Page 125 of If Our Hearts Collide

But the consequence of us being together could eventually send a ripple into this moment in time that could cause catastrophic damages in the future.

I pull back after licking her sweet lips, sucking in air through my teeth.

“You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Why do you keep overthinking everything?”

Gently placing Penny back onto sturdy ground, I take two steps away from her, while running my hands through my hair. “Dammit, we shouldn’t be doing this.”

“And why not?”

She looks genuinely confused. Why is this so hard for her to understand?

Penny shakes her head. Her breathing picks up, causing her chest to rise and fall like rolling hills. “You are valuing sex too much. Quit making it into a big ceremony or something. Just put it in”—she pauses her monologue to add hand movements—“swish it around a few times. Bam-o. Done.”

I can feel my mouth gaping, as I take another step back.

“What the hell, Pen? Is that how you view sex? This isn’t like making a freaking cocktail. There’s a bit more finesse.” My fingers run through my hair.

“I’m simply saying that it doesn’t need to be more than what it is. I don’t need special.”

“You deserve special, Pen.” I know she’s been drinking, but there’s still some truth to her description, and a part of me is upset that she lacks the self-esteem to wish for something grander. And dare I think it—a little more special.

“I need a release. I need someone to notice me and to want to be with me. And I’m starting to get antsy and desperate. The next guy that shows me any interest will probably find himself inside my squishy pussy before he can use his safe word.”

“Fucking hell, you don’t know what you’re saying.”

“I’m not some little girl who doesn’t know what sex is, Collins.”

“You deserve more than to get railed in the backseat of some loser’s car.”

I close the distance between us.

My fingers dig gently into the softness of her hips, and for a second I worry I will bruise her. She has all the right curves, and I love having something to squeeze on to…

Except I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t be touching. I shouldn’t be sampling the forbidden fruit, no matter how tempting she is and how persuasive her depictions are. Yet, my eyes can’t stop focusing on her beautiful body or how her breasts look extra plump when she is breathing heavily.

Penny is equal parts sweet and sassy—and I can’t decide which I like best.

I sigh. Why am I the only one who understands the implications and the fallout that will ensue if her family were to find out I made a move on her? “You are the baby sister of the two men who entrusted me with your care.”

“I never asked for a guardian, Collins. I didn’t ask for anything.”

“That doesn’t change the reality of the current situation.”

“Well, then quit,” she challenges.

“I’m older by sixteen years. I should know better. It’s too big of an age gap, little princess.”

“So.”

“It’s wrong. And I’d be evil for pursuing it.”

“Oh, please save my ears from filling them with the innocence garbage. I’m a grown woman—one who is rejected yet again tonight. And this stings the worst, because you showed me what it could feel like to be with you. And I fucking liked it!”

I can’t even look at her. I can’t be near her and not want to rip her clothes off.

She’s the source of all my agony—all my torment—and to downplay this life-shattering decision to merely just a rejection is careless.

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