She takes my phone.Can I ask how many there have been?
I take it back.Why do I get the feeling you’re not asking about kisses anymore.
Annie bites down seductively on her lower lip and shakes her head. She wants answers. I consider it for a moment. I know for a fact I’m knee-deep in double digits.
“Too many.” The need to apologize bubbles to the surface. “I’m sorry.”
Why?Her brows knit. She looks genuinely perplexed by this.
“Because I wish I waited.” I press my lips tight. “I wish I waited for you.”
Her mouth opens, and she glances at the door like she might be using it.
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” I pull up my phone.It’s just—what happened today, that was something that I’ve never experienced before. It was amazing. It felt right. Like I’ve waited for it my entire life.
The fire snaps a series of aggressive pops, and the room heats up ten times hotter than before.
Annie doesn’t move. Her eyes stay fixed on mine. She blinks at her phone a moment before writing back.Sometimes there are no words.
I pull her chin up with my finger ever so gently. This time I don’t ask, I simply lower my lips to hers and kiss her, slow and easy, like she were mine. And I’m hoping to God she is.
Annie matches my pace, my passion, my desire for more, with a momentum that continues to build between us. She rides her hands up my shirt, gliding her cool fingers over my chest, and it feels like paradise. A breath escapes me as I pause a moment to smile right over her mouth. Her hands glide down, landing over the button on my jeans.
“Whoa.” I pull back and clasp my hand over hers. “Not sure we should move so fast.” Words that have never left my mouth before.
“Why?” she whispers. Her forehead creases, her eyes still glazed over with a fresh layer of lust.
“Because”—I cup her face and brush my thumb over her cheek—“if that’s going to happen for us, I want it to be just right. Perfect.” I mouth the words laboriously slow.
Her lips crimp in frustration as she pulls out her phone.It can be perfect tonight.
A laugh rumbles from me. “I don’t think it would be perfect tonight.”
She gives an incredulous huff.Did I do something wrong?
“What? No.” I tap into my phone.You’re doing everything right. That’s why I think we should continue in that trajectory.I swallow hard as I show it to her.I want to make sure your first time is special.
Her brows dig into her forehead with amusement.Do you always make sure your first time with a girl is special?
She’s got me there. “No. But you are special.” I slow it down so she doesn’t miss a beat. My hands wrap tight around her tiny waist as I pull her closer to me. “And I want our first time to be just as memorable as that kiss.”
Her gaze falls to the floor.Are you treating me different because of my hearing?
“No.” I hold up my hands in surrender. “I swear to you it’s not that.” My hands fumble with my phone again.You’re special to me, Annie. I think what’s happening between us is special. You asked about other girls— I close my eyes a moment. “You’re in a class all by yourself. “ I annunciate each word carefully. “I wouldn’t even compare you to them.”
She shifts her body until she’s straddling me on either side with her knees. Annie sinks down over my lap, and my boxers come to life trying to salute her.
“Annie,” her name hisses out of me slow as death. There’s nothing I would like more than to make love to her right now. That event alone could turn this entire crap year on its head. “This”—I touch her chest then mine—“is going to happen. But I want to get it right.”
Annie gives a slow spreading grin as she bows over my lips with a kiss.
Her mouth opens to mine, and it’s like falling in a warm pool of wonder.
It’s like falling in love.
The Black Bearis brimming with bodies tonight, most of them female and half of those are gunning for my crotch. As soon as the band and I finish our set, I jump off stage to find Annie, but she seems to have vanished, so I head to the bar to get something wet.
“Nice job, baby bro.” Wyatt offers up a fist bump.
