Page 130 of In the Air Tonight

“Probably not. It’s interesting to realize the stakes have changed for everyone involved, including her.”

“You’d have nothing to lose by passing this information on to the prosecutors.”

“No, I wouldn’t. Our friendship ended when she refused to let me help Neisy or tell anyone what we’d seen. I own the fact that I could’ve done it anyway, but she was very convincing about what was at stake for both of us.”

“Peer pressure can be a very powerful thing.”

“For sure. When you’re a teenager, the only thing that matters to you is what your friends think of you. I cringe now at how concerned I was then by what people I didn’t even care about would say about me if I reported what I’d seen. I couldn’t tell you where most of those people are now.”

He twirls a length of my hair around his finger. “Were you in with the in crowd?”

“God, no,” I say with a laugh. “Not at all. Sienna was on the fringe because she was with Cam, and my brother was, but I was in the background, basically overlooked by the popular kids. That never really bothered me until Sienna said they’d all hate me if I turned on Ryder.”

“I can’t imagine you being overlooked.”

“Well, I was. No one gave two thoughts to me, which was fine. I didn’t like being the center of attention, even on my birthday. It made me uncomfortable.”

“And yet you went to acting school?”

“I know, right? It was the ability to disappear into a character, to leave my own story behind for a while, that appealed to me.”

“I can see how that would’ve given you solace. I hope it’s okay that you now have my full and undivided attention.”

“You’re just trying to make me blush.”

He runs a fingertip over my cheek. “I hate to tell you it’s working.”

“Ugh, I hate that more than anything.”

“You can’t hate my favorite thing.”

“Yes, I can.”

“Nope.”

He kisses me, making me forget why I was “arguing” with him in the first place. The more time I spend with him, the further I seem to get from the life I was leading before him. All I want is to be wherever he is, which is something we should probably talk about at some point. But for now, I’m too drunk on his kisses to think about anything other than what’s happening right now.

The T-shirt I slept in moves up and over my head, baring me to his heated gaze.

“You’re beautiful everywhere. I can’t imagine anyone overlooking you.”

He sets me on fire with his words and soft caresses. But more than that, he makes me feel everything in a way I never have before. Maybe because I was never free to enjoy something like this the way I am now. His lips are everywhere as he seduces me one kiss at a time. When I reach for him, he stops me. “Just relax and let me love you.”

Relaxing is easier said than done when he moves down between my legs and uses his tongue and fingers to bring me to an orgasm that has me moaning and thrashing from the power of it. That’s never happened with a partner before, and it’s way better than the solo version.

“Do we need birth control?”

“I’m protected and safe if you are.” This isn’t the time to tell him my periods had been erratic and painful until I went on birth control to regulate them.

“I’m very safe in all the ways that matter.”

“And you know just what to say to me.”

Propped above me, he uses his fingertips to brush the hair back from my face. “I want you to be comfortable with me. Always.”

“I’m a littleuncomfortable right now,” I tell him with a flirty smile and a seductive wiggle of my hips that I wouldn’t have been capable of a few weeks ago. It’s amazing how my unburdening has changed me so profoundly and made me see what I’ve been missing for all the years I carried that terrible weight.

“I bet I know just how to fix that.” He pushes into me and makes me gasp from the intense pressure, the tight fit and the emotional overload that comes from doing this with someone I truly care for. “Is this okay?”

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