Page 130 of Falling Like This

“Wait, I want to talk to you for a minute.”

He follows me upstairs to my room.

Once the door is shut, I immediately pull him into a tight hug. He wraps his big arms around me and that familiar feeling of comfort and safety, of home, washes over me.

“I missed you,” I say.

He kisses the top of my head. “I missed you, too.”

I pull back slightly and squeeze his hands.

“Thank you for the necklace. It’s beautiful.”

“You know what it means,” he says.

“I do.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just—I know we said we were going to let everything else go, but I think we need to talk about what happened with Jesse and me.”

Aaron swallows hard. “Oh. Honestly, I’m not sure I want to know about this.”

“I think you need to.”

“I guess.” He hems and haws for a minute. “I’m worried I can’t handle it if you tell me you slept with him.”

I tilt my head. “Why?”

“Because we didn’t get to be each other’s firsts. And I wish we had been. Obviously, we can’t change that, but I guess I hoped we’d be each other’s seconds.”

“I—” I stop and look at him, realizing what he said. “But you and Caity?”

He shakes his head. “We never slept together. We did some other things, though. I know it isn’t fair, Rae. I’m a big part of why we weren’t together. But in some dumb way, I still wanted—”

“Aaron,” I say, stepping in close and putting my hands on his chest. “I didn’t sleep with Jesse.”

His eyes go wide as his face lights up. “Really?”

I shake my head. “I couldn’t have, for multiple reasons. It would’ve been my first time since…” I trail off.

His face falls, and he pulls me into his chest. “I didn’t even think of that. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I say, pushing back so I can look into his eyes. “I also don’t think I could’ve slept with someone else when I was so in love with you.”

He looks at me tenderly and runs his hand through my hair.

“But,” I say gently, “we did some other things. I wasn’t ready for a lot yet, so he basically stayed in the chest region. But that did—I mean I had—it was something like an orgasm but from him touching my nipples.”

Aaron’s eyes go wide. “That’s a thing?”

“Believe me, it surprised me, too. And Jesse. And Sarah when I told her.”

“A nipple orgasm?” he says, a naughty grin crossing his lips.

I put both my hands on his chest and give him a little push.

“Aaron Cooper, don’t get any naughty ideas. We’re supposed to be taking thingsslow. Besides, after what I need to say, you might not want to have any more naughty ideas about me.”

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