“Is that how you get so many girls in bed? Compliment their footwear?”
He tenses slightly, but says with a wink, “Every guy knows it’s the way to a woman’s heart.”
“I’m sure you’ve broken a lot of them.”
He turns to me, lifts my chin with a finger and leans down. “Don’t want to break yours, Ava. Ever.”
I suck in a shaky breath. “Then don’t.”
He swallows hard. “I promise if you ever give it to me, I’ll cherish it like it’s the most precious thing in the world.”
My heart thumps wildly with his promise, wanting to believe him.
“So, tell me about your family.” I let him take my hand, twining my fingers with his.
“My mom raised us on her own after my dad left. I’m the oldest, so--”
“A lot of responsibility was put on you,” she says as if she understands.
“Yeah. But I don’t mind. Even without my dad around, I had a good childhood. Mom always made sure we had the essentials.”
“How many siblings do you have?”
“There’s five of us all together.”
“Wow. That must’ve been a busy house.”
“I always wanted siblings,” I say.
“I’m more than happy to share mine.”
A cool breeze whips around us, and when I shiver he puts an arm around me, drawing me close.
I appreciate how easy it is to be around him. I expected him to be hard to get to know, that he’d always have a joke and never veer into more serious territory, but that isn’t him at all. This entire night he has been honest with, opening up, and letting me get to know the real him.
It makes me want to open up more too.
He twists me towards him. “I’ve been wanting to do something since I picked you up earlier.”
“What’s that?”
“This.” His lips crash down on mine, and he kisses me hard. Deep. Our tongues entwining, and my belly warming with all the memories of our first time.
And I’m falling.
Hard.
“Andy Stafford,” a girl’s voice grates out behind me and I feel him tense around me. “God, I knew you were a player, but really?”
He pulls back, brows drawn down in worry when he glances over my shoulder. He mutters, “Shit.”
I turn to see what, or rather who he’s looking at. A blonde, who I recognize from campus stands there with a few of her friends, arms crossed, glaring between me and Andy.
“Kristen,” he says.
“It’s Kiersten,” she practically shrieks, face red.
“Right, sorry,” he winces, and tries to steer me away, but the girl isn’t ready to let us go that quick.
“I can’t believe you.” She points a manicured finger into his chest. “You bring me here, fuck me in the maze, then two weeks later you’re here with someone else. My friends were right, you really are a manwhore.”
All my fears slam into me.
That he’s exactly who I thought he was.
That I’m nothing but another notch in his belt.
That he is going to break my heart.
Kiersten storms away, her little entourage glaring at Andy over their shoulders as they follow her.
“Shit, Ava. I’m sorry--”
“It’s fine. I just... I think we should go.”
“Ava--”
“I’m not mad.” I have no right to be. I knew who he was. Knew his reputation. But I can’t put my heart on the line for someone like him. Someone who’ll be onto the next conquest as soon as he’s bored with me. “I just want to leave.”
With a heavy sigh, he nods, and we walk back to his car in silence.
Storm clouds roll in above us from the east, and by the time he opens the door for me, little droplets of water are hitting my cheek, like tears that I won’t let fall.
No words are spoken as we drive back, it’s only when he pulls the car to a stop in front of the sorority that he says, “I can’t take back what I did in the past, Ava.”
“I’m not asking you to. You are who you are.”
“And who do you think that is? You judged me before you met me. I know the labels: dumb jock, man whore, what else?” Frustration drips from his words.
“I’m not judging you. You’re allowed to live your life the way you want. I just...” I glance out the window, the rain coming down harder now, and when a crack of thunder rumbles across the sky, I feel it in my chest. “You’re not good for me.”
“I’m more than you think I am. And I can be what you need.”
I look at him then. “Until when? Until the next girl catches your eye? I know how guys like you work.”
“Guys like me?” Anger burns in his words. “And what kind of guy do you think I am, Ava?”
“A guy that’s never made a commitment in his life.” The words come out before I can bite them back.
“You have no idea the kind of commitments I’ve made. But you’re right, I’ve never made a commitment to a girl. Because I’ve never met one worth the risk. Not until you.”