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I loved every second of it.
I loved that I was her first kiss. The first boy to dry hump her like she missed in high school.
The knock grew louder this time. “Josie?”
She stalled, her breathing hard against my mouth. King’s voice slid nails down my spine and punctured the moment. Josie moved from my lap, giving me a look I couldn’t read, smoothed her hair down, and answered the door.
I sat on the arm of the couch, evidence of what I wanted to do to her lying against my leg. I could feel my lips bruising, but I knew he couldn’t see from the shadows of the living room.
“Hey,” she said, stepping out into the hallway, blocking his view. She walked back inside a couple of seconds later, holding her cell phone in one hand. “I forgot my cell phone,” she whispered shame on her face.
Silence grew between us.
Josie sighed deeply, tugging her clothes into place before she walked by me toward her room. Frustration formed in my throat. I wouldn’t let her sleep this way.
I stopped her in the hallway. She turned and looked up at me with hopeful eyes. I didn’t know what she hoped for but I knew I wasn’t what she pictured for her first anything.
“Don’t go out with him,” I said selfishly.
She scoffed. “Too late, Maverick,” she said. “I’ve already been out with him, and I want to go again. I loved that he makes me feel … wanted.”
I clutched my hand into a fist and chuckled. “You think I don’t want you? Why?”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t know, Maverick. Maybe the four years you tormented me. Are you hearing yourself?”
She was right, I knew it, and we both knew it. “I’m sorry,” I said.
Josie stared at me in bewilderment.
The bathroom door opened beside us, and Frankie walked out in an old pair of sweats with no shirt. “Oh,” he said.
Josie glanced at him with a lifted brow. “I’m Josie.”
“Frankie,” he said.
“He’s my little brother,” I said.
Josie glanced up at me. “I didn’t know you had any siblings. Nice to meet you.”
A blush crawled up Frankie’s cheeks. Frankie didn’t have the natural charm needed to woo a girl, not yet at least. Frankie cleared his throat. “I’m just gonna go in here.”
He walked into my room and shut the door, leaving us in the dimly lit hallway together.
Josie pulled her hair into a low ponytail before placing her palms on her hips. “I—I can’t do this with you.” She put up her finger. “And before you ask, no, King doesn’t make me feel like you. I love the way you’ve kissed me. Your mouth—,” her eyes dropped to my lips—“you’re talented with it. But that doesn’t make you a nice person, Maverick. Or make you right for me.” Bravely, she met my gaze. “I’m not going to stop seeing King. I like how he treats me. He may not make my toes curl, or make me question my virginity, but he doesn’t toss footballs at my head or push me into lockers. Goodnight, Booker.”
Josie shut her door, leaving me standing like a fool in the hallway, pining after the one girl that I pushed away.
The one girl that makes the man I’m becoming drop to his knees.
I inwardly cursed the little boy who caused all of this. The little boy didn’t know any better.
Chapter Nine
Josie
“Work on the last sentence to make sure there isn’t a preposition at the end and you’re finished.”
Chad, my first tutee, gave me a lazy smile and worked on rewording his sentence. A sense of pride swelled in my chest at the sight of his accomplishment. I’d always loved to write, but I never thought about helping others.
