He nodded, and a big grin spread across his face. He looked like a little boy in a candy store. It was adorable, but distracted me only momentarily. I was quickly brought back to reality when I realized all Evan could tell him.
"Oh God! What?"
"Nothing." He ducked his head.
"It's something!" I panicked. "What did that head of hair tell you?"
"Jocelyn." He took my hand. "Relax. Evan practically drools over you. He told me to be careful with you. He's afraid I'll hurt you by moving too fast."
"I can take care of myself," I said. "I’ve been doing it for a long time."
"I know," he responded. "But I'm older and more experienced and that bothered Evan because you've never . . . ."
Now I was mortified. "He told you that I've never been on a date?"
He nodded and grinned again.
"Oh God!"
"Don't be embarrassed. It kinda turns me on to know I was your first kiss."
"Really?"
He leaned in closer to me and said, "Really." He gently kissed my lips. "I'd like to be many other firsts too."
I didn't know whether to kill Evan or thank him for telling Alex about my lack of experience; right now, it didn't matter. I just liked being close to him, and I really looked forward to getting to know him.
The next few months held so many possibilities . . . .
Chapter Three
Alex and I saw each other constantly for three weeks and things were getting serious. At first, I thought it was just me. I'd never felt this way about anyone before, and everything was so new. I had all these crazy feelings, and I was happy all the time.
Max noticed I was smiling a lot more than usual.
It was a rainy Friday afternoon in early April. Evan and I had two days left to put the final touches on our project. We'd been working on it all day at his house. I was actually sad to see it come to an end, because this assignment represented several different things to me. Through the course of it, I became closer to Evan, and for that I was extremely grateful. The hours we spent on together working filled a void for me. I got to meet his family and spend many nights at his house. We ate dinner together like a real family did, at a table, with conversation. Not that Max didn't try, but most nights he worked late, and I usually ate alone and then reheated his dinner for him when he got home. The time I spent at Evan's gave me the chance to see how another family functioned. Two parents, siblings . . . all the things I never really knew I missed until I met the Jordans. It had always been me and Max. It wasn’t that the Jordans' lifestyle was better than what I had; it was just different.
This project had also led me to Alex. If I hadn't been there that afternoon, I wouldn't have met him. At first I thought, after each date, Alex would have had enough of me and stop calling. Eventually, those thoughts began to fade, and they were replaced with excitement and anticipation for the next time we saw one another.
On the particular day in question, I was sitting on the floor in the family room, putting the last details on our presentation, when Alex slipped in behind me and placed a soft kiss on my neck.
"Hello, beautiful," he said into my hair.
"Hey." I smiled. "Did you have fun playing basketball with your friends?"
"Yeah." He swirled his tongue inside my ear, then blew his warm breath against the lobe. "But I missed you." He gently pulled my earlobe with his teeth, then turned my face toward his, so he had better access to my lips. His kisses were getting more intense, and he had recently started to add his hands to the mix. He was very cautious with me and always stopped before things got inappropriate. Sometimes, I wished he wasn't so polite.
Evan cleared his throat and said, "Could you two stop that? It's just nasty."
Alex ignored him and continued to kiss me. I didn't want to be rude, so I slowly pulled away. He looked at me as if no girl had ever asked him to stop.Come to think of it,who in their right mind would ask him to stop kissing them?
"Evan's right," I whispered, and suddenly felt embarrassed.
He jumped to his feet and extended his hand for me. "Come on, then."
"Where?" I asked, as he pulled me up.
"Upstairs." He smiled. "I need a shower, and we need some privacy." He shot Evan a dirty look. "It's too crowded down here."
