Page 110 of The Sound Of Silence

Locking my hands behind my head, I pace the yard, cursing under my breath, realizing the only answer is that I must have seen it… I just pushed it from my mind.

She’s a fucking virgin. Actually, she’s not anymore and…fuuuck! I knew she was inexperienced, but the thought that she was untouched never crossed my mind, not even for a second. But it should have.

“It’s too late, isn’t it?” Pippa says, alerting me to the fact that she’s still here. I’m about to tell her to fuck off until I process her words.

“No, it’s not.”

Leaving Pippa in the yard, I race back inside and straight into Willow’s room. She’s still fast asleep, so without waking her, I slip under the covers and close my eyes, wrapping my arms around her. Yes, it’s too late to give her back her virginity, but it’s not too late to make itmeansomething.

Because it means everything to me.

I sleep like a log and wake the next morning with Willow’s naked body wrapped around me. And God, it feels nice.

When she hears me stir, she moves away, but I stop her, locking her arms more tightly around me. “Good morning,” I rasp.

“You stayed?”

A smile pulls at my lips as I roll over, taking in her beautiful just-woken look.God, I wish I could get used to this.“I did.”

And I wish I didn’t have to ruin the moment.

Willow’s smile drops when she notices my expression, and her body goes rigid. “Are you okay? Why are you already dressed?”

“I’m fine.” I ignore her second question. “Question is, are you?”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I wasn’t exactly gentle with you last night, and—”

“Don’t ruin the moment, Jesse. I would have said something if I wasn’t enjoying it.” She softly smiles again, but when I don’t join her, it turns to a scowl.

“You regret it!” she accuses, pushing a hand to my chest when I try to move closer.

“Idon’tregret it.. That was… I don’t even know how to fucking explain it. I wasn’t joking when I said you’d ruin me. But this isn’t about me. This is about you, and not telling me it was your first time. We should have taken it slow. We should have—”

Sitting up, Willow rushes to wrap the sheet around her body, covering herself up, and I lose track of my speech. “I’m not a virgin,” she says, clearly offended.

“What?”

“I’m inexperienced, but I’m not a virgin.”

She’s not?“But Pippa…”Fuck. I drop back on the pillow and run my hand down my face. My chest burns as I grit my teeth. Why does that revelation unsettle me more than her being a virgin did? And why do I suddenly feel the need to break something?Or someone.

Fuck, I’m jealous of the guy.Whoever he was. Or was there more than one?Jesus! Get a grip.This isnotimportant.

“You okay there?” Willow asks, calling me out on my internal freak-out.

“Yeah. I’m fine. But I’m curious. Does anyone actually know the real Willow?”

Because I thought Pippa did but—

“You do,” she whispers, her voice breathy. “I don’t know how,” she continues, lifting her shoulder in the smallest of shrugs. “But you do.”

The burning subsides as my chest tightens and I gaze up at her, completely lost in her eyes as her words play over and over through my mind. While on some level she’s right, there’s still so much more I’ve yet to discover.

“It’s not enough. I want to know it all.”

Lifting, I release the sheet from her strong grip and let it fall between us before settling my hand over her heart. “I want to know everything.”

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