I kiss her deep and hard before showing her exactly what I mean.
25
Summer
“Do you trust me?” he asks, buried deep inside of me.
“Yes,” is my response, my body one exposed nerve. I feel the passion rumbling just beneath his skin. I feel my own desire for something safe, something sure, overriding everything else. I don’t want to think about the letters. The flowers. The threats. I want this. Whit. I want him.
He kisses me breathless and releases my hips, slowly easing me off his body. I miss the connection; confused and wanting, but he takes me in his arms, twisting me on the couch until I’m bent on my knees. I feel him behind me; big, ready, wet, still slick from being inside me, I feel his breath on my neck and my skirt bunched around my waist and when he asks me if this is okay, I nod and say, “hurry,” not liking the distance.
He doesn’t hurry, but slides himself back and forth between my legs, rubbing my underside with the heat and warmth of his cock. I feel his slippery tip graze my clit and I bite my lip, backing into him.
He enters me slowly, confidently, and although this is the first time I’ve done this, I’m not scared. I’m eager. I knew being with Whit would be different, bold, and I should’ve expected the unexpected. What I didn’t anticipate was how good it would feel having his weight behind me, having his cock in me, feeling his breath on my neck, his hands on my body.
We fall into a rhythm, our breath the only sound other than the noises of the party outside. The fact people are nearby only makes it more exciting—sparking my rebellious, adventurous side. Whit’s fingers curve between my legs, rubbing circles that make my brain short circuit, my limbs limp. His jagged breaths and low grunts as he slams into me over and over. I feel the wave catching up to me, my knees wobbling, his arm wrapping tight around my stomach and soon I’m falling, body quaking, holding myself up until he comes hard inside me, with a low, stifled groan.
He holds my hips tight, twitching inside with release.
“I guess that’s what you mean by taking me like an animal, huh?” I say in a shaky, amused voice.
He doesn’t respond, just pulls me to him and kisses me. I hear his heart hammering in his chest.
Slowly we get ourselves together, knowing we have to get back out there. Finish the night, deal with our lives, and as he straightens his pants and pushes my strap back over my shoulder my eyes land on my mother’s desk. I gasp and reach for the light, hoping the dark is playing tricks on me.
“Oh my god,” I say, blinking at the sudden burst of light.
“What? What am I looking at?” Whit asks, following my line of vision.
I didn’t see it in the dark or in the midst of our heated passion, but now I do and my stomach rolls out of fear. In the center of my mother’s desk is a vase filled with yellow flowers.
26
Summer
“Babe, what’s wrong?”
“I need to talk to my mom.”
Pushing past Whit, I reach for the door with shaking hands. God, what am I doing? Hooking up with Whit when I knew my mother was in danger? Who makes a choice like that?
It takes me a few tries but I unlatch the lock and rush into the hallway. It’s hard to see my mom thro
ugh the thick crowd of people but I do manage to catch Shay’s eye. I wave at her to meet me but it’s not easy in the small, clustered shop.
A hand wraps around my arm and Whit says again, “Summer, what’s going on?”
“There’s been some threats…I thought it was just crazy fan mail, but now…”
My words are cut off by a scream.
It came from the signing area and the sound is gobbled up by the reaction of the crowd. People start to move toward and away from the table and I dart away from Whit to get to my mother. When I push through the crowd she’s standing, arm around Anita. Anita’s eyes are wide and cast downward. A stain seeps across her coral pink skirt.
“Nothing to see here,” she says in a wobbly voice. “Just my water breaking.”
My heart’s stuck in my throat and I’m frozen as Bobby and Justin rush forward and I barely hear my mother announce that due to the miracle of birth, we’re ending the signing early. I catch a glimpse of Isabel and Jessica across the room—a scowl of disgust on Isabel’s pretty face. Ms. Dorothy has a look of concern and Avery is slouched against the wall. A shoulder brushes against mine and look over and see Shay with a wide smile on her face.
“Is this early?”