Tomorrow is the daywe graduate. I can’t believe all that has happened in a year, and how much my life has changed. My mom finally met a guy she decided to date longer than a week. His name is John, and he’s been a pretty regular fixture around our house for the past four months. He’s surprisingly cool, except for his weird obsession with having meatloaf on Tuesdays. If I eat one more plate of meatloaf and green beans, I think I might die. He owns a music store and is always playing this old school R&B music that Brynn and I are really starting to get into.
Tonight, Reid says he has a surprise for me, and I’m secretly hoping it’s not another tattoo. We pull up at The Fly, where Brynn has been babysitting a picture-perfect picnic area on the grass in front of the river.
She jumps to her feet when we walk over and greets me with a hug. “Who knew you two would make it this far?”
“I could’ve told you we would. She wouldn’t leave me alone,” Reid says as he plops down on the green knit blanket with our school mascot embroidered in one corner.
I nudge his leg with my toes. “Good thing I finally convinced you to kiss me, huh?”
The brown paper bag crumples when he pulls the contents out, placing them on the blanket in front of him. “Considering you haven’t been able to keep your hands off me since that day, I’m not sure,” he says, fighting back a smile.
I glare at him as I claim my spot at his side. “Hmm… I’ll be sure to keep my hands to myself then. Starting now.”
Reid rolls on top of me and pins my hands above my head. His emerald green eyes instantly put a spell on me.
“Annnnd that’s my cue. See ya, lovebirds,” Brynn says, blowing me a kiss when she walks away.
I return my attention to his eyes filled with mischief—always mischief. I study his face in an attempt to predict what he’s plotting. Before I can react, Reid is digging his chin into the ticklish flesh under my arms.
“Reid! Stop! I’m serious!” I squeal. His athletic body has me pinned beneath him even though my legs are working hard to break me free. He continues this playful torture until I can’t breathe, or yell, anymore. “Okay. You win. I give up.” My chest heaves with each deep breath I have to take.
The smile disappears, and his eyes take on a darkness I’ve only seen once before in the past year. He moves a strand of hair from my forehead, while I make a more conscious effort to catch my breath.
“You have no idea how sexy you are right now,” he groans as he leans forward and kisses my neck.
“Oh, I’m beginning to figure it out.” If the massive hard-on currently digging into my lower stomach is any indication…
“Fuck a picnic. I’m taking you home,” he tells me, and I swallow hard.
Oh yeah. It just got real.
Reid has never given in to temptation. Not when I would beg him and promise him I was ready. Not when I told him I love him. Not even when we’d touch each other under the covers at night. He always told me he didn’t want to distract me, that I had too bright of a future to ruin it my senior year. He said he’s seen too many girls focus more on their weekend plans than their five-year plans, and he’s not letting that happen to me. Yes, the same Reid Landry that has a reputation for dropping panties and chugging beer suddenly has my best interests at heart. Go figure.
I’m not sure when or how it happened, but apparently, he’s finally reached his breaking point. Because here we are, back in his room, in his bed, and I’m about to give him the one gift I can’t ever take back. I’m not in the least bit nervous. Reid is my five-year plan. He’s my ten-year plan and my fifty-year plan. I can’t imagine living in a world in which he doesn’t exist.
He was right about one thing, though. This is definitely going to be a distraction.
Every word, every kiss, and every touch is calculated and tender. He takes his time undressing me, as if he’s a dying man and worshipping my body is the one thing that can save him. My eyes are wild with need, and my hands can’t stop touching him.
“God, you’re beautiful like this,” he tells me once he has me naked and lying flat on my back on his bed.
His fingers trace over my most intimate part, first one side, then the other. Then carefully up the seam between my lips, making my body tremble. This isn’t the first time Reid has touched me. He’s fingered me until I’ve nearly cried from the pleasure. More than once. But this… this is different. I know what’s coming next. I don’t have to hope. I don’t have to wonder. This is real.
He stands at the foot of the bed, removing his shirt, then his jeans. Slowly. Far too slowly. While I stare at him, my mouth watering, chest heaving, pulse racing. Ready.
This is the moment I’ve been waiting over a year for. I’m finally going to have him. I’m finally going to belong to him. Heart, soul, and now, body. His body brushes against mine as he moves up the bed and climbs on top of me.
“You sure this is okay?” he whispers against my ear, his breath sending chills up my spine.
I close my eyes, grab his butt, and pull him firmly between my thighs. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
The sound of a foil wrapper being torn open might as well have been the sound of a thousand angels singing, because to me, it signifies the coming of something glorious. His hand slips between our bodies, positioning himself at my entrance. The moment he eases inside, my breath stops short in my lungs. My grip on his body tightens each time he inches further into me. His thick crown spreads me open and threatens to split me in two. It hurts. And it feels like heaven. The moment he fills me completely, his mouth moves to mine, distracting me from the sensation of pain.
If he didn’t ask ten times, he didn’t ask once, if I’m okay. Being with him like this is the closest thing to heaven on earth I can possibly imagine. I never want it to end. There’s none of that first-time awkwardness you hear your friends talk about. It’s like our bodies have known each other for years, and the former distinction of where he ends and I begin has long gone away. By the end of the night, not one inch of my flesh is left untouched, unsatisfied.
“You hooker. You did it,” Brynn says, while she pulls my hair into a French braid.
I sit up straight in the chair in front of her vanity. “What? What did I do?”