Page 51 of Hazel and Elijah Find Out: First They F*cked Around

“Thank you. But everyone knew she was good, and I wasn’t. What we did wasn’t reallydating; it was mostly just talking behind the shed. It was nice. Wholesome. It took weeks before we even kissed.”

My stomach twisted, knowing that the rug was about to be pulled out. His story gave insight not only to the way the town could twist the truth, but also on the boy I’d idolized at the time.

“By the time we got caught… we were past the kissing stage. I don’t blame Hannah for not speaking up when her dad started saying terrible things about me. She was scared.”

He tapped his fingers on the armrest. “But it finalized everyone’s idea of me. For months, it felt like everyone was talking about me. Like everything I did was proof that my mom didn’t have control over me, and I was a bad influence on…everyone. It wasn’t who I was, but it was what they thought of me. It was shitty.”

Wrapping his arms around my waist, he held me. “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to, but I just want you to know that I know firsthand what’s going on.”

I pulled back to stare into his beautiful eyes. This close, I could see a ring of dark brown circling the green.

“I hate the attention I’m getting right now,” I managed to say before my throat grew too tight.

His arms flexed—protecting me. “You have a lot of support, though. Ask Echo’s owner what she thinks of you. Or Patricia over at the humane society. Have you noticed how loudly she’s supporting this fundraiser?”

I shook my head, my eyes stinging.

A smile spread across his face, so beautiful and quick. “She’s not holding back her two cents.”

“No?”

“No.” He lifted his eyebrows, the grin still on his face. “She’s supportive.”

“It’s hard to hear the good stuff when I feel so scraped up by the bad stuff.”

He rubbed soothing circles on my back.

“I feel like I should be above it. Like, why do I care what they think?”

“Because you do.”

I lifted a shoulder, still not happy with the explanation.

“I don’t want to. I want to be bold like Nora, or at least apathetic like Brooks.”

“You aren’t them. You do care.”

I hid my face in his shoulder. “It’s embarrassing.”

“I don’t think it’s anything to be embarrassed about.” He pressed his lips to my temple. “It’s okay to be you, Hazel.”

His acceptance was a balm for my wounds. A safe place to vent my insecurities. He kept opening himself up to me, letting me see his vulnerability. I just wished he could see just how good he was.

I cupped his face in my hands. “It’s okay to be you, too.”

The tension rushed out of his shoulder, and his sigh tickled through my hair.

I lowered my mouth to his. I tried to pour all my feelings into the soft pressure of our lips. He held me closer, tighter, as if his arms alone could shield me from our small town. His mouth parted, and his tongue swiped over mine. I moved my hands down to rub gentle circles into his shoulders, and slowly, they eased.

The last thread of my defenses broke; the veil that I’d left as a fail-safe, the one I’d never unwrapped around my heart. The one that whispered,Just in case, was gone. And behind it, I was left unprotected.

It was terrifying.

It was overwhelming.

It was right.

The strong hold of his fingers on my thighs, and the way his mouth demanded more… it was all right.

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