“Leo needed some air, bless him, he’s had too much to drink,” India grins.
Hardly, I snort. JJ doesn’t look like he believes her either. She stands and pulls her dress down, not that it covers much. She barely glances at me before walking away.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Slade will kill you if you fuck about with his princess.”
“Nothing happened,” I shrug.
“Whatever, brother. I should’ve known she’d go for you over me.”
Shaking my head, I leave him to do whatever he had planned around here and pick up my step to follow India back inside.
I search her out and she’s talking with Victoria. Tori’s only fifteen, Ricky and Kyla are the most laid-back parents ever. The rest of us were never allowed to come to the club parties when we were that age. Even when the twins were younger, they had free reign wherever they went. Pope has been calling for dad to give them each a prospects cut early to keep them out of trouble, but dad is adamant they’ll wait till their eighteenth birthday, which isn’t too far off.
Half the lights in the bar shut off and Kristen and my mom bring out a huge cake covered in candles. India’s embarrassment makes me smile, she’s cute when she’s blushing.
Everyone begins to sing happy birthday and I keep my eyes on her. She leans over to blow out the candles when Slade calls out, “Don’t forget to make a wish, princess.”
In that moment, her eyes flick up and land on me. For three seconds, it’s just the two of us and her face illuminated by the small flames intoxicate me.
She blows out the candles in one breath and the lights come back on. Kristen busies herself with the cake and India walks by me and stands at the bar.
Like I magnet, I gravitate towards her, but we don’t look at one another.
“Meet me tomorrow.”
She doesn’t answer at first and I’m about to beg when she agrees with a small nod.
“I’ll be at Hanks at noon.”
“See you then,” she whispers, and walks over to Victoria.
I will definitely be seeing her then. Sinking onto a stool, I keep my ass firmly planted at the bar and my eyes follow wherever India goes.
Lighting a cigarette, I inhale deeply and release the smoke in a long stream. India McCarthy has fucked me up tonight, tomorrow she’s going to fuck me and then I can move the hell on from this unexpected infatuation.
India
I can still feel his lips on mine. Everywhere his skin touched mine still burns. The sun rose long ago, and I haven’t had much sleep. Every time I close my eyes, all I see is Leo’s face leaning in to mine. I’ve tried to figure out what the hell happened and why it happened, but every time I come up blank. I was aware of him watching me for the rest of the night, everywhere I went, his eyes followed. They clung to me like the sun on a hot summer’s day.
Leo Jackson is hot, there’s no denying it, and I’m not. There isn’t anything remotely special about me, which has caused my insomnia, questioning why he chose last night to mess with me. Between Leo and JJ, they’ve always teased and play pranks on me. JJ showed up around the back of the club last night too, conveniently when Leo and I were alone. I could never rely on Zach after he found out dad isn’t his biological dad to be the protective big brother. He changed and only looked out for himself. Half the time, he thought they were funny and the other times, he could care less. So why would Leo, on my birthday, look at me like he wanted me and no one else? It could be him and JJ taking things too far this time and playing the ultimate prank, but then I think, they wouldn’t. They would be too scared of my dad.
I shouldn’t have agreed to meet him today, knowing my luck, JJ would’ve filmed the kiss and today they’re going to show it to everyone.
Yet, while I can’t figure out why it happened, it did happen and ever since, I can’t stop yearning for more. I’m pretty certain he’s slept his way through the girls at the club and I know he’s slept with more than half of the girls in town. He has never been on my radar until he took my breath away last night, unless that’s a part of his seduction technique. That’s why he’s slept with so many girls, he puts them under a spell.
Frustrated, I throw the sheets off and climb out of bed. My mom is already up and dressed in the kitchen and her smile is too chirpy for this early hour. Dad is normally the one who’s up first in the mornings.
“Where’s dad?”
“He’s still in bed, he had too much to drink last night. I don’t think he’ll be up for a while,” she laughs at him.
“It was a good party,” I say, visioning Leo and I alone once again.
I pour a glass of juice from the fridge and watch my mom get ready for work. She only works on Sunday’s when she has a lot of paperwork to get through.
“Mom?”
“Yeah?” She barely looks up at me as she flips through a bunch of papers.
“Before you met dad, did you ever have a friend who you knew for a long time and then something changed, say, you kissed, and it didn’t feel weird?”
When it all came out that dad wasn’t Zachery’s real dad, we heard how mom and dad really met. She came to Willow’s Peak to track down the guy who was Zach’s dad to find he had died. I don’t know how he died but Zachery does, and he never speaks about it. By all accounts, dad fell for mom quickly and he’s been in love with her ever since. I don’t know much about her life before she came here though.
She stops rearranging her books and gives me her full attention.
“I can’t say I did. Are you asking because something has happened with you and one of your friends?”
“No,” I answer too quickly, “Aria from school said something the other day and it’s stuck with me,” I lie.
I’m close with my mom, but she wouldn’t understand. Both her and dad are always telling me boys are no good and school is the only way.
“Good, because your life is only beginning. There’s so much more to the world than falling for boys at your age.”
I’ve heard this a thousand times before. Especially after I turned sixteen. Sighing, I should’ve known I wouldn’t get an answer that would’ve helped me.
I take my juice and head back to bed. Zach lets himself in as I’m walking up the stairs.
“Morning,” I say.
“Yeah,” he grunts, being his normal dick self.
He’s always in a mood these days. It was a shock to us both about his real dad, but it was only a shock because dad loves the bones off Zach and has never treated him anything but like his son. Dad doesn’t show it often, but he’s hurting by Zachery’s constant rejections.
I ask him if he’s okay and he tells me he was expecting it one day, it’s not much consolation but it hurts me to see my dad hurting. Zach moved out shortly after, but he still comes around for food. To be honest, I don’t know why he bothers, he treats mom and dad like shit now. You’d think he’d stay away.
Back in my room, my dipping mood caused by Zach’s bullshit mood is replaced with nerves regarding Leo. What if he wasn’t messing with me and he really does want to meet up with me? I still don’t understand what’s going on and why, but I do know I liked it when he kissed me, and I’d like it to happen again. He’s probably woken up this morning and regrets it, but a small part of me hopes not. I decide I’ll get washed and dressed and drive over to Hanks. If he’s there I’ll go with the flow and see what happens, if he’s not, I’ll forget it ever happened, or try to.
I slow down as Hank’s comes into view and sure enough, Leo is waiting, leaning against his bike in the parking lot. I scout the lot and JJ is nowhere in sight.
My mouth goes dry and butterflies dance around in my stomach at the sight of him. How can one kiss change how you feel after years of not feeling anything? Taking a deep breath, I pull in beside him. Before I can switch the engine off, he jumps in the passenger seat and tells me to drive.
His cologne fills the car and not one inch is left that his presence doesn’t cover. I pull back on
to the main road and I’m very aware of him.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since last night,” he finally says.
“Leo,” I sigh, “Last night was…weird. I’ve never liked you other than a friend and even then, we’ve never been close.”
“How do you feel today?”
“Confused,” I answer him truthfully.
“So am I, but I’m liking it and so must you or you wouldn’t have showed up. Am I right?”
He’s right, not that I’m going to admit it out loud yet.
“So, where are we going?”
“Keep driving and take the next left. I’ll give you directions.”
He directs me to the cabin. I don’t remember the last time I was here, but I know the club used to use it when they were in trouble and Cas would pack the old ladies and kids here.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, this was the only place I could think of where we’d be alone.”
No one would see us more like.
It’s quiet around us as we walk up the front steps and the wooden porch creaks under our feet. He unlocks the door and dust covers every surface. You can tell nobody has been here in a long while.
He leads me through to the front room and there’s a bag on the chair. Cocking my eyebrow at him, he quickly explains.
“I checked the place out on the way to meet you, and I brought supplies.”
He pulls out two beers and opens one and hands it over to me. I’m not a fan of beer but I’ll drink anything right now if it means it will settle my nerves.
I walk over to the window and look outside. Large trees hide the cabin from the road, and as far you can see, there are bushes and more trees. I remember hearing about Leo, JJ, my brother throwing parties out here when they were in high school, by all accounts, they were parties of the year.
“So, this is the infamous cabin,” I say, taking a long pull from the beer.
“Yep, a lot of shit went down here back in the day. No one’s been here in years though, don’t worry, we won’t be disturbed,” he says from directly behind me.
“What about the parties you threw back in high school?”
“You knew about them?”
“Everyone did,” I snort, as if they were meant to be some sort of secret.
“We thought the parents didn’t know.”
“Literally, everyone knew.”
My hair is slipped over my shoulder, baring my neck and his lips pepper small kisses along to my shoulder blade and I shiver.
“Sorry, I had to touch you,” he murmurs, and I close my eyes briefly.
When I open them, I turn around to face him and put my beer down by the window.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” he laughs.
Neither of us move away from each other, if anything, we move closer to one another and I find myself wrapping my arms around his neck.
He lowers himself and meets me halfway and our kiss is just as confusing and explosive as it was last night.
Keeping his lips on mine, he lowers himself some more and grabs hold of my thighs and lifts me around his waist. His tongue sweeps across mine as we move over to the couch and he lays over me, not putting his full weight on top of me.
He pushes his groin against me and his hardness digs into the top of my leg. The kiss escalates quickly, and I stiffen when his hand slides up my thigh and under my skirt. He notices the shift in my tempo and looks down at me full of concern.
“You okay?” he asks.
“I’m good…it’s just…I haven’t gone further than this before.”
I’m not embarrassed to admit to him I am a virgin. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.
He moves off me and sits at the other end of the couch, leaving me cold.
“It wasn’t what you were expecting to hear, huh?” I say to break the silence.
“Not exactly…I thought…”
“What? What did you think?”
“You’re fucking beautiful, I assumed you would’ve done it by now.”
“You’ve thought I was beautiful since yesterday,” I snap, unintentionally, “Besides, I’ve never wanted to or had the chance.”
“How?”
“Have you met my dad?” I snort.
“You’re here though, you must’ve been able to sneak by him before today and meet up with someone.”
“I suppose no one’s been worth the risk before,” I shrug.
“And I am?”
I let out a small laugh, “I have no idea, but I’m here and I don’t want to leave.”
He reaches over and holds my hand. I dare to look up at him after my confession and he doesn’t look like he’s about to run off or laugh at me.
“The last thing I want is for you to regret choosing me to share this with you. I hear it’s a big deal for girls.”
I haven’t seen this caring side of Leo before. In this moment, I don’t believe I will regret anything where he is concerned.
Again, our first kiss has changed everything and how I see him now. I’m not confused anymore.
I move closer to him and bring my hand up to his face. I hold onto his cheek and his beard tickles my skin as I lean in to kiss him. His lips are unrelenting for too long until I’m about to give up. He wraps his hand around the back of my neck and a hunger takes over him.
“I want you,” I whisper, and his eyes widen.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
I don’t hesitate to answer him.
“Not on the couch, we’ll go upstairs.”
He pulls me up with him and I follow him up the old wooden stairs, not afraid and not nervous. This feels right with him.
He opens door after door along the hall and decides on the last room. I wonder when this room was last used and determine by the inches of dust on the dresser, not in a long time.
Leo lets go of my hand and moves around the room, shaking out blankets and drawing the shades. The room darkens and my blood rushes around my body faster than it ever has before. It’s dizzying.
He flicks on the small lamp on the nightstand, and it creates a soft glow around us. He stops and turns to me, inhaling deeply.
“Are you still sure?” he asks.
“After you’ve gone to all this trouble?” I grin, and he relaxes, taking a few short steps towards me.
“You can tell me to stop at any time,” he tells me seriously, taking my hands in his.
“You talk too much,” I whisper, leaning up on my tip toes.
“I want you to know I’m going to make this good for you, but I guess it might hurt a little first…”
“Make it worth it then,” I cut him off.
I barely finish speaking before his mouth is covering mine. Kissing Leo has become an addiction and wanting more is only natural.
This feels too natural and instead of it freaking me out that I’m about to have sex with him, I’m not. I never would’ve thought Leo Jackson would be the guy who took my virginity, but in this moment as he gently urges me back towards the bed, lifting my top up and over my head, there is no one else I’d rather it be.
He skims his fingers over the swell of my breasts and down my stomach, all the way down till he stops at the zipper on my skirt. His eyebrows raise, asking me yet again if he can go further, and I nod.
My skirt hits the carpet and pools at my feet. When the boys at school check me out, I feel dirty and violated, when Leo’s eyes scope every inch of me, the hunger in him gives me the confidence to keep standing before him.
“Perfect,” he smiles, darkly.
Before he makes his next move, I step closer to him and peel his cut over his shoulders, it falls to the carpet, joining my skirt. He doesn’t move as I pull his tee up and over his head. His eyes instantly find mine when his head pops out of the material. He has a variation of tattoos on his arms and chest. I run my hand along the creepy clown on his chest and down over his abs. My fingers fall on his belt buckle and I’m not sure w
ho gasps over the other.
Stepping even closer to him, there’s barely any space between us, I undo his belt and undo the top button of his jeans. They hang deliciously low on his hips and before I can make my next move, he grabs my wrist. Turning it in his grip, he scatters light kisses along my warm skin. A small moan escapes me as his lips cause a need for him to build dangerously high.
“Lay down,” he says, gruffly.
I don’t hesitate or think of anything. I climb on the bed and lay on my back. He stands at the foot of the bed before slithering up my body, leaving a trail of kisses on my thigh in his wake. His touch brings the nerves to a kneel, wanting more and I can feel the urge to beg him to hurry up.
His lips land on mine and that’s when I could burst. Digging his erection between my legs, I don’t know if I’ll ever get enough of him, or if this will be a one-time thing, or if it will end as good as it is beginning.
“What’s wrong?”
I was so in my head I didn’t realise we had stopped.
“Nothing.”
“Are you sure?”
“I promise.”
Lifting my head off the pillow, I urge him down to me and meet him halfway. Pressing my lips to his, I hope he can feel how much I want this, how much I want him.
“Tell me again you want this.”
“I want this.”
He crawls out of his jeans and holds me up as he drags the blankets from under us. He lays me back down, all the while treating me like I may shatter beneath him and covers us.
Pulling my bra straps over my shoulders, he bares my breasts and flicks his tongue over my nipple. I was done for.
Losing my virginity to Leo Jackson was as beautiful as it was unexpected. The guy I have known my whole life was not the guy who held me and rocked into me, allowing me to adjust to him at my own pace.
The Leo I explored and enjoyed clawed into my heart, and I’m already afraid of it ending.
We’re both dressed and ready to leave but neither of us say anything. Nothing needs to be said. Whatever is happening between us, this afternoon was beautiful and pure, and I can’t imagine a day in the future where I’d regret it.