Age Gap Romance by Penny Wylder
Nicola
I can’t recall the number of times that I’ve wished for Tristan to come back into my life and say the exact words that he’s saying right now. That he wants me. Wants to marry me. I just wish it had been back then when things were simpler. It would have been so easy then.
“We should go,” I say, standing from the table. “I’ve got a lot of work to do.” I don’t wait before walking out of Callie’s and into the cold January air. Tristan is behind me in a second, and he catches me by the arm. “Is that it?”
“Is what it?”
He laughs, backing me against the wall. “I just told you I came back to Leighton City to marry you, and all you said was need to go back to the office.”
I shake my head. It’s impossible to breathe with him this close. But maybe he doesn’t understand what this will do to everyone. To him and to me. To his relationship with my dad. But I do. I’ve had four years of thinking about every single outcome and possibility. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“I want you to tell me what you’re thinking,” he says, face level with mine. “I want you to tell me to stop, if that’s what you want. It’s been a long time, and I’m man enough to know that things might have changed for you. I can handle it, if you want me to walk away.”
Nothing comes out of my mouth. I try to force out the words, to tell him that I don’t want this, but nothing happens. The truth is written so deeply in me that my body won’t betray that even if I try to force it to. Dammit.
“But if you don’t tell me to stop,” he says, “I’m not backing down. I’m not going to let you go, Nicola, because you were right. You were right that night.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, that lie manages to escape and it burns my lips.
One of Tristan’s eyebrows lifts. “No? I’m calling bullshit.”
“What do you remember?”
His green eyes are brimming with fierce emotion, his cheeks pink with the cold air, but neither of us move away. “I remember you waiting for me in the kitchen in a dress that made me so hard. I remember you letting me touch you for the first time. I remember you painting the future you imagined for us and promising that I was it for you, no matter how long it took. I remember you saying that you knew what you wanted and that it would never change.” His voice drops low and he breathes the next words into my ear. “I remember you saying that you wanted my cock to be the only one you ever felt. And I’m going to deliver on that promise.”
Placing my hands on his chest, I slowly push him back from me. “You know what I remember?” I say. “I remember pouring my heart out to you and then you leaving. I remember waking up the next morning and finding you had left the city. I remember crying for days over you, not being able to explain to anyone what was wrong. You left me, Dash. You ran away. So don’t think that you can sweep in here and just decide that you’re ready for me without me asking what the hell happened or wanting an explanation. Fuck.”
I turn and walk a few steps away. The air is filled with deafening silence behind me. I didn’t mean to explode like that, but it’s true. Aside from all the obvious complications, he left me.
Tristan’s voice is soft behind me. “You’ll never know how much I regret that decision,” he says. “I will always regret it and I will always have to live with it. But it wasn’t easy for me either. I didn’t leave to go on a joyride to find myself.” He turns me around and presses his forehead to mine. The anguish in his voice is real. “You don’t know why I had to do it, but I had to. You don’t know what I was afraid of, but I was afraid, Nicola. I’m still afraid, but you are worth the fear. I swear it. And all I can do is beg your forgiveness for not figuring it out sooner.”
His eyes are closed, and I swear that I can feel his pain. It’s just as visceral as mine has been, waiting for him. “Is this about my father?”
“Yes, and no. Of course I’m worried about that, but I wish that were all it was. If it were, this would be so much easier.”
I lean into him, letting his arms come around me more solidly. He’s shielding me from the cold, and I want so badly to touch every part of him. What could possibly be so bad that he won’t tell me what it is? How deep does this run that it would cause this kind of agony? I don’t know. And still after everything, I trust Tristan. I trust him to tell me when he’s ready to tell me.
My lips meet his before I realize what I’m doing, and he captures my mouth, pulling me deeper. Just like yesterday, it’s like a fire has been lit inside me. Delicious and perfect and all-consuming. I can’t fight this. I’ve been waiting for him too long, and I’ve kept my promise to him. I’m all his, and that’s all I want to be.
Yes, it’s complicated. But denying what we’ve both wanted for years is only going to cause us both more pain. “I need you,” I breathe. “Please.”
Fiery green eyes stare into mine. “Tell me first. Have you changed your mind? Do you want me to stop?”
I bite my lip. “No,” I say. “I’m terrified of what might happen, but I’ve never doubted my feelings. I’ve always wanted you, Dash.”
“Fuck,” he says softly against my lips. “I love it when you call me that.”
Before I can kiss him again, he’s pulling me toward his car. “I don’t want to go back to the office,” I tell him.
“That’s not where we’re going,” he says. “My place, if that’s all right. Because this has to happen between us, and I’m not going to have your first time be in the back of my car.”
I blush. Oh my god, this is actually going to happen. Everything that I’ve been dreaming about; the fantasies that play out when I touch myself in bed, at night, alone. Tristan helps me into his car and shuts the door. He peels out of the parking lot with a screech. He holds my hand across the console, but he’s singularly focused on the road.
“Are you okay?”
He smirks. “I’m trying to concentrate on getting home and not pulling over to ravish you on the side of the road.”
“If it weren’t for the snow, I don’t think that I would mind.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for springtime.”
Springtime. When we’ll still be together. The way he talks, it’s like it’s actually going to last. And I want it to, but I’ve spent so long thinking the opposite that it’s hard for me to actually believe it. My heart is pounding, and I can’t believe that I’m going to do this.
When I woke up this morning, I had been so determined to stay away from him. To make it easier for everyone and not rock the boat. But I deserve happiness. We both do.
Tristan pulls up to a gorgeous townhouse near Leighton City’s downtown, and I’m so eager to get inside that I almost beat him to the door. “I would have opened your door for you,” he says, pressing a kiss to my neck before he unlocks the door.
“I’m perfectly capable of opening a door by myself, Dash.”
“I know you are, but as long as you’re with me, I would like the honor of it.”
I raise an eyebrow as I follow him inside. “That’s a little old-fashioned.”
He grins. “I am a little old-fashioned. Now come here.” Without warning he yanks my body against his, pushing my coat off of my shoulders. And then I’m being lifted into his arms as his mouth crashes on mine. Nerves play in my gut as he carries me up the stairs. I’ve always been sure of this—of Tristan. I am not afraid of him, but I am nervous for this. Isn’t everyone, for their first time?
Pushing the bedroom door open with his foot, we enter a bright and open space. There were moving boxes downstairs, so I know that he’s not fully settled. But there’s a bed, and it’s a fucking big one. It dominates the space with four posts and dark sheets. God, I’ve never thought this about a piece of furniture, but that bed is sexy as hell.
But Tristan doesn’t put me down on it, not yet. Instead he sets me down slowly, letting my body drag down his before my feet touch the floor. Everything hangs in the air between us, ready to break. I want everything from him.
Everything.
“Kiss me,” I whisper, and that’s all it takes to make him break.
Tristan’s mouth crashes down on mine with unyielding fire. This kiss is different from all the others. He’s not holding back and neither am I. For the first time I actually get to feel his body under my hands in the way I’ve always wanted to, and I can’t enough.
His body is hard in every place that I can reach, and we’re locked together so tightly that I can feel just how hard his cock is through his clothes. There’s absolutely no doubt that he wants this just as much as I do. I find the hem of his shirt with my fingers and pull it out of his pants. My fingers are shaking as I try to undo the buttons down his chest, because I’m desperate to feel him closer. Hotter.
One of them gets stuck, and I have to pull my mouth away from his to try to undo it. But Tristan is already a step ahead of me, and the fabric between my hands is torn apart. I hear the buttons bounce across the floor, and his chest is suddenly bare in front of me. Holy shit.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Dash without a shirt. I remember him in the summertime, either doing yard work or by the pool, showing off his perfect, incredible body. And now it’s mine. The strength in those arms that can just tear open a shirt. Fuck, I’m wet for him. “Do that again,” I say.
“I’m all out of shirts,” he says, voice rough with the lust we’re both feeling.
“But I’m not.”
Tristan’s gaze falls to my chest, and he goes still. Like he’s suddenly realizing the magnitude of this moment too. And then his hands are on my shirt and he tears down the buttons like he’s ripping a piece of paper. He pushes the shirt off my shoulders and all that’s left is my lacy bra. Until he reaches around and deftly unhooks that too.
I let my bra drop to the floor, and then I realize what that means. I look down and away from him. This is a line we’ve never crossed, and even though his mouth was on my clit just yesterday, the idea of him seeing this part of me feels scary. More intimate.
He tilts my chin up so that I’m looking at him again, and kisses me softly. “You are beautiful,” he says. “And I hope you know how much I want you. But if you have any hesitation at all, I need you to tell me.”
“No,” I say. “I want this. It’s just…”
“I know.”
I step out of my shoes, and I’m a little shorter now. But I don’t mind. I’m the one who pushes my skirt off my hips so I’m standing there in just my panties. I need to do this for myself. And the look on Tristan’s face—awe and raw need—is just the reward that I’m looking for. He sweeps me into his arms again and lays me out on the luxurious bed, hovering over me. “I’ve dreamt about this,” he says.
“Me too.” Too many times. But dreams can’t match the reality of him above me, taking in my naked body.
Peeling his shirt off his shoulders, he tosses it to the side before stretching his body over mine. Our lips are close, and he’s lined up with me perfectly. I can feel the length of him pressing into me through his pants and I nearly moan. “Tell me what you imagined,” he whispers. “I want your first time to be everything you dreamed of.”
My face goes up in flames, entirely caught off guard. “I can’t tell you that.”
Tristan smirks. “Now I have to hear it.” He leans down and presses a kiss to the skin of my chest, eliciting goosebumps. “I want to hear all your fantasies.”
“Why?”
“Because I have a lot of time to make up for,” he says. “And because I have a lifetime to look forward to of making them come true.”
“Oh.” It’s all that comes out of me. This is so much. I want everything but it’s so overwhelming that I can’t breathe. Covering my face with my hands, I try to breathe.
Tristan lets me, and I’m so happy that he does, but he doesn’t let me go. Finally, when I’m calmer, and my breath is coming easier, he speaks again. “Was it fast or slow?”
My hands are still covering my face. “Slow.”
“That, I can do.” Gently, Tristan takes my hands in his and guides them away from my face. He’s smiling. Just the kind of smile that makes you feel warm inside. Like he’s happy to see me even though he hasn’t left my side. “There you are.”
“Here I am.”
A soft kiss, questioning, seeking. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m sure,” I say. I never changed my mind. “I’m still nervous, but I’m sure.”
One side of his mouth tips up. “Okay. If you suddenly feel unsure, tell me.”
“Mhmm.” I’m distracted by the feeling of his lips on my jaw, and the way he’s sliding them down my skin. It’s a sudden and thorough exploration. Delicious. All the way down my neck and across my collarbone and to the edge of my shoulder. Holy shit. I didn’t know my collarbone could send sparks through the rest of my body.
Every part of my body is supercharged, just waiting for contact. Tristan’s palms skim down my ribs as he traces his lips and tongue across my chest and downward still, in between my breasts. My nipples pebble into hard buds, and nothing I’ve ever done to myself compares to the way his mouth feels on my skin. I’m tight and tingling and arching into him.
He brushes across the top of my breast with his mouth, circling around my nipple, teasing me. “Fuck,” I say out loud, and he laughs into my skin.
“This is going to be fun.”
“For me or for you?” I gasp out.
At that moment he seals his mouth over my skin, and I lose all concept of words. Heat and pleasure sink through me to my core, and hell, if I didn’t know what was to come after, I would have him do this all fucking day. He switches to my other nipple, and I can’t stop the moan escaping from my lips. It feels like he’s connected a line of electricity down to my pussy and every flick of his tongue sends a burst of crackling energy downward. “I think it will be fun for both of us,” he says, looking up at me with a knowing grin.
“Now is the time when you tell me if you plan on teasing me to death.”
“Not to death,” he says, punctuating his words with a swipe of his tongue. “But enough. I’m going slow.”
I close my eyes as he moves his mouth down between my breasts and starts to trail a path downward. “Maybe I should have chosen the faster option.”
“So impatient,” he murmurs. He follows the line of my ribs, drifting back and forth across the skin of my stomach and exploring with his lips and tongue and fingers. And with each movement I relax a little bit more into him and into the feelings spinning between us. This is right. There’s nothing else here with us in this moment, and we get to fucking enjoy it.
Reaching out, I sink my fingers into his hair while he places a kiss on my hipbone—dangerously close to the line of my panties. And when I can feel his breath on the fabric there, my own breath goes short. “You don’t have to do that again,” I say. “We can skip to…you know…the good stuff.”
Tristan raises his head for a moment. “Did you not enjoy it?”
“Yes!” I exclaim too quickly. “Of course I did. That was amazing. But I know…I’ve heard that most men don’t enjoy that.”
He doesn’t break eye contact with me as he peels my panties down my thighs and lowers his mouth to me. Long, slow, luxurious suction directly on my clit makes me groan and grasp for the bedsheets. Tristan takes his time, starting almost lazily and increasing his tempo until I can’t even breathe, pleasure breaking over me like a wave. The orgasm hits me unexpectedly, starting deep and seeping outwards. It’s rich with ecstasy and makes my limbs shake with sensation.
Tristan sucks me deep and hard, wringing every last bit of pleasure from my body before releasing me. “Men who don’t enjoy that are missing out on something,” he says seriously. “I love the way you taste. I love hearing the way you moan, and I love making you come all over my tongue. And I reserve the right to have you for dessert whenever I please.”
“Can’t argue with that,” I say, still catching my breath.
“Besides,” he says. “I needed to warm you up. I don’t want this to hurt.”
He stands and retrieves a condom from a drawer beside his bed before dropping his pants to the floor. Still facing away from me, I’m treated first to a delicious look at his ass. I never really thought that I was an ass girl, but for that ass I would do a lot. Tight, firm skin and muscles. His back is the same, and I want to run my fingers across it. Explore him the way he’s explored me.
“I’ve used toys,” I say. “So—”
Tristan turns to me and the words die on my lips. I was going to say that I’ve used toys and so it might not be that bad. But I’ve never used any toys that size. Oh my god. I knew he was big—I’ve felt him pressed up against me—but seeing it first-hand is an entirely different story.
I can’t stop staring at him, hard and proud and big enough that I’m not sure that I’ll be able to fit that inside me. But oh man, do I want to. And I want more than that too. My mouth is watering with the need to taste him. And to hear what kind of moans would come from him if I returned the favor.
He rolls the condom on with ease, the tightness of it making him appear even bigger. Suddenly, I can’t help but grin, and a laugh bubbles up through my chest. He raises an eyebrow. “What’s funny?”
“I’m naked with you.”
He smiles too, coming back to the bed. “You are.”
“I never thought it would happen.”
“Really?” He seems surprised.
I let him climb over me so our faces are perfectly in line. “You left, Dash. I knew that it was because of me. And I never knew why. So no, I didn’t think this would ever happen.”
“But you saved yourself anyway?”
I have to look away. “A promise is a promise,” I say. “I meant what I said. I knew you were the one for me, and no one ever compared to you.”
Tristan doesn’t look angry, just curious, and I try to focus on him even though his naked body is pinning me down and I can feel his hot cock pinned between us like a sinful promise. “Why did you pretend to push me away?”
“Because this isn’t as simple as I thought it would be. You know that. You just got back. I don’t want to ruin your chances in this job, or risk that you might lose your friends, because of me.”
He silences me with a kiss. “We’ll figure all of that out. But right now, we don’t have to worry about that. It’s just you and me.”
I open my legs in response and watch Tristan’s eyes darken with lust. He reaches between us, fitting his cock against my entrance, and it’s already bigger than I imagined. The dildos I tried to replace him with have nothing on this and I’m barely feeling him yet.
Thanks to the orgasm I just had, I’m already soaking wet, and he sinks in immediately. The fullness is something that I’ve never experienced before. It’s so much, even with just the first couple inches of him inside me. “I’m not convinced you’ll be able to fit.”
He moves my hair away from my face. “I will.” His voice is completely confident. “We’ll go as slow as you need, but you’ll take all of me. Every. Last. Inch.” I shudder at the emphasis in his words. “I’m going to be balls deep inside you, Nicola. So deep that no other man will come close.” He sinks in deeper, and I lose my breath. He’s so big, but the slight pain eases away as he stills. My body has to adjust to him. But I can’t hold still for too long, and my body urges me to move. To rock my hips and seek out that pleasure I know can be found from this.
“I wasn’t planning on having any other men,” I say.
“Good.” He kisses me as he inches forward, and I try to breathe. To relax. Slowly, inch by inch, he pushes in. I’m filled to the brim with him. He reaches places inside me that the toys have never touched, and each movement of his hips makes my pussy grip him. I love the sounds that he makes when I squeeze him, and so I do it again.
“Fuck, Nicola,” he breathes. “You feel so good.”
Slowly, so slowly, he sinks deeper until the moment where I can feel that he’s all the way in. My breath goes short. I can’t believe that he’s all the way in, stretching me to my absolute limit. “Are you all right?” Tristan asks.
“Yes,” I gasp. “Yes.”
He’s not moving, holding himself absolutely still inside me so that I can get used to his size. Right now, the way he’s looking at me is so much more than lust, and I feel something growing between us. There’s a sense of both finality and a new beginning. This has been a long time coming, and it hadn’t quite hit me until now that this isn’t a dream.
Impossibly, I feel myself adjusting to him. Tristan moves his hips a fraction of an inch. It’s a barely-there thrust but it’s still enough to make me gasp. I pull his mouth down to mine and kiss him hard. He takes over the kiss without question, his tongue invading and dancing with mine. He plunges deep, and the feeling echoes with the way that he’s already inside me.
Like in an invisible switch that’s been flipped, my body suddenly says more. Tilting my hips up toward his, I pull us that much closer. I don’t think there’s anything separating us, and that’s the way I want it. I wrap my legs around his hips, locking him to me as he starts to move gently. Slowly.
I’m so glad that I waited for him. There’s nothing in me that can imagine doing this with anyone else. What is between us is pure truth, and sharing that with another person would probably kill me. There’s another part of my brain that’s furious that we waited so long, and wants everything right now and faster.
Tristan kisses my neck, and I hold on to his shoulders. He’s still moving with perfect, steady slowness, not wanting to take it too fast or overwhelm me or hurt me. But I’m not made of glass. “More,” I whisper in his ear. “Please.”
He pulls out, and slides home harder, touching that place that only he can reach. Oh my god, the way pleasure blooms deep in my gut is incomparable to anything else I’ve ever experienced. Perfect delicious friction, drawing in pleasure from every part of me.
I tangle my fingers in the short length of his hair and lock his gaze to mine. Emotion so strong washes over me and I’m caught in this storm, and I don’t want to leave.
Steadily Tristan is increasing his speed, and any pain from his size and my inexperience fades away into warmth and bliss. Already I can feel my orgasm rising and I know that this one is going to be different. It’s drawing up from deep within, centered around that point that only Dash can reach.
I could let go and fall into that perfect pleasure right now. My body is begging to. But I don’t want this to be over. Not yet. And so I hold on. “Tristan.” My voice comes out raw and rough, and I don’t even know what I’m asking for, but he does.
It’s his turn to tilt his hips, angling them down, and it changes everything. Now every thrust grinds down on my clit and sends off fireworks behind my eyes. Nothing is slow and gentle anymore, instead we’re slamming together hard and fast, careening toward an inevitable explosion.
“Please, please, please,” I chant, hanging on to Tristan as he fucks me with every ounce of strength that I always knew that he had. It’s all so much, spiraling into light, and I go over the edge. I cry out, not having to hold myself back. It’s like being tipped into a pool of perfect ecstasy. I want to drown in it, breathe it in forever. And Tristan is right there with me, groaning his own climax while his cock jerks inside me.
It seems like the pleasure goes on forever. I can’t see anything but white, can’t hear anything but the beating of my own heart. I’m not sure how long passes before I come back to myself, but when I do, Tristan is still buried to the hilt inside me, pressing down with comforting weight on top of me. I don’t want him to move.
“Hi.”
“Hey,” he smiles. “How do you feel?”
“Good.” I can’t keep the stupidly wide smile off my face. “Amazing.”
He kisses me softly, and I kiss him back hard. This was perfect. Perfect. Even if I feel like I’ve run a marathon.
“Nicola, I can’t even tell you—” his voice falters.
“I know.” I feel it too. This meant more to both of us than we’re currently capable of saying.
Tristan tries to be gentle when he pulls out, but I still wince. I’m going to be sore later, and it was one-hundred percent worth it. He’s only gone for a moment, discarding the condom in the bathroom before he comes back. This time he pulls up one of the soft blankets laying at the foot of the bed and wraps us together in it, pulling me against his chest. I’m in love with the warmth of him.
“I wish I could fall asleep here,” I say, letting myself fall a little more into drifting.
“You can,” he says.
“No, I can’t. Not if we want to avoid any questions.”
Tristan runs his hand down my back. “I’m not afraid of the questions,” he says. “If I were, I wouldn’t have come back. But I know it won’t be easy.”
I laugh. “No, it won’t be. I want to be with you for a little while before we tell anyone,” I say. “Get things settled between us before we suddenly have a lot of opinions.”
“Of course,” he says, kissing my forehead. “All I want is you. If everything else falls apart, I need you to know that.”
“Okay.” I tuck my head closer to his chest. His heart beats steadily beneath my ear, and I like the idea of hearing that for the rest of my life. He wants to marry me. That’s what he said, but it feels like too much to hope for right now. I still need to convince myself that this is real before I can convince myself that this gorgeous man wants to put a ring on my finger.
We lay together for a while before I feel him take a deeper breath. “The last thing that I want is for you to be out of my arms, but if we want to avoid questions, I should take you home.”
I sigh. “Yeah, I guess so.”
He takes the time to pull me closer, stroking his arms down my body so I get shivers and wonder if there’s any way that I can justify disappearing for a night. But no, not if I want to be careful. And for the time being, I do.
Tristan slips out from underneath the blanket and hands me my clothes a piece of time. Which is very distracting considering that he’s still incredibly naked. “You’re not helping.”
He laughs. “Am I tempting you?”
“You have no fucking idea.”
“Well, I would say you do have an idea about fucking now.”
I throw a pillow at him, laughing until I put my bra on and we both realize that I no longer have a wearable shirt. “I wasn’t exactly thinking about you leaving when I did that,” he says.
“It’s fine. I didn’t like that shirt much anyway.”
“Here.” He pulls a sweatshirt out of a drawer. “You can wear that.”
Putting on the sweatshirt is like pulling on the physical manifestation of comfort. It’s big and soft and smells like Tristan. I would bottle that scent if I could—that delicious cologne he wears and something deeper and masculine that only belongs to him. I may never take the sweatshirt off.
Neither of us really want to separate, so even as we get ready, we don’t say anything about leaving. It’s filled with small moments that make my chest ache. Tristan helps button me into my coat and pauses on the doorstep to kiss me deeply, leaving me to once again question my sanity in leaving this man’s home. He holds my hand on the drive, looking over at me and smiling whenever he can.
Finally, we pull up to my parents’ house, and never in my life have I wished so badly to live somewhere else. It’s always seemed more convenient since I wasn’t looking to date anybody, and I work at the family company. But now, that’s something I’ll be considering immediately.
“Should I risk kissing you here?” he asks.
“Please do.”
Tristan grins before leaning across the center console and taking my lips in a hard kiss—one that’s meant to tempt and linger. “You’re not helping,” I repeat.
“I’m not trying to.”
I glare at him, which only makes him laugh. And I feel words on my lips that I’m burning to say. For years I’ve wanted to. But now isn’t the time. Not here in the car. I’ll know the time. So instead I say, “See you.”
“See you,” he reflects back. But his voice is filled with longing and lust and I have to force myself out of the car and not look back as I walk toward the house. My willpower is almost zero and I can’t be sure that I won’t turn around and go back to him. I allow myself one wave when I get to the door but that’s it.
Fucking hell, I’m already in so deep.
“Hi honey!” my mom calls, stepping out from the kitchen. “What are you doing home so early?”
I have no concept of time, but it’s before the end of the workday, and it’s rare that I’m home before six. More often than not I get caught up in the test kitchen until well after hours. “I wasn’t feeling very well,” I say.
“That’s too bad. Was it the pizza? Should I be concerned?”
I shake my head. “No, it wasn’t the pizza. I’m not sure what it is. I figured I’d just take a nap and see if it helps.” I am really tired and the idea of curling up in my bed is beyond appealing.
“Okay,” she says as I hang up my coat. “Do you want some tea?”
“Maybe later.”
She nods, leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen. “Let me know.” Then she frowns. “You weren’t wearing that earlier, were you?”
Shit. I’m still wearing Tristan’s sweatshirt and I forgot. “Oh. No. I spilled something on myself in the lab, and Tristan offered to let me wear it.”
“He’s a good man,” Mom says, smiling.
“Yeah, he is.” Though I wonder if she would still be saying that if she knew that he just took my virginity and fucked me senseless.
I escape into the basement before I have to tell any more lies. I don’t love lying to my parents, but for now, I have to. I’m not going to mess this up before it’s even started.
The basement of our house is my apartment. When my parents re-did it a few years ago they offered it to me since it’s a separate living more appropriate for an adult. And it’s been perfect up until now. But I need to get out of here. I can’t imagine sneaking around with Tristan while still living with my parents, and if we really are going to be together, we’re going to need space.
Right now, though, my brain is filled with post-sex fog and there’s nothing more I want than to go to sleep. I kick off my shoes and my skirt so that I’m wearing nothing more than my underwear and Tristan’s sweatshirt. It seems fitting, and like hell am I going to take it off. I slip into sleep surrounded by that perfect, comforting scent.
