I wonder why. Why is there such a rivalry between them?
I can’t ask him though, can I? I can’t ask all these burning questions inside me because I know first-hand how it feels to be asked.
But I can show him. I can show him that I’m not afraid of whatever it is that’s haunting him.
I meet his eyes. “I think you’re exactly who and where you’re supposed to be.”
Mine and with me.
One day I’m going to say it out loud to him. One day we won’t have to meet in the dark like we’re thieves. Like what we have is something to be ashamed of.
He looms over me, the drops of water plopping onto my cheeks, and I arch into him. “Yeah?”
I go on my tiptoes and place a soft kiss on his lips, and whisper, “Yes. Because I want you to do something for me.”
He presses a hard kiss on my mouth, like he can’t resist having a taste. “What?”
I can’t resist a taste either. So I go in for a soft kiss on his stubborn chin and lick his stubble. The rough texture of it on my tongue is so fucking sexy that I get distracted and keep kissing and licking him, like an eager puppy.
Groaning, he presses our lower bodies together and I feel the hardness of his arousal against my stomach. “What do you want me to do, Willow?”
I move my tummy against his cock, hoping it finds its home tonight, inside of me. “Help me up first.”
Without giving him time to think, I push on his shoulders for balance as I heave myself up and wind my legs around his waist. His arms drop to my ass and he gives me a boost and just like that, I’m wrapped around him. Tightly and effortlessly.
Simon is frowning, though. His body is tight, and I squeeze my thighs around him, grinning. His frown increases in intensity when he sees me beam.
I kiss his nose, making him slide his hands inside my pajama shorts and knead the flesh of my bare ass. “Okay, so don’t be mad, all right?”
The way he’s watching me, all alert and almost apprehensive makes me think he already knows what I’m going to ask, and he’s going to be mad, no matter what.
With my hands around his neck, I boost myself even more, going up on his body so I look down at him for a change. “I want you to take my virginity.”
His nostrils flare; even looking up at me, his neck at an angle, he hardly appears any less intimidating. “Excuse me?”
I bite my lip. “Please. It’ll be like a huge favor.”
“Favor being taking your virginity.”
His dry, tight tone makes sparks shoot down to my core. Why am I so attracted to his commanding voice? His authority. The fact that he’s so much older than me and so much more experienced.
I peek at him through my lashes. “Yes.”
“How’s that a favor?”
Simon’s watching my mouth as if he needs to see the words coming out of it. I know the reason I’m going to give him is outrageous but it’s his fault. He won’t take the gift I’m offering. So I’m going to trick him.
“Because if you don’t, then someone else will take it.”
“What the fuck?”
It’s like I’m hugging a rock. A hard, unforgiving but breathing rock.
“Before coming here, I had this plan. I wanted to, uh, not be a virgin when I go to college. So, I was going to give it to someone.”
This much is true. I was going to go out with my cousin and find someone to hook up with. Actually, my cousin was going to make me go out with her, so she could find me a guy. I said yes to appease her. But I know if it really came down to it, I would’ve made some excuse.
It’s not as if I didn’t want to get laid, but I didn’t want to get laid like that.
“What is it? A fucking t-shirt that you were going to give it to someone?” he growls angrily, pressing my lower body to his stomach.
I flinch at his tone, but I’m determined to see this façade through. “Hey! I wanted to experience life, okay? I’ve been too ashamed of myself and everything wrong about me that I never really stepped out. I only ever had one boyfriend who turned out to be crap. So my cousin came up with a plan. She was gonna get me a fake ID and she was going to take me to a bar. And she was going to find me a guy.”
Again, truth. But he doesn’t need to know that I was completely against the fake ID plan. I’m not an idiot. I know how dangerous it can be, going out like that.
“No.” He almost squeezes the breath out of me with his hold.