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“That’s exactly why we aren’t rushing this. It’s part of learning.” I scratch at the shadow of stubble on my jaw as I sit next to her, trying not to think about marking her thighs with stubble burn if I buried my head between her legs. “I want you to feel good about it. All of it.”
“Oh.” She looks at her lap.
Reaching over, I zip the hoodie back up and take her hand, rubbing her knuckles soothingly with my thumb.
“So ground rules,” I say. “First one, we’re taking this slow. No stripping down and rushing anything.”
She nods, though I can see she’s frustrated. Her eagerness is sexy as hell and my other brain is pitching a fit that my dick isn’t inside her right now. But the sooner we have sex, the sooner this ends. She wants to be ready for college. I only have the rest of the summer.
“You said you’d do what I wanted.” My gaze shifts over her shoulder to the crumpled letter from my advisor. I did plan to ask her for studying tips, so this works out. “Help me get my GPA up when the semester starts. You’re smart and good at studying.”
“Easy.” The edge of her mouth curls in a mischievous smirk. “And a good excuse to get you alone.”
My grin spreads slowly and I adjust my cap. “True. Good point. Rule two, keep an open mind. This takes time. No one’s instantly good at it overnight.”
“Practice makes perfect.” Tatum’s attention is on my mouth.
I hum in agreement, brushing a knuckle over her bare thigh just below where her terry cloth sleep shorts end. The simple touch isn’t tantalizing or intimate, but she shivers in pleasure all the same.
Barely knows how to kiss, hasn’t dated… Tatum is a blank canvas and I plan to paint a fucking masterpiece.
My finger explores beneath the hem of her shorts, stroking her skin with light brushes.
“Coop,” she breathes.
I drag in a sharp inhale through my nose. I will make her say my name like that when I’m inside her.
“Rule three is the big one.” I grasp her chin between my thumb and finger to make sure she understands. “We keep this a secret. Especially from Jackson. He can never know.”
“Obviously.” She circles her fingers around my wrist. “We have a no friends rule. If he suspects us, we can tell him I’m tutoring you. ”
“I wasn’t kidding the other night. He’d kill me just for thinking about you, and if he finds out I touched you, fucked you—”
“You think about me?” Tatum stares at me as if that’s a possibility that never entered her mind.
Ah, shit.
I offer her a crooked smirk and distract her by running my fingers through her hair. She can’t know how often she crosses my mind. It’s only for the summer. We’re not boyfriend and girlfriend, not exchanging promise rings. This isn’t real.
“I’m a guy, babe. Of course you’ve popped into my head while I’ve jacked it.”
“Coop!” She smacks my arm, a scandalized laugh escaping her as she turns bright pink. “Oh my god. I can’t believe you just told me that.”
Good. It worked. She doesn’t see how forced my expression is, believing the mask I slip on.
“Do you have any rules you want to add?”
She shakes her head. “Your terms are logical and reasonable.”
I huff, fighting back a smile. “Love it when you talk nerd. We might have to incorporate that into a lesson on dirty talking and how it—” Dragging my teeth over my lip, I flick my eyes over her. “—enhances things.”
Her blush is so cute. It’s refreshing after so many hookups with girls who know more sexually adventurous shit than I do with positions, toys, kinks—the internet is a beautiful and educative thing.
“There’s a bonfire coming up this weekend at Mariner’s Cove. You’re going.”
“Am I?” She raises an eyebrow, a hint of her stubbornness coming back out to play. “What if I had other plans?”
“You forget that I know you, T. I want you there. You need to learn to relax first if this is going to work.”
