Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 108049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
He knows my body, sometimes even better than I do. Sensing my need, he presses his thumb to my clit and starts rubbing. Gentle at first, then applying more pressure as I rock forward and back on his dick, finding that perfect angle where he’s deep inside and hitting the sweetest spot.
“Oh, fucking fuckturtles, I’m coming,” I choke out, and his answering laughter heats the air around us.
I’m too mindless with orgasm to laugh back. My muscles clench in a cascade of pure bliss, and I collapse on top of him as my body trembles wildly. He chases his own orgasm, pumping into me until he finds his own release a moment later, moaning my name.
Afterward, we’re hot and sweaty and clinging to one another.
“I missed you,” he says, breathless.
“I missed us.”
“Let’s stop breaking up, deal?”
I’m not sure how I got lucky enough to meet Conor Edwards. Like all the times the world took a shit on my shoes were leading up to this one big I’m sorry gift. Sometimes we make all the wrong decisions, end up in all the wrong places, and still find exactly where we’re supposed to be. Conor’s my happy accident. My wrong place, wrong time, exactly right guy. He taught me how to love myself against my best efforts, showed me an image of myself I’d never believed was there. Strong. Beautiful. Confident.
And I’ll never take that for granted again.
Rising up on my elbow, I peer into his sated, heavy-lidded eyes and smile. “Deal.”
Epilogue
CONOR
Well, it took a few bruises and a hell of a lot of patience, but I finally got Taylor to stand up on a surfboard.
From just beyond the swells, I straddle my board and watch as she rides the end of a wave into the shallow foam. Her stance is still a bit awkward and uncertain, but I think she’s getting a feel for it. When she pops out of the water after her ride into shore, she’s got a big shiny grin on her face. She waves, ecstatic, making sure I saw her. Then she hops up and down a couple times and forms a victory sign with her arms.
Fuck, she’s adorable.
Having her here in Huntington Beach the last three weeks has been such a relief, for both of us. Zero stress. Just sleeping in, chilling at the beach, showing her the sights. It’s the perfect antidote for the headaches back on campus.
My mom and Max love her. So much so they’re already making plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She’s my future now, and I’m hers.
Coach is totally going to kick my ass when he realizes he’s stuck with me at another family dinner with Iris.
I had hoped I could keep Taylor’s mind off anything that wasn’t the beach or us doing naked stuff, but a few times now I’ve caught her on the phone or with her laptop open, hard at work. Apparently, when she and Rebecca made the decision to file the police report, they hatched a plan first. With Abigail and Kappa’s help, they’re petitioning the Greek Council on campus to host a seminar on consent, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. They’re inviting several guest speakers to host talks and want to promote a month of outreach and awareness ahead of pledge week in the fall.
I’ve never seen Taylor so passionate and engaged on anything. Not gonna lie, at first I was worried the project might start to have a negative effect on her mood—dragging all of those feelings to the surface again—but it’s done just the opposite. She’s never looked happier since they got the ball rolling on this. It’s like having a mission is finally giving her some real peace of mind.
“Hey,” Taylor calls as she paddles up alongside me, a little out of breath but smiling wide.
“You’re getting better, babe. That was almost not atrocious.”
Laughing, she slaps a handful of water at me. “Dick.”
“Brat.”
She gets herself turned around so we’re both facing the shore. “Your phone was ringing when I went back to our stuff for a drink. Screen said Devin.”
“Oh, nice. That’s the guy from the non-profit I was telling you about.”
“Yeah? A call is a good sign, right?”
Taylor is returning to Boston in a few days, and I’m not heading back till mid-August, so we won’t see each other for a while. Figured I’d better find something to keep me out of trouble for the month and a half we’ll be apart.
“I think so,” I say. “Seems like if it was a no, they’d just send an email or something.”
After a bit of research, I found out there were some available summer internships with the local chapter of another environmental protection group. It’s mostly a community outreach kind of thing, working booths at farmers markets and festivals, signing up volunteers. They’re focused on clean oceans and beaches, and educating the public about sustainable ways to enjoy marine recreation. After giving it a lot of thought over the last month—and having a lot of long talks with my super-smart girlfriend—I’ve decided that’s where my passion lies. This internship seemed like as good a step as any to figuring out how to make a career out of it.