Page 97 of So Wild

Her delicate throat contracted and her tiny key tattoo seemed to flicker at him. “Um, maybe August 17? 2006?”

“Why do you want to go back there?”

She wet her lower lip. “It was before…”

She looked away, her expression so pained Scott felt his own heart twist. “You don’t have to feel bad about the past, Samantha. We were just kids and—”

“It’s not that,” she said. “August 17, 2006 was before I’d ever been with anyone…you know. That Way.”

Scott felt his body temperature rise several degrees.

Easy.If you go in too hard, you’ll ruin this.

“I’d like to go back to that time, too.” He pictured himself at sixteen, skinny with floppy blonde hair, how he’d feel if he’d been standing this close to Samantha, then. He touched her side and when she trembled, it stole the air out of his lungs.

“I’ve…I’ve liked you for such a long time,” he said, his voice teetering on the edge of a break, as though for all the world, he was sixteen again.

Samantha looked at the floor, tugging at her hem. “I know. I like you, too, but I’ve never been anyone’s girlfriend before.”

Scott inhaled, willing his body to go back ten, twelve, thirteen years, without passing the fuck out at what was happening right now. “Sammy, will you be my girlfriend?”

She licked her lips, and despite her tattoos and the too-short uniform and the fact they were standing in his quiet, rented apartment, Scott knew her uncertainty was real. On some level, it was all real.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to be your girlfriend,” she said at last. “I don’t want to hurt you. I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“That’s okay.” Scott moved closer to her, pressing his chest against hers and wondering if she could feel the hammerings of his heart. “We don’t have to be a couple right away, but do you trust me to look after you? Just for now, just in this?”

She looked up, and he felt her fear. Not of him, the kind of fear that came from climbing into a roller coaster when you were afraid of heights. Fear going into the unknown, where instincts and memories might be helpful or utterly useless.

“Do you trust me?” she asked and it surprised him to have to think about the answer.

Therewerereasons not to trust her—the pranks, buy­scott­sanderson­aroot.com, the fact she’d drawn a vagina on his face while he was asleep. But looking at her, he knew those things didn’t matter. “Of course, I trust you.”

She chewed her lower lip and he realised the question actually meant, ‘why do you like me?’

He held her hand closer to his chest. “I think you’re beautiful and funny and strong, Sammy. I think you’re an incredibly talented artist and the loyalty you show your family is incredible. I’ve never felt for anyone the way I feel for you. Whenever I see you, I’m just…happy.”

She smiled, pink creeping across her cheeks. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

He watched her chew at her lower lip before practically spitting out the words. “I trust you, too, Scott. I just don’t want you to hurt me.”

Hope ignited in his belly like a flame. “I won’t, I promise I won’t.”

They kissed. Both of them shuddered as their lips connected. Their mouths aligned perfectly and as they fell into one another, Scott forgot everything but the taste and feel of Samantha DaSilva’s lips. Soon their kissing became urgent, animalistic. Sam touched him everywhere but Scott only allowed himself to explore her hips and stomach—nervous to attempt something she might not like.

When he was hard to the point of pain, he pulled away to tell her they needed to do something else. But she just laughed, pushing him against the nearest wall. “I want you. I want you to be the first.”

The words were music, as good as any he’d managed to coax out of a drum kit. He picked her up, guiding her legs around his waist and turned them so that she was pressed against his kitchen wall. He stroked her legs, her hair, the warm cotton of her dress. He wanted everything—to suck her nipples, to pull aside her underwear and finger her, to drive himself deep while she called out his name. He wanted it all, yet he couldn’t stop kissing her long enough to try. This was like being a teenager, so horny and eager that once things got going, you were almost paralyzed by how good everything felt. Mercifully, Sam was more clear-headed than he was, reaching between them to rub at his aching cock. “Do you want to touch me?”

“Yes. Fuck yes.”

She arched her back, presenting her tits to him. “Go on, then.”

With a grunt, Scott cupped her breasts through her school dress, feeling the press of her nipples against his palms. He tugged them slightly and she ground hard against his cock. “Scott, I’m so wet.”

“Good.”

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