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Attempting seduction, I take the foil package from his hand and tear the corner with my teeth. But my sexy facade quickly shatters when some sort of plastic tasting liquid touches my tongue.
“Blech.” His shoulders shake with laughter when I spit the tiny piece of foil on the ground. “What was that?”
I swipe the tip of my tongue on the back of my hand to get rid of the taste.
We’re chest to chest as he says, “Lubricant. It helps keep things smooth for…” the muscles in his neck strain as he struggles to find the words, “p-penetration.”
My nose wrinkles. “That has to be the least sexy word in the English language.”
As embarrassed as I am, he’s breathtaking when he smiles like that. “What do you want me to say? I was trying not to traumatize you.”
“Because I’m a virgin,” I retort, dowsing the word with sarcasm.
A playful spark lights his eyes, but his tone is gentle when his thumb brushes my cheek. “Saving yourself is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Is that what I was doing? I’m not sure it was intentional, but gazing up at the boy I’ve spent half the summer with—laughed, lived, and adventured with—I’m glad I did.
“Are you, um… Have you…?” My face flames.
He tenderly holds my face in both hands. “If I’d known you were waiting for me, I damn sure would have waited. You deserve that, Pen. Someone who has a little more self-control than I do. Especially when it comes to you.”
“I-I don’t want control,” I say. “We get enough of that in all the other aspects of our lives. What I want is the freedom to choose, and there’s no one else I would choose to trust with this–with me–than you.”
My mouth parts when he tips my head back, massaging his long fingers through my wild, beach-waved hair. “This is how I want to remember you when summer ends. Passionate… fearless… full of fight. Don’t lose your fight, Penelope. Promise me.”
What good are promises when time is a thief?
But I nod anyway.
With Hallevah in full swing, it’s quiet on this side of the property, leaving the ebb and flow of sensual chords fluttering through the tent in dull waves.
“Transfer to Stanford with me.”
The frown on his lips brushes mine before he slowly pulls away.
I jerk my chin up, standing by what I said, embarrassment be damned.
“Tell me how you do that,” he says, flicking his eyes over every inch of my face. “Knowing what you want without fear of consequences.”
“I don’t always know what I want.” I take two unsteady steps back, watching his brows furrow as I say, “But I do know that I want you, Logan Anderson. All of you.”
He clenches his fists, as if watching my trembling hands lift my dress, exposing my knees first, then my thighs physically pains him. “What are you doing?”
“Whatever’s going on between you and your dad, I’ll help you fight it. That’s what you said, right? Don’t lose my fight.” We break eye contact only for the solitary second it takes to pull my dress over my head. “We’ll get him to understand that you’re in charge of your life and that he can’t control you. We’ll get through school, get degrees that we want, and then who the hell knows? But we’ll have forever to find out what comes after that.”
I’m startled by his darkened gaze seductively raking down my body. I’ve outgrown the awkwardness of my early teenage years. My hips are wider, and I’m a cup size fuller than I was last year–neither of which evade his rapt attention.
The plain gray bra and black cotton panties I’m wearing are far from attractive. Yet my body is revered in wonderment as he steps close and lifts my chin.
A grin wrinkles his handsome features into a masterful blend of amusement and awe. “Forever, huh?”
“Must everything be a joke to you?” I huff. “This is serious stuff.”
“Offering me your body inside a tent in the woods, you mean.”
“By the woods,” I counter.
Humming laughter tickles my nose before he kisses my cheek. For the first time, he’s careful not to touch me with his hands, but I’ve never craved them on me more than I do right now. “Are you sure about this, Penelope?”
