“First, it wasn’t an accident. Second, what are you trying to say?” I prompted.
“Well, it’s just that...um, people might think we’re together.” Her face turned crimson, and I couldn’t hold back the smile. She was just so damn adorable.
“Good.” I nodded for emphasis.
“Like dating together, not just best friends together,” she murmured as she shuffled nervously from foot to foot.
I gripped her chin firmly, guiding her eyes back to my face. “And?”
Her features screwed up as she gave me a cute little glare. “You’re such a boy!”
I bent my head low so our mouths were only a breath away. “You’re such a girl,” I said silkily before whispering a kiss over her lips. It wasn’t much, but I didn’t want our first kiss to be in the hallway of our school with students everywhere around us.
“Why can’t you just give me a straight answer?”
I pretended to think for a moment, then dipped my head to the side as I responded. “Okay. How about this? I want everyone to know we’re dating because I want them to know you’re mine.”
Her expression softened, though she still sounded snippy when she spoke. “You can’t just...just decide I’m yours.” Her tone didn’t hide the breathless quality. “We haven’t even gone on a real date.”
I smirked as I straightened back up. “You’re absolutely right, baby. And I’m going to remedy that Friday night.”
This time, when her face flushed, her eyes sparkled and her mouth tipped up at one corner. And still, she sassed me. “You can’t just decide I’m yours, Hudson.”
The warning bell for the next period rang, and I turned her around, placing my hands on her shoulders. I leaned in and whispered, “Yes, I can. You’ve always been mine. And you know it.” Then I smacked her round little ass and gave her a gentle push. She wandered for a minute, glancing back at me, her eyes filled with a little shock and a whole lot of hope.
I smiled and said loudly, “See you after class, baby.”
The blush that stole over her cheeks tempted me to drag her to the nearest dark corner and finally find out what she tasted like.
* * *
16 years old
I ripped my mouth away from Gracie’s and flopped back against the seat, breathing hard and willing my body to stand down. Literally. Gracie wiggled on my lap and moaned as she searched out my lips again. It took every ounce of my control to lift her and deposit her back into the passenger seat of my car.
“I thought…” She trailed off and curled into herself.
“Hey.” I reached across the console and brushed her beautiful red curls away from her face. “Don’t ever doubt how much I want you, baby,” I told her in a gravelly voice. “But if we don’t stop, I’m going to lose it and fuck you in the back seat of my car.” I wanted to. I really fucking wanted to. But I had more than enough reasons to wait. The biggest one being the risk of pregnancy.
We both wanted a big family. Gracie had been talking about babies for as long as I could remember. And I hoped to start working on her dream as soon as we started a life on our own. She could go on the pill, and I could wear condoms, but nothing except abstinence was foolproof. Knowing how she felt about providing for our family on our own—although I had gotten a jump-start on it—I wasn’t going to risk a teen pregnancy. Gracie would see it as a failure, and I would never knowingly do that to her.
She opened her mouth, and I placed a finger over it to keep her silent. “You are not a one-night stand, not an easy lay, or just a girlfriend I use for fucking as a placeholder for when the right one comes along.” I brought her face over to meet me in the middle and gave her a soft kiss. “You are my one, my everything, and I refuse to let our first time be anything other than making love.”
Her skin pinkened with one of those blushes I loved so much, and her mouth curved up into a sweet smile. “We could go to a hotel.” I shook my head and chuckled when she pouted, “It’s my birthday.”
“We have our whole lives to explore every kinky, dirty fantasy in my head,” I teased, making her giggle. A sound that always sent a bolt of warmth to my heart and a bolt of lust to my dick.
“You’re such a boy,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
“You’re such a girl,” I replied with a smirk.
I cupped her face in my hands and pressed my forehead to hers. “You are it for me, Gracie. I love you.”
Her ocean blue eyes widened, and she blinked like an owl, her mouth forming a little O.