed her arm for a moment and smiled widely. As much as she enjoyed being with Jules, she knew their good time had to end sometime—at least for a little while—and she sighed heavily as she ran her fingers through his hair once more and smiled up at him.
“Yeah,” she mumbled, “right.”
He grinned. “I thought you might agree with me.”
She raised a brow at him, lips tipped at one corner. “Don’t go getting cocky now,” she teased. “I think I like the humble side much better.” Now it was her turn to grin, disregarding any previous feelings of unease. Jules had that effect on her—he made it all go away.
He laughed abruptly, shaking his head. “You know you love it,” he murmured, bringing his face down to hers again. “Don’t even try denying it, Trouble. You know you’re crazy about me.” He brought his lips against hers again, teasing her, before pulling away, his warm breath caressing her face with his scent.
She glared at him, struggling as it was hard to keep a straight face with his bold, breathtaking eyes staring back at hers. “You’re such a tease!” She smacked his shoulder. “What’s your problem?”
He looked at her with sincere, undivided attention then, pulling her hand into his and entwining their fingers together. “You.”
She scoffed, yanking her hand away from his (though she hated doing so). “Me? I have done nothing! I’m just minding my own business here. You’re the one who’s—”
His lips crashed against hers again, sending a jolt of energy through every nerve in her body. His taste collided with her mouth again—mint and vanilla—causing her to forget whatever it was she was about to say. She felt his lips starting to pull away from hers and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him in place, so he didn’t get what he wanted. Something drove her to keep kissing him, by whatever pulsing energy it used, and overwhelmed all of her senses.
“Skye, what about Leah?” Jules managed against her lips, the words barely audible in Skye’s tingling ears. She registered the words but didn’t want to think about it. Leah had left them to talk half an hour earlier to make lunch; she wasn’t about to intrude on them—they were safe for the moment.
Giggling from the butterflies that overwhelmed her as Jules’s fingers played with her hair while they kissed, she shook her head. “Change of mind?” she breathed, breaking free long enough to get the words out and catch a glimpse of his heavily lidded eyes.
He grinned. “What can I say? You’re my weakness.”
Though she was screaming on the inside, she only chuckled and brought them into another kiss, wondering why she was so taken with the entire experience. She wondered if it was because for once, along with the previous times Jules had kissed her, she felt good kissing someone. No one was forcing her; no one had pushed her to make the decision; it was all up to her

.
Just as Jules was about to finally pull himself away for good, his lips leaving a trail of kisses on her lips behind, something snapped both he and Skye away from each other.
“Knock, knock,” Victor called from the other side of the partially opened door, tapping it with his knuckles.
Jules shot up, head snapping in the direction of the door as he propped himself above Skye with one hand beside the headboard while the other awkwardly shot up to his disheveled hair.
Skye snapped her head in the direction of Victor’s voice, utterly surprised, running off of the energy that Jules had given her. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of being caught in the act, as innocent as it truly had been. She would be eternally grateful, as would Jules, that Victor had been the one to knock on her door, not Leah or Joe. Victor wouldn’t care like they would. In fact, she wanted to think he wouldn’t care at all.
As Victor made his way into the room, dressed in dark jeans and a white T-shirt, he took in Skye and Jules’s position on the bed, a smirk crawling across his face. He came to a halt as he made it a little ways in and crossed his arms, the look on his face giving way that he was having a hard time trying not to laugh. “Well, as much as I hate to break up