Fall to You (Here and Now 2)

She blinks at me through the rain, her wet cheeks flushed. Her tongue darts out over her swollen lips. “I don’t know if I should be embarrassed or…grateful.”

I chuckle and take her hand, kissing the soft skin over her knuckles. “Come with me?” My voice hitches at the end, and my suggestion becomes more of a question. There’s something about Hanna that makes me feel vulnerable.

She grins. “Let’s go.”

By the time we get a cab, we’re drenched, but she doesn’t complain about her hair or makeup like most girls would. Instead, when we slide into the back, she keeps biting back a smile. So damn sweet.

Taking my hand, she intertwines our fingers. My plans for using the cab ride for another ten minutes of foreplay melt away. For now, I settle for breathing in her scent.

WE ENTER the hotel’s glitzy lobby and make our way to the elevator hand in hand, leaving a path of damp footprints on the marble tiles.

When the elevator dings and the doors slide closed, Nate presses the P button and slides his room key in the slot. A shiver shudders through me. I was okay outside, but in the air conditioning, my skin is breaking out in goose bumps.

He rubs his knuckles over my bare shoulders. “We’ll get you out of these wet clothes and warmed up.” He cups my face in both his hands before kissing me.

My heart pounds and I can feel it in my ears. I’m really going to do this. I’m going to lose my virginity to a guy I just met.

He pulls back, concern twisting at his beautiful face. “Are you okay?”

I nod, but before I can figure out what to say, the doors slide open to a lush suite. I step inside, afraid I’ll chicken out if I don’t move quickly.

He’s behind me, settling his hand possessively at my waist. “Do you like it?”

“It’s really nice.”

The elevator chimes, and I spin around and watch the doors slide closed again.

“Hanna.” He tilts my chin so I’m looking at him. “Your room is an elevator ride away. We can say goodnight any time you want.”

“I…” Why can’t I feel like I did outside the club? Bold. Uninhibited. Ready to throw off the chains of my virginity. Instead, I’m a live wire of nerves and hyperaware of everything. The burbling of the saltwater fish tank set into the wall, the soft hum of the air conditioner, the way Nate’s eyes are searching mine.

What will he think if I back out now? What will I think?

What if I’m wrong about me and Max and we end up together again? Will I tell him about tonight? Will he resent me for it? Or will I keep it to myself and let it be the secret that sits between us our whole lives, the something keeping us from truly connecting like we once did?

Pushing my thoughts aside, I rise onto my toes to press my mouth to Nate’s. He doesn’t take long to respond, and the feel of his mouth over mine, his tongue sweeping inside, helps to quiet the chaos of my mind.

“Shower?” he murmurs against my mouth.

“Mmm-hmm.”

“With me?”

Another shiver rushes through me, as much from nervous anticipation as from cold. “If that’s okay with you.”

His eyes flash. “More than okay.”

Taking my hand, he leads me farther into the suite, past the living room area and into a giant bedroom. The king-sized bed is made with fresh white linens and seems as enormous and frightening as what I’m about to do.

Any nerves I feel at the sight of the bed fall away when Nate continues on, flipping the lights in the bathroom and revealing an oversized en suite with a large glassed-in shower and Jacuzzi tub.

I watch in awkward silence as he turns on three different showerheads. What am I supposed to do with myself? Am I supposed to undress or wait or…?

Worry fizzles, because before I can decide what to do, he’s back and kissing me again, pressing me against the long granite countertop. He pushes one dress strap off my shoulder and tugs on the fabric until one lace-covered breast is exposed.

He groans softly. “Your bra matches your panties.”

“What happened to those?”