“It’s okay. Our situation is unique. I’ve been having fun in our bubble.” I look up at him. “So, you said you were taking me to your secret places. The beach was one?”
“Yes. I’d go there to think.”
“About what?”
“Life. Wanting something better. Not becoming my father.”
“I’d say you’ve gotten all you wanted then.”
He leans down to gently kiss me on the lips. It’s a sinful kind of kiss that has the promise of more. “I’m definitely on the right track now.”
I moan a little. “And what about the field? It’s not a secret you came here. Was this a thinking place?”
No, he mouths ever so devilishly. “This is where I fooled around with all the girls.”
He tries to kiss me, but I playfully push him away.
“All the girls? I don’t want to hook up with you in a place where you got off with countless other girls!”
“What if I told you that on more than one occasion … okay, almost every single occasion, I pretended the girl I was with”—he pauses as he takes a breath and looks into my eyes, deep and serious—“was you.”
My heart stops for a beat as I take in the depth of his tone. “That’s just a line.”
He shakes his head ever so slowly. “I don’t lie, Stacey. Especially not about shit like that. I wanted you for a long time. I know I haven’t been the easiest man to deal with, but I’m not making it up when I say you’ve been on my mind since we played Spin the Bottle and you kissed me.”
“I have a confession to make,” I breathe. “I cheated. I made it stop on you.”
A huge smile graces his face. “I have a confession of my own.”
“What’s that?”
He comes forward, pushing me to my back on the wide bench in the dugout, sprawling me out as he lays his body over mine. “I watched you do it, and I didn’t stop you.”
His mouth crashes onto mine. It’s a fiery, passionate kiss that’s been pent-up for two days and grown to a fireball, ready to explode.
He takes my head in his hands, cradling me as he rubs his thumb over my lips.
“I keep telling myself we need to stop this thing,” he says quietly even though we’re the only ones around.
“Why?”
“Because you’re my best friend’s sister and I’m falling for you. Pretty fucking hard.”
My hands slide up under his shirt to caress his chest and stop over his heart. “Then, fall, Wes.”
“What happens when we crash? I don’t want to break you.”
What he doesn’t know is, I’m already broken in the best way. The part of me that held a wall up against Wesley Knight has been shattered. Once I let him into my heart, I can’t go back. I’m too far gone, so if this all ends badly, there’s no return. And still, I want to go deeper. Because I’m mad for this man.
Madly in love.
“Wes, kiss me.”
He lowers his mouth back to mine, and it’s this intense connection, the kind we had in a closet when we were kids. The type that had me breathless and damaged as a teenager. The one that ruined me for every other man as an adult.
We kiss for a moment. We kiss for hours. We make up for every minute wasted and every moment to come.
And the doubts in his head?
I do my best to kiss them away.
Chapter Nineteen
It’s the last week before winter break, and I’m nose deep in studying for finals. Amanda and I took one this morning, and I leave, feeling a thousand times lighter than we did, going in.
“That shit was hard,” she says as we walk out of the building.
“Did you even understand the last question? I wrote down some nonsense.”
She pushes me playfully. “You’re such a liar. You studied like a madwoman. I bet you aced it.”
“I certainly didn’t fail,” I say proudly. “What about you?”
“Aced it. I had a badass study partner who whipped me like a drill sergeant!”
I laugh out loud at her impression of me cracking a whip. Our study sessions together were intense, but this is a Berkeley degree we’re working toward. It’s a big deal.
“You’re welcome.”
Amanda laughs as she asks, “You wanna celebrate?”
“I can’t. I have to study. I have one more final and an Econ paper due. Ladies’ night on Friday before everyone goes home for break?”
“Deal!” She blows a kiss as she walks toward her car, and I get into mine.
Back home, I’m sitting at the kitchen table and taking notes for my exam when the front door opens. Wes comes sauntering in like he won a medal.
“I take it, your final went well?” I ask him.
“Of course it did. I’m a born genius.” He opens his arms out wide like the cocky bastard he is.
I roll my eyes at him as he searches the apartment.
“Chad’s not home yet?” Wes looks at his watch, and his brows rise. “His last class ended an hour ago, which means he must have gone to Nicole’s, which means …” He doesn’t finish his sentence. He pulls me up from my seat, hoists me over his shoulder, and carries me caveman-style into his bedroom.
I yelp and laugh as he kicks the door closed, throws me down on his bed, and turns to lock it before coming back to me.
“I have a final to study for,” I whine but make no movement to get up.
The smirk on his face shows he doesn’t seem to care. “I’ll be quick.”
“In that case, I’m out.” I pretend to want to get off the bed, but he tackles me down and tickles me before burying his head in my neck, sucking and licking, sending shivers down my spine.
“Fine.” I feign surrender. “I’ll stay for a few minutes.”
“Good. Because I need my Stacey time.” His hands are underneath my shirt as mine slide down his torso and undo his belt.
When my shirt and bra are taken off, I gasp as his mouth covers my breast, and his tongue strokes the nipple. Our clothes are discarded quickly, and we’re naked limbs wrapped around each other as we grind, making the mattress squeak like a bad porno.
For a girl who needs to study, suddenly, I couldn’t care less about the work that has to be done. This man could chain me to the bed for a year, and I’d never ask to leave.
I’m moaning out his name when there’s a knock on the door.
“Sorry to spoil the fun, buddy, but Nicole’s here, so can you keep it down?” Chad’s call from the other side of the door has us freezing still.
Our eyes lock in a state of shock.
“Fuck,” Wes says.
I place a hand on his cheek and try to be rational. “It’s okay. It’s just like that time in the locker room. I’ll just stay in here until he leaves.”
His eyes scrunch tight at the notion. “That is not what I want. I can’t just have you sit in my room. What if he doesn’t leave?”
“Just get Nicole to get him to leave. She’s my friend. She’ll do anything for me.”
“This is so fucked.” His head falls to my shoulder.