Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Noah gives me a blank stare. “Are you done?”
I smile innocently then let out a heavy breath and nod. “Yes,” I say. “It’s out of my system. Go on. What were you going to say?”
“That my mom has already had this conversation with me.”
“Eh?”
“Yeah, trust me, it was even more uncomfortable than it sounds,” he tells me. “But what she was saying is that she wanted me to really make sure that you were ready and not just wanting something that you think you should have because everyone else is doing it or because you think it would make me happy.”
My heart swells in my chest, and I push up to kiss him again. “Thank you for caring that much about me,” I tell him. “But you know that I’m not the type of girl to do something because of peer pressure or because everyone else is doing something. As for what I think would make you happy. I’d be a fool to assume that you didn’t want to, but I would also be a fool if I thought that you would ever sleep with me without being certain that I was ready. You’ve always had my best interests at heart, and you’ve always protected me from everything, even when it was myself I needed protecting from.”
“So, you’re sure?”
I nod, a shy smile gracing my lips. “I’m ready, Noah. I want to be with you.”
He leans in and kisses me as his hand falls to my waist, slowly curling around my back and pulling me in against him. “You don’t mean right now, do you?”
“Yes, right now,” I tell him without skipping a beat. “I want to strip down and get with you right here in the middle of the student parking lot.” He gives me a firm stare, clearly not appreciating my teasing, and I try to smother my smile before getting serious. “No,” I finally say. “I don’t mean right now, or that it has to be today. Just when it feels right.”
“I can work with that,” he says before his gaze lingers on mine, those dark eyes filled with curiosity. “I don’t want to screw this up, Zo. It’ll be your first time, and I want it to be just the way you’ve always imagined.”
“I don’t really know how I imagined it,” I tell him. “I don’t want anything special or some big grand, scheduled event because that’s going to make me feel awkward and pressured, and the last thing I want is to be awkward about it. I just . . . I don’t know. I want it to be spontaneous and in the moment.”
His gaze softens, and he drops his forehead against mine, his fingers tightening on my waist. “Anything for you, Zozo.”
My hand rests against his chest, feeling the steady thumping of his heart, a beat that isn’t wild or anxious, but sure and confident. “I trust you with everything I am,” I tell him. “You’ll take care of me, and just because it’s you and me, it’s going to be even more perfect than I could have ever imagined.”
His lips come down on mine, kissing me softly. “I love you, Zo,” he tells me, his tone unwavering. “But now that you’ve told me that, there’s no way I want to share you with the rest of the school. Let me take you out. We’ll spend your birthday just you and me.”
My gaze shifts up toward the school, and the second I take in the overcrowded hallways and immature boys screwing around to impress one another, I glance back at Noah. “Nothing would make me happier,” I tell him. “Let’s get out of here.”
Hazel screeches beside me at the dinner table, her eyes widening in pain as she reaches down and grips her leg. “Owwww,” she groans, glaring at Noah. “What the hell was that for?”
“Ahhhh, shit, sorry,” he says, trying to muffle his laugh but failing. “I was aiming for Zoey and didn’t expect to find your shin. What the hell is it doing over here anyway? Did your legs grow ten inches overnight?”
“My shin doesn’t accept your apology,” she throws back at him, fixing him with a glare that could bring the most vicious armies to their knees.
I hold back a grin as I meet Noah’s stare across the table, his dark eyes shimmering with laughter, and that’s all my control can handle before I burst out laughing right along with him. Hazel huffs and puffs and crosses her arms over her chest.
We get side-eyed from the parents, my dad’s eyes lingering on us the longest. I hold his concerned stare, narrowing my gaze to let him know that I’ve caught him, but he doesn’t look away.
I know what he’s thinking. His little girl is growing up, and she’s putting herself in a position to get her heart broken again. Or maybe he’s just realized that we’ve been together for a while now and perhaps that’s when things might start progressing.