Letting You Go (Stone Lake 1)

I look up, surprised at Gavin’s question.

“You’re preoccupied with an event that has passed, Gavin.”

“Humor me,” he mumbles.

“It was okay. Dad was out of town for business, so Mom and I had lunch in town complete with cupcakes.”

“That doesn’t sound great. I figured you’d have a party.”

“Nah,” I respond. I don’t tell him that things are tense at home lately. Something is going on with my parents, but when I ask them about it, they tell me I’m imagining things. “Let’s stop talking about it. My birthday was lame. I enjoyed dancing with you much more.”

“I think so too.” He smirks and for some reason I really like that look on his face.

“I think all the fish are dead,” I grumble, deciding to change the subject before I do something horribly stupid and blurt out that I love him. I mean I don’t. How could I? We barely know each other and until our dance, we hadn’t spoken in forever. It’d be crazy to love him…

Crazy.

I lay my pole down and lay back on the dock, looking up at the sky. The sun has moved, so it’s not shining straight down on us now and I’m definitely glad for that.

“You’ll lose your pole if a fish gets on it,” he warns, but he’s smiling down at me and he’s got this lazy look on his face that makes me feel warm all over.

“Gavin, there are no fish in this lake.”

“There are.”

“Tell that to the poor worm you sank hours ago and has been suffering on the hook.”

“It probably drowned, Babe.”

“Worms can breathe underwater.”

“Did I miss that fact in biology class or something?”

“When you take the worm out of the water, he’s always squiggling.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s alive,” he counters.

My brows knit together. “Of course it does. Why else would he be moving?”

“Babe, things like that move after they die. Their bodies twitch from pain.”

“Ew… They do not!”

“Babe, they do.”

“You’re just trying to gross me out!”

“I’m being honest. Haven’t you seen a snake move after it’s dead.”

“Um… No. No, I haven’t. You know, Gavin, if this is the way you talk to the girls at our school, it’s a good thing you’re hot, cause if not, your reputation would be a lot different.” I close my eyes as I giggle, so I don’t see what he’s doing. All at once though I feel his hand on my stomach and as I jerk and look at him, I’m surprised to find him lying beside me.

“I’m teaching you here, Luna. You should pay attention.”

“What are you teaching me?” I ask, suddenly left breathless.

“That some things make your body react out of your control,” he responds. His eyes are intense and his hand on my stomach feels hot through my thin shirt. My heart is beating hard in my chest. I use my tongue to moisten my lips, rubbing them together nervously, because my mouth is suddenly dry.

“What things?” I whisper, hoping I’m tempting him. For the first time in my life, I want to tempt a boy. I want Gavin to lose control. I want him to lose control with me. I want his touch, his kiss and maybe more.

“Luna—”

“What things, Gavin?” I ask again. My voice is so hoarse, full of hunger for things I don’t truly understand, that I barely recognize the desire.

“Damn,” he growls, his lips close to mine, and then he kisses me.

His tongue slides into my mouth like a soldier intent on owning me. The ferociousness behind the sensual act would scare me if I didn’t want him so much. I’ve never noticed before that kisses have tastes. There’s the minty freshness of his mouth as if he had gum or candy, but there’s something else, a deeper taste that feeds my growing hunger. Our tongues slide against one another, and I lose myself in the kiss, letting my worries fade and letting Gavin take control, allowing him to lead me where we need to go.

I feel his hand slide under my shirt and move across my stomach. I moan and Gavin swallows the sound. My hips rock and I clench the muscles in my body because it feels like there’s a fire inside of me that has been fanned and is on the verge of becoming a wild blaze. His fingers skirt under my bikini top, as his thumb brushes against the swell of my breast.

This is it. This is what I’ve waited my whole life to experience. These sensations—the ones only Gavin awakens—are what Jules is always talking about, that I never understood.

“God, Luna,” Gavin growls, when he breaks away for just a moment.

My eyes open slowly as I stare up at him. I’ve wanted this for so long, I feel like I might be in the middle of a dream. I lick my lips, and I can still taste him there. His gaze zeros in on my tongue and becomes so heated that I feel like it’s burning me.