Page 16 of Opening Hearts

He laughed and pulled open her door, waiting for her to climb in before he closed it and went around to climb in the driver’s side. “So, you’re eighteen now. All grown up, huh?”

“Ha. I still have a year left of high school. I’d hardly say all grown up.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. You can vote this fall, though, so there’s that.”

“Yeah. Elena’s birthday is in October, so she’ll be able to vote, too. But I’m not sure that’s enough to qualify either.”

He shrugged. “I’ve been away from home for a year now, and I don’t feel all grown up either, so I’m not sure when that happens anyway.” He turned his grin on her, his teeth flashing in his handsome, stubbled face. “I just like teasing you.”

It was her turn to chuckle. “Yeah, I’ve picked up on that.”

His grin was still firmly in place. “It’s fun to see you blush. You go through every shade of pink and red I’ve ever seen. Sometimes I say outrageous things just to see how red you’ll get.”

She smacked his bicep, laughing. “You’re horrible!”

“Watch it! I’m driving!” The words came out around bursts of laughter at her outrage. His eyes got that glint of mischief again as he glanced at her, his voice lowering. “It’s really fun to see how far down the blush travels when you wear a low-cut top, or—even better—when you’re naked with me. You get all pink when you’re turned on, and then you turn red when I talk dirty to you. I can’t get enough of it.”

Hannah could feel herself reacting just like he described, the flush washing over her a combination of arousal and embarrassment. When they parked in the condo parking lot, Hannah undid her seatbelt and slid over to him on the bench seat to whisper in his ear. “After we’re done swimming, you can see how pink you can make me just from getting me turned on if you want.”

He turned with a growl and yanked her against him, his mouth crushing hers. She couldn’t suppress her smile, but it quickly faded when his tongue slipped past her lips, his fingers tangling in her hair, pulling her head back so he could kiss her as thoroughly as he liked, then scraping the edge of his teeth down her neck. “Mmm. Looks like we’re making a good start.”

With that he let her go, hopping out of the truck. She sat there for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Good Lord, he could kiss. And she loved it when he took control of their kisses like that, and when he took control of her body in his bedroom like he’d done the last couple of nights since they “watched a movie” in his bedroom. His parents were both working evening shifts right now, so they’d had the house to themselves. It was still just mouths and hands so far, but each night she felt like she was closer to being ready to go all the way. Someone as considerate andgoodas Matt seemed like a great choice for losing her virginity. Depending on how the night went, that just might be her birthday present to herself.

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