“Uhhhh news flash. I’m not thirty.” She carefully didn’t say anything about her virginity. No one needed to know that she’d lost it on her twenty-first birthday in the backseat of a car of a guy she’d dated for two days. She may have been a little drunk and he may have not known what the hell he was doing- not like she did either- but somehow, they got the job done. It wasn’t a good first-time experience.
She basically counted Trace as her first real sexual experience, since he provided her with the first orgasm, she hadn’t had to use her fingers to gift herself.
“I know. I just had to bug you a little. You’re going to your reunion tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Of course, she is,” Trace said, far too happily.
“Uh- great. You’re ancient, by the way. I can’t believe you’re having your ten-year reunion already.”
“You’re only two years younger than me, dick wad.” Like the mature adult she was, she stuck her tongue out at her brother, who waved her the bird in response.
“Okay, you two, let’s bring it on into the kitchen. I’ll have dinner ready. Maybe you can play a board game while you wait.” Her mom winked at her. “I know how much you enjoy that, Ash. I was sure to bring them all down out of the closet.”
“Oh god, mom!” Ash hissed. She glanced at Trace, but he grinned back.
“I already know you’re a huge dork, so no harm done,” he whispered under his breath after her mom turned to head back to the kitchen. Jason trailed behind her like a puppy begging for scraps. He probably was. He was always hungry, like he’d never really outgrown his teenage years of eating.
It took Ash a minute to realize that his hand was on fire. As in, it wasn’t just her crazy sexual energy fooling her. Sure her nipples were hard as pebbles and her panties were soaked, but that was just her body’s normal reaction to Trace.
She turned into him and swept her hand up to his forehead. “Oh my god! You’re burning up.” She sidestepped the kitchen and pulled Trace into the hallway out of earshot. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
Trace shrugged. “My niece may have been a little bit sick when I babysat her. My sister was going to stay home, but I told her to go out. It was a work thing and she’s been putting in so many hours to get that promotion. I couldn’t let her miss her big presentation and my brother in law was on the road for work. I said I didn’t mind.”
“She had a fever?”
“She might have puked a few times too.”
“Oh god. Oh no.” Ash backed away, twisting her hands for a minute before she realized how rude that looked. “I- I didn’t mean it like that.” She swept her hand back up to Trace’s forehead like it might have magically cooled off. It was still the temperature of a red-hot stovetop. “Shit. Okay, I think you’re really sick. You should have told me.”
Trace shook his head. “No way. I know how important this is to you.”
“No! We could have waited to come. God, I can’t believe you didn’t say a thing. I would never subject you to my family on a day when you’re feeling less than your best.” She was already whispering, but she lowered her voice further. “You need all your strength to face them and survive.”
Trace smiled. “Hey.” He took her hand in his and squeezed gently. “I’m okay. Just a few aches and pains. I have no appetite, but that’s not going to stop me from eating your mom’s amazing cooking.” He inhaled deeply. “Smells like heaven. It will probably fix me right up.”
“You poor thing. Seriously. You should have told me. You could have stayed home and rested.”
“No way. And don’t worry. Even if I was on death’s door, I’d drag my carcass to your reunion tomorrow. I have to witness first hand my goddess conquering the whole world.”
“You’re ridiculous, Mr. Nightshadow.” Ash stepped up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Trace’s cheek. His skin was like fire under her lips. She pulled him into a tight hug and for a guy who was kind of still a stranger, it felt good. It felt… really good to be wrapped up in those strong arms. “Thank you for this. And for tomorrow. I- you’re so good to me. The best. I think that I have a new favorite villain.”
“I’m glad to be of service.” His deep, sexy tone echoed in her ear and she shivered. “Now,” he said after she pulled away. “I say we go play some rousing board game and I’ll of course get my ass kicked by you and your brother since you seem to have so much more experience being dorky than I do.”