Finally, Weston let his head fall back to his pillow, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around me. I was halfway on top of him, lying on my side, my leg draped over one of his. “I’m going to be hurting in the morning already. We have to stop.”

“Why will you be hurting?”

He paused, clearly trying to search for gentle words to explain. “I feel like an ass explaining. It’ll make it sound like I’m trying to guilt trip you into . . . you know. And it was never my intention for you to experience your first kiss and lose your virginity in the same night.”

“Are we talking about blue balls?”

He choked then busted out into loud laughter. Once he caught his breath, he pulled my fingers up to his mouth and kissed them. “Yes.”

“I’m not completely clueless. I am aware of most things, even if I haven’t experienced them for myself.”

“Something you might not be aware of is that I’m not cheating on Alder. I broke up with her today.”

“I know.”

He readjusted his head on the pillow to look straight at me. “How?”

“She came by the DQ today. She was pretty upset.”

“Was she mean to you?” he said. His jaws worked under the skin as he waited for me to answer.

“She’s always mean to me. But she said when she gets back that it’s going to get significantly worse.”

Weston looked away, and then back at me. “I won’t let them hurt you anymore, Erin. Don’t be afraid of them.”

“I’m not.”

He frowned. “It’s just six weeks. We can get through it.”

I kissed him, this time it was brief and sweet. Just a peck, then I nodded. “You’re the one I’m worried about. You’re not used to it.”

“I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. They might give us shit during school, but they can’t touch what we’ve got.”

I rested my head on his chest and listened to his heart beating. It slowed more with each passing minute, and then his breathing became deep and even. I glanced up, seeing that his eyes were closed. His hand was resting comfortably on my back. I laid my head back down, nestling against his side and snuggling into his neck. He pulled me closer to him, and that is when I fell asleep.

~*~

At first, the chirping didn’t register, but when Weston tried to carefully maneuver out from under me, I woke up.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “It’s four in the morning. Go back to sleep.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, wiping my eyes.

“I don’t know. Someone is blowing up my phone.” Right when he reached for his cell and unplugged it from the charger, it rang. “Shit, it’s my Mom. Hello?”

I could hear Veronica on the other end, her voice high-pitched and desperate.

“No. Calm down, Mom. No, I told you. I’m in Blackwell. I stayed here, remember? Mom. Stop crying. What’s going on?”