“Ah, I see.” I frown. Bet her dad loves that. “That could definitely make celibacy seem attractive.”
“It did. Now, not so much.” She smiles shyly—and did she just scan her eyes down my torso?
Maybe it was wishful thinking. So I just raise a questioning brow.
“I realized that Mia’s problem was with responsibility. I mean, all my friends were having sex and none of them were getting pregnant. Mia—that’s my sister—”
“I figured.”
“She really disappointed a lot of people.” Kira’s voice is suddenly heavy. “My parents, for example. I guess I overcompensated by being the good girl.”
“Hmm.” But… Now that I understand her reasons for keeping her virginity for so long, I find myself confused by why she’d decided to lose it.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Of course that wasn’t a question I really want to ask out loud. What if she tells me again that it had all been a mistake? “Nothing.”
She nudges my leg with hers under the table, igniting that electricity again. “Come on. Tell me.”
“Really, it’s nothing.” But that plea in her eyes…how could I not answer her? “Okay, okay, I was just wondering what made you decide to finally give it up.”
“Then you believe me now? That I was a virgin?”
She nudges me again with her foot and I can’t help nudging her back. “I told you I believed you back on the quad. Why would you lie?”
“Right?”
Now our feet are tangled together and I’m having a harder time focusing.
“So what’s the answer?” I move my foot up and down her calf, noticing her eyes glint as I do so.
“I don’t know.” I scoot forward in my chair so that now it isn’t just our lower legs touching, but our knees. I want to make hers weak. “I felt ready, I guess. Wanted to see what all the excitement was about. I was tired of feeling like I was left out of this secret club.”
“I get that.” I do not get that. I lost my virginity at fifteen, the first of my friends. There was no feeling left out for this guy. I was president of the secret club. But hey, I can empathize, right?
Besides, that wasn’t really what I was asking her. And now that our legs are wrapped up together so intimately, I work up the courage to spell it out for her. “What I meant was, why did you decide to give it up to me?”
Kira meets my eyes with such an intense look that I feel dizzy. Jesus, that girl does a number on me. It’s a really good feeling.
After a few seconds of that all-consuming gaze, she looks away and makes me suffer. “Ah, come on. A girl’s got to have some secrets.”
I miss her stare already. And the heat from where our legs were touching burns through my thighs to my groin. I want her. Again. There’s no denying that.
But she deserves so much more—holding hands, footsies, dates at Open Mic Night. And if I have my way, I’ll give it to her. All of it. But after the rocky start we’ve made, will she even want that from me? Or will I always be the guy who took her virginity, didn’t take her number, and then guiltily bought her coffee six months later?
Kira wipes her mouth with a napkin and pushes her chair away from the table. “Are you ready?”
“Uh, sure. Where are we going?” Please, God, don’t let her send me home yet. I’m not ready to leave her. I hold my breath while I wait for her response.
“You wanted to see the sights, right? I thought of someplace worth showing off.”
Chase Matthews Is Having the Best Day of His Life.
Five
Ten minutes later, I’m strapping myself into the passenger seat of Kira’s brand new Kia. Bet you can’t say that five times fast. My dad’s old Toyota Corolla is back at my house, while hers had just been up the block. Very convenient.
“Nice car,” I tell her, as she pulls out of her parking space.
She glances at me before returning her eyes to the front windshield. “A present from Daddy when I made Princess Cherry Saver.”
“It’s even red, how fitting.” I can’t help but laugh at that. “So, do you have to give it back now?”
Kira scoffs. “I’m not telling him anything. Are you?”
“Hell, no. Authority figures scare the shit out of me as it is.” No, I do not plan to tell the man anything at all. My head fills with images of things President Satchell could do to me. Pull my scholarship. Throw me out of the Education Department. Or just plain kick me in the balls.
The last thought makes me glance around. School presidents don’t employ spies, do they?
“Relax. He’s not coming after you.”
Damn, how does she read me like that? It’s freaky and freaking cool all at the same time.
We stop at a red light and Kira gives me another once-over, this one quite obvious. “In fact, you’re exactly the type of guy I could bring home and Dad wouldn’t blow a gasket.”
At first I can’t decide if I should be grateful for the compliment or scared shitless. If any of my buddies had told me that their first date was talking about meeting her parents—I’d have told them to run far and fast. Funny now that I’m more curious than concerned.
Proud even.
I sit up taller in my seat, and return her up-down look. “What makes you think I’d be Daddy material?”
She laughs. “Oh, did you think that was a compliment?”
“You’re kind of a bitch, you know that?” But I’m laughing with her. And it’s real obvious from my tone that says I think she’s anything but.
“Princess bitch, thank you very much.” Now she’s the proud one.
“I’m making you a T-shirt so everyone will know. It can replace the one you’re wearing.” I look down at the cherries on her chest that conveniently lie between her perfectly perky breasts. That awful slogan—Life’s Full of Pits, Save a Cherry—taunts me. “I have to admit, that shirt on you drives me a little insane.”
“Does it? I could take it off.” Her sly grin suggests she has nothing but her bra on underneath.
And…there goes my cock. Fanfuckingtastic. Just when I’d gotten my last semi under control.
“No? I’ll leave it on then.” She pats my thigh. “But if you change your mind, let me know.” And she winks.
My pants grow even tighter.
“Anyway…” I run a hand over my face and wonder how I should play this. Is she hoping for a repeat performance? Or is she simply being flirty? Or maybe she just likes seeing me in misery. Surely it’s just a joke, regardless.
Now someone explain that to my dick.
I shift in my seat and try to think about something totally nonsexual. Like Jared. Or President Satchell.
Neither image helps. Truth is, they just aren’t as potent in my mind as the intoxicating presence of Kira at my side. The totally hot, beautiful, amazing Kira Larson.
Shoot me now; I’m completely smitten. In the space of a single afternoon, how could I have gone from fantasizing about a stranger, to furious with a liar, to overwhelmed by my growing feelings for this complicated woman?
I shake my head and try to shove my emotions back into a box. She’s given me no indication that this means anything more to her than a flirtatious afternoon. Won’t help to mope about it, though. Regardless of what she’s feeling, I get to be alone with her. What more could I want?
Well.
A bed would be nice.
Or at least someplace private. I glance out the window, noticing the total lack of well—anything. We seem to be in the middle of nowhere, on a rough road surrounded by fields and vacant plots of land. “So where are you taking me, anyway?”
Her devilish grin returns, accompanied by that twinkle in her eye that I’m starting to adore so much. “It’s a surprise.”
“Is this a good time to tell you I don’t do well with surprises?” I do fine with surprises. I would simply prefer to not have been surprised by my growing affection for her. Or for what she could possibly be thinking about me.
“Too bad, because I’m not telling you.” She glances at me just in time to see the disappointment flash across my face. Then, seeming to take pity, says, “It won’t even make sense until you see it.”
“Fine.” I exaggerate a sigh. “But we barely know each other. Maybe I should send a text to my friends so they know to come looking for me in case you’re headed to a kill room.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say we don’t know each other.” And there’s that wink again. “But you’re right. I have the control here. I could kidnap you and no one would be the wiser.”
“And what would you do to me then?” I was just going to play along, but I couldn’t stop the sexual vibe in my voice if I wanted to. The thought of her tying me up and using me for her pleasure...
“Also a surprise.”
I’m half disappointed that she isn’t specific, half relieved for my erection.
But of course she goes on. “It would definitely be wicked and vile.”
Still not specific, but it paints a certain sort of picture. “I like the sound of that.” The picture grows more vivid in my mind—maybe she doesn’t even wait for a secluded cabin. Maybe she pulls over and rides me on the side of the road. “Maybe surprises aren’t that bad after all.”
And now I’ve gone past semi and straight for hard.
Conversation is definitely not working. Time for another distraction. I can hear the latest Twenty-One Pilots song beginning softly in the background and I grab onto it like a lifeline. “Can I turn this up? I love this song.” My hand’s already on the radio dial.
“I do, too!” Her eyes gleam. “Crank it.”
We sing along to songs on the radio while Kira drives us further away from civilization. It helps me calm down, which I’m grateful for. After a few tunes, she turns at a crossroad with no markings. I have to wonder how in the hell she knows where she’s going. Or if she knows where she’s going. Not that I care if we have an actual destination, or if she just wants to get lost. The ride is totally worth it.
Soon, a large tree appears on the side of the road ahead. It’s easy to spot from far away, being the only tall thing anywhere around us. As we get closer, I notice there’s something odd about the tree—objects hanging from its bare branches. A few more feet nearer and it’s plain that they aren’t just any old objects, but shoes.
Shoes?
Kira slows the car and parks along the shoulder.
This is it? The only sight worth seeing in Greeley, Colorado?
She opens her door and turns to me. I haven’t yet moved. “Well? Are you getting out?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I totally am.” We can make out at the weird tree if that’s what she’s into. I unbuckle my seatbelt and venture out of the car.
Kira crosses to meet me in front of the hood. “It’s cool, right?”
Cool isn’t exactly the word that comes to mind. I tilt my head, squinting up against the afternoon sun, hoping to gain a better comprehension of what I’m looking at. Shoes dangle everywhere I look. Mostly old shoes, it seems. And almost all of them are shoes with laces, tied together and flung over the higher branches.
“Well?” Kira peers up at me expectantly.
Chase Matthews Is at a Loss for Words.
I cross my arms over my chest and lean back against the car. “I don’t get it. Why do people do this?”
She shrugs. “No one really knows how it got started. Maybe someone was out here and decided to throw their old pair of sneakers up into the only tree for miles around. Who knows? But now people treat it like a wishing tree. The people who know about this place, that is. I mean, it’s not a secret or anything. People just don’t remember it’s out here. But some people are pretty faithful about it. Every time my grandpa goes through a pair, he’s out here wishing.”
Somehow Kira’s monologue clears up very little. “People throw their shoes up and make a wish? Like tossing a penny in a fountain?”
“Exactly like that.” She nudges my shoulder with hers. “What are you thinking?”
“Honestly?” I don’t want to offend her, but I’m not going to lie. Not about this. “I’m thinking this tradition is kind of weird.”
Her eyes go wide in disbelief. “Weird? It’s cool.”
Shoes flung into a random tree in the middle of nowhere? “It’s weird. I always thought throwing your shoes on something like that meant there was a drug dealer nearby.”
Kira puts a hand dramatically over her chest. “That is an urban legend! This? This is sweet and hopeful and even a little romantic.”
“It’s weird.”
The car shifts as she sits on the hood. “Oh my God, you’re totally going to ruin this place for me, aren’t you?”
I move my eyes from the strange sight in front of me to Kira. Her shoulders are sagging and her expression is totally deflated. Shit. Not what I was going for. I’d thought we could laugh together, but I’d misread the situation—yet again. “No, no, no. I’m sorry. I’m not ruining anything. It’s not weird.” I put an arm around her and pull her into me.
She frowns, her lower lip thrust forward in a perfectly kissable pout. “You’re pacifying me.”
“Nope. I’ve gotten used to the idea now and it’s not weird. I was wrong.” It’s totally still weird, but I’m not making the mistake of saying that again. Especially not now that she’s leaning into me, and I can smell the soft scent of her shampoo.
As if she can read my mind, her pout turns into determination. “Prove it.”
Um… I think fast and pull out my phone from my jacket pocket with one hand, click a picture of the shoe tree. “There. I’ll even make that shot my lock screen.” I’m not sure I know what she means by prove it but hopefully that does the trick.
“I don’t mean like that. I mean, make a wish.” Her expression is hopeful, her face lit up with pure delight. Like making a wish on the shoe tree was the most amazing thing a guy could do for her.
“Throw my shoes up there?” I’m considering it. I want to be that guy. Still…
I look down at my favorite broken-in pair of Converse. “I like these shoes. I need these shoes.” My feet will be frozen by the time we get back. But I’ll do it if I need to. After I mourn them for a few more minutes.
She giggles, and I can’t help but steal a glance at the way her tits bounce with her laughter. “You don’t need to throw your shoes. There are enough shoes up there to carry enough power for a few extra wishes. Just close your eyes and think about what you want. I’ll even do it with you.”
She closes her eyes and seems to concentrate. After a few seconds she opens one eye and peeks at me.
Whoops. I’m supposed to be wishing with her. I accidentally got too caught up in watching her while replaying her words in my mind. Do it with you. If she had any idea how badly I wanted her to do it with me again...
Kira slides out from under my arm as she turns her torso toward me, challenge written in her eyes. “You’re thinking I’m being weird again, aren’t you?”
“No. That’s not what I was thinking.” It was the furthest thing from my mind, actually. Besides having carnal thoughts about her, I’m also thinking about what a strange course my day has taken. From not being able to get the mystery girl out of my mind to seeing her at a purity rally to standing out in the middle of nowhere with her every action saying that she could want me as much as I want her.
Chase Matthews Is Thinking He’s Pretty Damn Lucky.
“Then what are you thinking?” The breeze blows across the plain, her hair dancing across her face.
I shift toward her, tucking a lock of that sweetly scented hair behind her ear. “I’m thinking I don’t know what to wish for.” I pause for a second, deciding whether it’s too much too soon to say what I want to say. Deciding I don’t care. “The thing I’ve been wishing for already came true.”
“What was that?” Her voice is soft but expectant.
My eyes lock on hers so she can see that I mean this. “That I’d see you again.”
/> Her breath catches—I actually hear it, the small little gasp she makes as I make my declaration. If that isn’t a green light, then I must be color blind.
I turn my body so I’m facing her, where she’s still sitting on the hood. Bracing my hands on the car on either side of her, I lean forward, my forehead nearly touching hers. “Now I have another wish.”
“What?” It’s barely a whisper, but it holds enough strength to make my balls twitch.
There’s no going back now—I’m lost in her. Completely.
I move my hands from the car to her waist. “I wish I could show you what it’s like to make love in a bed.”
She tilts her chin up. “That’s funny. That was my wish too.”
“How about we make it come true?”
As my mouth meets hers, and I disappear into the motion of our lips and tongues gliding together, I have to admit that I really had been wrong: the shoe tree is anything but weird. It’s all the things Kira had said it was—sweet and hopeful and a whole lot romantic.
Six
On the drive back to town, I can’t stop touching Kira. I nuzzle and suck along her neck. My hands stroke her thighs through her jeans. At the few stoplights we hit when we get back into town, I claim her lips with deep, promising kisses. Except for the one horn honk we receive from a truck behind us when we linger too long in our embrace, she remains an excellent driver. It’s surprising, considering how distracting I’ve been. But soon she won’t be able to focus on anything but my touch.
In between kissing and fondling, I direct her to my place. She doesn’t offer her home, and, since I assume she still lives with her parents, that’s fine by me. I’d rather sneak around Jared and my other roommates than have to sneak around President Satchell.
Luckily, my bedroom is just off the kitchen, so we can slip through the back door and into my room without being seen. Also fortunate is the state I left my room in. It’s semi-clean, except for the pile of dirty clothes, which I’m easily able to scoop up and throw into the closet.
Dirty Sweet Valentine Page 10
