Penny
Joey'sbig hand is underneath my chin, and I tremble at the contact. He strokes a thumb along my jawline. The way he's looking at me is so tender, it sends my heart fluttering.
It makes me believe his words.
He saw me.
Was I wrong about him all this time? I thought he was an arrogant jerk who only cared about sports. Just because he never spoke to me, I assumed he never noticed me.
As if he can see the thoughts racing through my mind, he says softly, “All I've seen for the last two years is you. If you only knew, Jenny.” His voice breaks before he goes on, “I had the biggest crush on you. I still do.”
My breath catches, and I can't look away from his smoldering brown eyes. His sandy brown hair is stylishly disheveled in that way that only guys can accomplish. He's effortlessly handsome and even bigger and buffer than he was in high school.
“Think about it,” he tells me. “Did you ever see me go out with any girl in high school?”
Come to think of it, he's right. I never heard about him dating anyone.
“I didn't even go to prom, Jenny.”
I didn't either. My father wouldn't have allowed it even if anyone had asked me.
I can’t help myself from shrugging and asking, “Why not? I'm sure you had plenty of options.” He hears what I don’t speak. “You did too,” he tells me gently.
I finally scoff and wrap my arms around myself, suddenly feeling like that shy high school loser I once was. “Nobody asked me,” I admit to him so quietly I’m surprised he can hear me.
He tips my chin back up to him. “That's because everyone was afraid of your father—and me,” he admits.
I stare at him, shocked.
He shrugs. “The whole football team wanted to date you, Jenny, but they knew better than to even try. Not only was your dad not going to let you go out with us eighteen-year-old boys, I wasn't going to let anyone else ask you out.”
“But you never…” I speak slowly.
Joey lets out a hollow laugh. “Your dad was the principal, Jenny. I had been in his office more than a few times. Never mind the fact that I was the star quarterback. He was never going to let me go out with you. Word got around fast about how strict he was.”
I glance down before I mutter, “Yeah, he was.” I have to admit that Joey's words have a ring of truth to them. Even if someone had asked me to prom, my dad wouldn't have let me go. If a guy had asked me out, he wouldn't have let me date a guy that much older. He wouldn't have even let me date a boy my own age, but Joey kept anyone from even asking me.
I don't know whether to be flattered or pissed because all this time my self-esteem was so low. I thought there was something wrong with me that guys didn't even try to ask me out.
I’m still processing everything when I suddenly feel Joey's big hands slide into my hair.
He tilts my head back, his eyes searching mine.
My breath catches. He's so close I can smell his scent—something fresh and citrusy and purely masculine.
He might only be two years older than me, but he looks like such amanand somehow seems even older than he is.
“Fuck, Penny, I’ve waited two years for this moment,” he murmurs as he lowers his head closer to mine.
I stop breathing when his lips touch mine. Tingles shoot up throughout my entire body, and my knees go weak, but Joey wraps an arm around the small of my waist and pulls me flush against him.
My hands come up to rest on his hard chest. His tongue slips inside my mouth, and holy moly, the way his tongue strokes against mine.
He kisses me insistently, and it sends moisture flooding between my legs.
I’ve read plenty of romance novels, and I've often fantasized about what my first kiss would be like, but none of the books I read and none of my fantasies I’ve conjured up could do this justice. The way Joey kisses me, it’s like I'm the air that he breathes. He’s drinking me in, and I'm drowning in him.
“So much sweeter than I ever could have imagined,” he whispers against my lips. “Fuck, Penny, honey, I am so motherfucking in love with you. You just don't know.”