Laughing, I look over at her. “Stop.”

“Stop what? I’m doing nothing,” she says, cuddling up with my blanket, but I pull it away and cover her body with mine.

She looks up at me, stunned and maybe a little turned on, but soon her snotty look is back, and it only makes me harder. I know she feels every inch of me, and I’m going to make her wetter than a pool in a second, but first I need to nip this in the bud.

“Stop,” I say, meeting her defiant gaze. “What did I say to Jayden? Those girls didn’t matter. You matter. I don’t want anyone looking at your body but me.”

She looks away as she shrugs. “I don’t know why it bothers me, I really don’t. I just don’t get it. Why did you think it was okay to have no respect for those girls?”

Leaning on my elbows, I let my weight fall on her as I meet her gaze again. “Because it was no challenge. They gave it to me like you give a kid candy. It was easy and fast and I didn’t have to put any emotion into it. You’re right that I had no respect for them, but it’s different with you.”

“Why, though? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“You made me work for it the first time I met you. You didn’t just fall in bed with me, and then when you did, I wondered if I should. I actually questioned my motives with you, and I knew that it meant something, you know?”

She brings her lip between her teeth and then lets out a breath. “So what happens when it’s not a challenge anymore?”

“It isn’t a challenge now, Claire,” I say slowly.

“Yes, it is! I won’t give it up.”

I nod. “Maybe, but I don’t need it. I need you. I need this.”

She reaches up and cups my cheek, her thumb slowly moving through the scruff on my jaw. I need to shave but I have no real urge to. Looking deep in my eyes, she asks, “So you aren’t addicted to sex or anything?”

I laugh, breaking our intense stare-off, and shake my head. “I’m addicted to you, Claire. I don’t want anyone but you.”

Meeting her gaze again, I see hers is full of heat, and I swear I see her whole heart. My chest constricts while everything inside me goes hot. This girl is going to be the death of me with only a full-of-heart look. It’s intense. We are intense.

“This isn’t about sex, is it?”

“It isn’t for me,” I answer. “Is it for you?”

She shakes her head before I get the whole sentence out. “Not at all,” she says. Then she asks, “You like me, don’t you?”

I nod slowly, leaning down, my lips only a breath from hers. “Oh yeah, I do. A whole fucking lot, too.”

“I feel the same,” she whispers.

Getting lost in her eyes, feeling her heart bang against mine, feeling the heat between her legs… It’s too much to handle and soon the words are out of my mouth before I can even process them.

“I think I’m falling for you.”

Her thumb pauses on my cheek as her eyes go wide. “Seriously?”

My heart is in my throat. Fuck. She doesn’t feel the same. Looking down at her nose, I take in a deep breath, embarrassed, feeling so dumb. Why would I say something so fucking stupid? So soon?

Before I can even say anything, she brings her face down some so she can meet my gaze. “I feel the same, Jude. Don’t hide. I just thought that I was crazy for thinking that. I mean, it’s only been a week, and I’m convinced you are the guy I could fall completely for.”

My heart falls out of my throat and hits my stomach hard, leaving me breathless. “I know I can, with you and only you.”

“I’ve never trusted anyone, Jude. It took Reese and Phillip forever for me to fall for them and trust them. I don’t know why it’s so easy with you. This world is full of empty promises and false hope, but when I look at you, I don’t feel that. I feel all these crazy butterflies and shit. They scare the hell out of me because I’ve been hurt so many times, but I just have this urge to jump with you. To trust you, completely, no matter what.”

Cupping her face, I feel like I can’t breathe because that’s everything I feel. I feel like this is real. Like it’s forever-type shit, as insane as it is. “I know you’ve been hurt, and I know that people have not been the greatest to you, but I want to change that. I want to be good for you. Worthy of you. I want to make you proud.”

Closing her eyes, she brings me down, our lips touching ever so softly. Parting, I kiss her gently again, enjoying the sweet tenderness of our kisses. Pulling back, I look down at her, and she is just so beautiful. Her eyes are heavy-lidded, her lips parted and swollen from my kisses. Her breasts are pushed up against my chest, her hands at my sides holding me close while stray pieces of her hair fall from her braid.

“You’re so beautiful. So amazing, Claire.”

Tags: Toni Aleo Bellevue Bullies Romance
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