His hands move to my ass, and he pulls me closer. We’re both thin, though, and I twist slightly so our hip bones aren’t touching. Screw it, might as well get this going. I slide my hand to cup his dick and start to rub. Again, I almost say a prayer of gratitude to the big man, and I’m not religious, but Brody Moore is definitely hard.

And all I can think of is it’s finally happening. I’m going to get laid. It might not be fantastic, but what first time is? And it’s with Brody. He’s gonna be gentle and sweet, which I assume will mean less pain. To be honest, I simply don’t want to be a forty-year-old virgin, and at the rate I’m going, I can see it happening.

“Raven?” My eyes pop open and I stare up at Brody. Shit, how long have I been drifting, not responding?

“Yeah?” I moan.

“Can I… can I go down on… you?” His voice trails off, and I decide right now that I hate when guys ask. My next boyfriend will not be an asker, that’s for sure.

“Yeah.” Trying to sound sexy, confident, I reach for the bottle and pour us some more wine. He takes his and downs it like a shot, then smiles.

I smile and follow. In the back of my head, I can’t help but think we’re kind of pathetic. I’m nineteen and he’s twenty-one, and we need a bottle of wine to give us enough courage.

I shake my head, mostly to clear those thoughts, but also to entice him as I pull down one strap of my slip dress, then the other, letting it shimmy down to my boots.

Then I stand, waiting for him to touch me. He doesn’t. In fact, he stares, so I step out of the dress, dramatically kick it aside, and drop down onto the white couch, absently wondering if we should go upstairs. I mean, this couch is really white. What if I bleed? But the comforter and sheets on my bed are also white… Jesus, Raven, focus. He’s still standing there.

“Brody…” Again, I moan. That seems to be working, so why change it up? He nods and nervously rubs his hands up and down his jeans.

Is he sweating? Thank God it’s dark. “Everything okay?” I say, still using the sexy voice.

“You’re so pretty.” He drops to his knees, and again, it shouldn’t bug me, because I’m grateful and all, but can’t he say beautiful? Stunning? Pretty might as well be cute.