For the past two weeks, any time Jace and I hooked up, I ended up spending the night at his place. But I promise things aren't getting mushy-gushy. We are still staying in the realm of casual sex. We don't even give each other good night kisses.

We fuck. I might take a shower. Sometimes he'd join me and we'd fuck again. We go into bed, backs turned to each other and we fall asleep. Sometimes Jace will try and talk to me, about the most random things, I give him a quick answer and we both pass out. More often than not, we wake up in the middle of the night and fool around again. In the morning I get dressed and leave. Sometimes, without saying goodbye.

So, see, no string... Right?

Well, it's Sunday morning and here I am again, laying in Jace's bed. Before I can even open my eyes, Jace's hand is rubbing the bare skin on my stomach, making its way between my legs, which I open for him.

I've gotta say, the best way to wake up in the morning is with a man's head between your legs. Especially if that man is Jace Maxwell because he knows how to use his tongue.

I lay in bed for a little bit after coming down from another orgasm. Jace's fingers trail their way up my inner thigh. He's ready for round two. But I can't. I have obligations.

"And that's my cue to leave." I jump out of bed, completely naked, and search for my clothes.

"Come on, stay," he whines, but in a sexy, raspy, morning voice kind of way. "You look so beautiful right now."

I roll my eyes and don't make a comment to that statement. I've given up on telling Jace to cut it out with the compliments. It made me irritated at the beginning. Like he wasn't sticking to our terms. But now they make my face blush like a ripe tomato.

"I can't," I slap his hand away which is reaching toward me. "I have to meet my group at the studio for our short film."

"Short film?"

"It's a requirement for my major."

"Which is?"

I pause for a moment. We really don't know much about each other. And that fact puts an unsettling feeling in my stomach. I want to know Jace. He wants to know me. I guess it's safe to say that we aren't just fuck buddies, but we are friends too. Or, a weird version of friends that just like to have a lot of sex.

"Cinematic Arts."

"You want to be an actress?" His eyes are wide, listening to me with such intrigue.

My heart flutters in my chest. It's nice having someone take an interest in me. "A director, actually."

"Damn, that sounds pretty cool."

I blush again and bend down to pick up my shirt.

"Well, hopefully, your film isn't a comedy, 'cause you aren't very funny. Funny looking maybe—"

"Hey," I laugh, picking up a pillow from the ground and throwing it at him.

He laughs too, grabbing my wrist. "Come on, can't you miss one meeting?"

He pulls me in closer. Our lips are barely touching which settles an ache between my legs. My nipples harden and he lets out a desperate groan as he reaches up to pinch one. I moan, pressing my mouth to his. My lips part, allowing his tongue to enter.

His fingers release my nipple and crawl up my thigh. He teases me through the underwear I just put on which is soaked now. Pushing the fabric to the side, his finger flicks over my swollen clit.

I grunt against his lips pushing myself away from him. If I didn't, I wouldn't have been able to leave. I want him, badly. I want him so bad it's crippling to think about. Every time I look at him I just remember the leg-shaking feeling he instilled in me the night before and I lose control of my body.

"Don't you have baseball practice today?"

He looks at the time on his phone. "Fuck." He tosses his head back on the pillows.

I giggle at that. Picking his shirt up off the floor, I toss it at him. "You'll be fine."

"Loni," he sits up, staring right into my eyes. "I won't be fine until I'm with you again, right here in this bed, making you come, over and over again, with my name on your lips."

***

As I walk up to the film studio, I am on cloud nine. I'm literally floating on pure bliss, my feet can't touch the ground. Jace makes me feel some type of way that I can't explain. I've never felt like this with anyone. Maybe this feeling is just genuine happiness.

But all of my light and airy feelings are soon shot to hell and I am back on the ground. Daniel and Courtney are standing in the middle of the sound stage which is set to look like a kitchen and Adam is behind the camera.

"Hey," I say with slight irritation as I approach.

"Finally," Courtney says to me, looking relieved.

Adam grunts and yells, "Cut." Jumping out of his chair he marches up to Courtney, getting a little too close for comfort. "Stop in the middle of a scene one more time and I swear—"

"Relax, dude," Daniel says, placing his hand on Adam's chest and nudging him back.

"And where the hell have you been?" Adam turns his attention to me. His face is turning red and his nostrils are so big I can practically see his brain.

"I thought we were meeting at ten?"

"We changed it to nine. We texted it in the group chat last night. There was an earlier slot this morning," Maddison says, joining us on the set.

I pull my phone out of my shorts pocket and pull up the chat. Yup, there it is, nine o'clock meeting. I put the chat on do not disturb last night because while I was doing -- you know what-- with Jace, I didn't want any distractions.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't see the message."

"That's okay—"

"That's okay?" Adam snaps at Courtney's remark. "That's okay? That's not fucking okay. You need to pull your head out of your ass Loni and start doing your part. I'm tired of carrying all the weight around here."

Now my face is the one turning red. Seriously, I want to punch this guy. Like I am imagining myself ripping out his blue eyeballs and feeding them to him.

"Now you better get your act together, or I'm telling Professor Quinn to kick you out of this group."

"Okay, Adam, that's enough." Ben grabs Adam's shoulder.

Adam swats Ben's hand away before taking a seat back in his chair.

Sometimes, I really hate that fucking guy. But, there's nothing I can do. I need an A on this project and this group is my only hope. I admit it, I fucked up. But that doesn't give him the right to treat me this way.

As much as I want to stand up to him, tell his preppy pink polo shirt-wearing ass to fuck off, I don't. Instead, I sit in silence. I let him do a majority of the directing today. I let him control the camera, I let him produce each scene we do, and I say nothing. It kills me. But I know at this moment, we won't agree on anything. It'll all be over soon enough and then I can try and get back to my bliss.

Once we finish, I gather up my things and leave the studio. Making sure I don't stick around long enough for Adam to chew me out again. My phone vibrates in my pocket when I step outside. I look at the screen and my eyes bulge. The last person I expect to call me would be my mother. But there's her picture, lighting up my screen.

"Mom! Hey."

"Hey, bunny! I have a moment to call we are about to get on the tube."

"Where are you guys?"

"London!"

London? Last time we talked they were on some African safari. I can't keep up with them.

"Oh, bunny, this place is so gorgeous! We met this really nice couple and we are going to this nightclub later tonight. I'll be sure to send you pictures. Oh and the food! You would just die," she speaks in her usual frantic manner. Not taking a single breath or giving me a moment to talk. "How are you? How's Eric? Treating my baby girl good I hope."

"Mom I told you, we broke—"

"I have to go now, the tube is here. Love you!"

Before I can say another word, the line goes dead. I don't know why, but I feel the overwhelming urge to vomit. The mention of Eric, when I haven't thought about him at all in the past couple of weeks, literally makes me sick.

The fact that my mother doesn't have a clue what's going on in my life makes my blood boil. It's nothing new though. That's how most of our conversations have gone for the past few years. It shouldn't make me this upset, but it does. I'm practically biting back my tears.

I need to vent. I should text Bethany or Hadley. But the only person I want to talk to is Jace.

I pull up my text messages and tap on his name, my fingers shake a little as I text him.

ME: Come over tonight.