Cam kissed me then, harder and rougher than before. It didn’t scare me. If anything, it excited me more. He guided my hand to him and I wrapped my fingers around his thickness. He jumped against my palm and his chest rose sharply.

He said something against my mouth that I couldn’t make out and then he moved my hand up the length of him and then back down, establishing a rhythm that I kept up after he let go of my wrist. With his hand free now, it clasped the back of my neck as his other returned to the center of my thighs. Both of us were breathing fast when he cupped me through my panties. His palm pressed against the bundle of nerves as his fingers pushed into my heat, and I was lost. As he kissed me deeply and as I stroked him, I rode his hand. He thrust into mine, the movements small but forceful. His body shook as I felt the familiar tightening in my core. The knot unraveled, spiraling out through me. I came hard, his name a harsh whisper. His hand stayed there, rubbing me slowly through my panties as tremors rocked my body. And then he followed, his body thrusting up and spasming.

Forever seemed to pass before Cam gently pulled my hand away. I was limp and sated as he tucked me against his chest, holding me close, his heart pounding as fast as mine. He dropped a kiss on the lids of my eyes and then on my parted lips. We didn’t speak in the aftermath and I learned that sometimes words weren’t necessary.

But in the back of my head, I knew there were words I needed to say. Truths that should be spoken before we went any further. Things I needed to deal with.

“Hey,” Cam said, his voice soft. I’d tensed without realizing it. “You okay. I didn’t—”

“It was perfect.” I kissed his jaw, wishing I had a switch on my brain. “This is perfect.”

I just hoped it lasted.

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Economics became infinitely more interesting when I used the time in class to replay everything that Cam and I had done after his friends had left and Ollie had gone to bed the night before.

He’d taken me back to his bedroom, quietly closing the door behind him. Nervous energy had built in my stomach as he’d stalked toward me and cupped my cheeks. Since the night on my couch, we’d kissed and touched a lot, but it seemed different in his bedroom, more intimate, with more possibilities.

I tried not to think about actual sex, because I wasn’t sure I could actually go through the act. If it would feel good for me or if it would remind me of what happened. I knew it would hurt, because I was still very much a virgin, but would the pain become something deeper?