“You’re a jackass. A stupid. Fucking. Jackass.”
The girl had a mouth like a sailor.
“You and Jenny deserve each other!”
Hold up. Stone stood taller, his sister’s words registering. Jenny? As in Chelsea’s best friend? No fuckin’ way.
“Nothin’ happened, Chels,” Nico drawled. “I swear to God.”
“Swear all you want. You’re a fuckin’ liar.”
Since Nico continued to back up with each step Chelsea took, Stone figured it was safe to let them hash this out alone, so he headed back into the house. As fun as it was to watch, he had a girl waiting for him inside, and he already spent far too little time with her.
Since she was still in high school—only a few weeks away from graduating—Stevie’s schedule and his rarely meshed. Not to mention, her parents weren’t exactly keen on the idea of their eighteen-year-old daughter dating a twenty-one-year-old who was filling in at his parents’ store until he could figure out what he wanted to do with his life. If the rumors were true, Stevie’s father thought Stone was a deadbeat without a future and had no business preying on his little girl.
Unfortunately, the deadbeat part was spot on. Yes, it was true. He hadn’t yet figured his shit out, but he was working on it. As for the preying part, well, that part of the rumor wasn’t accurate. Stone had done right by Stevie, keeping his hands to himself—mostly—until she turned eighteen back in August. They’d spent almost a month in each other’s company before he even kissed her.
But Stevie’s folks were the only ones who seemed to have a problem. Stone’s parents didn’t seem to mind that Stevie was eighteen or that she was still in high school. Then again, they’d always trusted his judgment. The same went for his brothers and sisters. Deborah and Owen Jameson were lenient right up until their kids gave them a reason not to be. Stone did his best to straddle the line between right and wrong, never deviating too far in either direction.
“She’s in the living room,” his mother told him when he walked inside. “Dad won’t be home for a while, so I’ll give you two some privacy. I’ll put the food in Tupperware so you can get it when you’re ready.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Stone went to the living room and joined Stevie on the couch, where she sat, remote in hand, flipping through channels. He sat beside her, stretching his arm out, teasing the end of her ponytail with his fingers. Her hair was silky soft and smelled like strawberries.
“Miss me?”
She giggled, leaning into him.
He loved that she did that. Loved that she was always touching him somewhere. Holding his hand, rubbing his back. What he loved the most was the way her hand slid over his thigh, the edge of her pinky grazing his dick every so often. As he said, he’d never once preyed on the girl, but Stone wasn’t sure the reverse was true. Stephanie Shepherd knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to go after it.
“You better be careful with that hand, little girl,” he whispered, nipping her earlobe.
A shiver rocked her small body.
“Payback’s a bitch,” he promised, pressing his fingertips to her chin so he could turn her head toward him. “Is that what you want?”
Her expression was one of sweet innocence. The little minx. She knew exactly what she was doing to him.
“Kiss me, Stevie,” he whispered against her mouth. “Show me how much you missed me.”
Her lips met his, lingering in a sweet caress for a brief moment before he tilted his head and claimed her. Instantly, she was pliant in his arms, her hand cupping his cheek, her tongue slashing his in barely restrained hunger. This always happened when they were together. Didn’t matter if he’d seen her that morning. His hunger for her simmered in anticipation, threatening to boil over as soon as he saw her again.
“God, baby,” he mumbled. “Keep that up, and we’ll have to take this somewhere else.”
“Lead the way,” she whispered, her eyes sparking with the same burning desire that threatened to incinerate him.
The girl was a handful. A tiny, sexy fucking handful.
Back when they’d first started talking—sometime in June of last year—she’d been a little shy. A friendship grew organically from their conversations whenever he saw her at one function or another. Then, one night, he asked her to grab a milkshake at the diner. She said yes, and that was all she wrote. They started dating exclusively shortly after that, taking things slow. She was the first girl he’d been with who’d captured more than just his dick’s attention.
He wasn’t sure if it was because she’d been seventeen at the time or what, but their relationship had started off platonic for the most part. Talking at first, then holding hands. They progressed from there. A little kissing, some light petting, but nothing more than that. Right up until she turned eighteen. That was the night she’d givenhima birthday present when she asked him to screw her. Her exact words: “I’m tired of waitin’, Stone. Screw me already.”
Stone hadn’t been able to tell the sweet little virgin no. He was incapable. And yeah, his ego had wanted to claim her virginity because it thrilled him that he was her first. He’d been given something no other man on the planet would ever have. He would admit he didn’t cherish much, but from the moment he slid inside her, he knew what a gift it was.
Since then, he’d been doing his best to keep up and loving every second. Whatever she wanted, he was bound and determined to get it for her. And if that involved certain parts of his anatomy, so be it. The girl was kinky as fuck, and the more he introduced her to, the more she wanted.
It was safe to say he’d never met a girl like Stevie. And he seriously doubted he ever would.
