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“What if I’m not happy?”
His finger twirls a ringlet of my hair. “Then I’ll fucking cook you breakfast or fly you to France or call your friends or give you the best orgasm you’ve ever had. Whatever it takes.”
I blink at him for a few seconds. “Damn you. You just did it again.”
“Did what again?”
“Said the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“This is what I was born for.” He exhales a low laugh, at the intensity of his romantic tendencies, maybe. “Fuck, Zara.” He has such amazing eyes. Dark-rimmed and lightning bright and so full of awe I can’t help but…well, fall deeply, irrevocably in love with him. Thank you thank you thank you. His rough-edged fingers draw a line along the tender skin of my cheek. “I like the face paint, by the way.”
“Just supporting my quarterback.”
“It’s a good start.” He’s quiet for a few seconds, drinking in the sight of me in that enthralled way he has, watering those little seeds of blooming connection he’s so thoroughly planted in me.
“We could wait until after football season, you know.” My voice is soft, and careful. “I’d wait for you.”
“And I’d wait for you. But what if something tears us apart before then, for whatever reason? What if something happens that we don’t see coming? We both know time isn’t something you can take for granted. That feels like a bigger risk to me.”
“But what if it gets you—”
He places a finger over my lips. “Stop protesting and trust your quarterback. We’re exclusive now. Or I’ll be forced to hunt down every man who glances in your general direction and beat him to a bloody pulp. Like that little fucker in your art class. So—please—for the sake of my team, don’t run from me.”
“Elias, it’s for your team that I should be running from you.”
“I’ve just explained why it would be worse for us if you did. I want you at every game, wearing my jersey. I’ll deal with the fallout.”
“We’ll both deal with it,” I remind him gently. I think of the risk I’m also taking. But you can’t live your life tied up by other people’s ironclad rules that don’t actually apply anymore, even if that person is your own dad and you cherish your relationship with him above almost anything.
Things change. Things have changed and Elias is right. It feels like a bigger risk to let him go than it does to keep him. My mother ran out of time. So did his. I think both of us are too deeply aware of that to waste it.
We’ll just have to fight for each other when our decision catches up with us. And we both know it will, probably sooner rather than later.
His thumb brushes over my lips. He’s watching my mouth and his breathing is heavier now. “You told me I was all your firsts. Does that mean…” It almost seems like he’s bracing himself. “You’ve never been with anyone before me? Before the other night?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Not at all?”
“Not even a single kiss. I guess it’s sort of pathetic.”
“It’s not pathetic. It’s meant to be.” The blue-ember burn behind his eyes is quietly, deeply relieved. There’s a thread of wild emotion in him. “Mine.”
I think it’s been true since he was standing there, lost for words and more gorgeous than anyone I’d ever seen, on that very first day.
His nearness is affecting me, like it always does. My pussy is warm and wet, pulsing with soft, sweet heat. But there’s so much I want to know about him. I need more information about the guy I’m now apparently exclusive with. Before I very thoroughly cash in my V-card with him, is what I’m thinking. I know that as soon as he kisses me, neither one of us will be able to stop, and neither one of us will want to. “What’s your middle name?” I ask him.
“Joseph. It’s my dad’s name. What’s yours?”
“Adelaide. After my mother.”
“My mother’s name was Amelia.”
“I love that name.” It’s hard to talk about them but it’s a bond we share. It’s hard for both of us, which somehow makes it less hard. And this is good. It’s only a matter of time before I’m closer to Elias O’Shea than I’ve ever been to anyone. We’re starting to get to know each other along the way. “What’s your favorite movie of all time?”
“Of all time?”
“Yeah.”
