CHAPTER 13
Jimmy
Iwasn’t proud to admit it, but Bella wasn’t the first girl I’d parked at the peak with, or the first I’d snuggled up with in the bed of my pickup truck. But she was the first person who’d given me butterflies in my belly while doing it. And the first to leave me at a loss for words. Very unlike me.
Even as a teen, I’d always been confident with the fairer sex. I’d never struggled with not knowing what to say or how to act around them, unlike some of my friends.
Talking to girls, being with girls, had always been something I was naturally gifted at. Add to that my Comfort genes, which afforded me a tall athletic frame, broad shoulders, and a four-pack I hadn’t done one single sit-up to earn, and I wasn’t a lonely boy.
My nerves tonight had nothing to do with being insecure or unsure. They strictly had to do with the company I was lucky enough to be keeping.
Bella was special. What I felt for her was special. I’d never given any real thought to falling in love. It wasn’t because I believed in the curse, necessarily. It was more a case of things not working out in the romance department for Comfort men. Whether that was due to supernatural intervention or just plain bad luck, I hadn’t ever been tempted to throw my hat in the ring of love. On some subconscious level, I was pretty sure if I did, I’d get knocked out cold. I’d never met anyone that was worth, as Billy put it, taking that kind of fall for.
But now that I had, I was putting my mouthguard in, strapping up my gloves, and stepping through the ropes. I was ready to take on any opponent to fight for what I felt for Bella.
“Are the stars always so bright here?” she asked, gazing up at the sky.
“Sure are. We have a special agreement with the big man and he shines a little extra light on Firefly.”
She turned her head toward me, a playful grin on her face. “Really? And how exactly did you strike this bargain with the big man?”
“We just promised that we would appreciate it. That’s all he really wants, just to be appreciated for the miracles happening every day that no one notices.”
“Hmm.” She hummed as her eyes turned back to the dark blanket of sky lit up with thousands of twinkling lights. “That’s a really beautiful way to look at life.”
“Hey, we only get one shot at this thing and I, for one, want to make the most of it.”
Her eyes sliced to mine and I couldn’t put my finger on what might be going through her pretty little head. It was clear that I’d struck a nerve with my statement, but I had no clue what nerve I’d struck.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Did I say something wrong?” Shit. This conversation had taken a sharp turn down a road that I didn’t want to be traveling.
“No.” Her head turned back and she looked back up at the sky.
I stared at her profile highlighted by moonlight. The slender curve of her jawline, the ridge of her high cheekbone, the slope that turned up at the end of her nose, the fullness of her lips, I studied it all wanting to commit it to memory.
I was so lost in her beauty, it startled me when she spoke.
“Can I tell you something?”
“I love hearing somethings.”
She grinned and let out a nervous laugh. “It’s going to be hard to believe, especially for you.”
Especially for me?“Now I really want to hear it.”
She took a deep breath, still staring up at the sky, before blurting out. “I’m a virgin.”
Out of all the things that she could’ve told me, that was definitely not one I was expecting. But I wasn’t surprised, actually. Her reaction on the boat, as flattering as it was, made a hell of a lot more sense in the context of her having limited, or even zero, experience.
The Ferris wheel, too. As much as I would’ve loved to think I was that good, her inexperience most likely added to her getting off so fast. And her being a virgin definitely tracked with her sheltered background.
“I don’t expect you to believe me since, you know, because of how I’ve been with you. I mean what virgin behaves like that? But I just wanted to tell you because—”
“I believe you,” I interrupted her, not wanting her to spend one more second thinking I doubted her statement.