Stupid Girl(71)

Emotions burst within me, and I grasped Brax’s face in my hands and sealed my mouth over his, hushing his words before he could finish them. A low groan escaped his throat and resonated against my lips as he kissed me, and I’m not sure if I pulled him down to the ground or if Brax took me there; maybe it was both. I laid on my back, with Brax’s upper body pressing into me, one arm cradling my head, the other resting on my stomach. He took over the kiss and his mouth devoured mine, hungry, surprised, and somehow I felt his pain ease out of him with each sweep of his tongue, each taste, each playful nip. His hand explored my ribs, my hip, and he deepened the kiss, causing a searing, needy turmoil inside me. I kissed him back with just as much hunger, my fingers twisting in his hair, then moving over the flexed muscles and raised scars of his back with light caresses, pinning him to me.

Never wanting to let go.

Brax’s mouth moved over my jaw, throat, and across my collar bone, and my head dropped back to offer more. But he didn’t take it; his lips returned to mine, controlled, and then he stopped, mouth to mouth, breath to breath. One heavily muscled thigh held mine down, and I felt the evidence of his desire pushing erotically against me. Surprise at my lack of fear gripped my insides. I desired Brax, and I wasn’t afraid. My heart beat so hard then, and my breath came fast. Then, he kissed me once more, slowly, tasting each corner, scraping his tongue against mine. He pressed our foreheads together, intimate and close.

“I fucking want you so bad it hurts,” he said, out of breath and in a husky whisper. “But not here. Not like this. And not now.”

My heart exploded then; my arms encircled Brax’s body, and I nestled my head into the crook of his neck. I knew then that I loved him. That I was in love with him. Knew it with every fiber within me. That scared me more than offering my false virginity to him. For now, I’d keep the sentiment safe, locked away inside of me. A new secret, because it was way too soon to confess it otherwise.

We laid together for a while longer, wrapped in each others arms and staring at the mass blanket of stars above us. Finally, after we’d both drifted off to sleep more than once, Brax lifted me up, pulled on his shirt, and we drove back to my truck. With my arms wrapped tightly around his stomach, my thoughts ran crazy wild and replayed every moment, every breath, every kiss. I couldn’t get enough.

As he always did, Brax followed me to my dorm where he gathered me in his arms and kissed me breathless at the door. He pulled back, studying my face.

“You know enough about me now to realize I don’t have the strength to keep that promise I made you.” His stare was profound, sincere, protective and frightening all at once. “Whatever Evans did or did not do to you was wrong.” He lifted my chin with his knuckle and ducked his head closer. “But what his father did, and condoned? Bailing his loser son out like that? Threatening your brothers for defending you? And what Evans continues to do to you now, here?” He shook his head, and anger lit his eyes. “It’s fucking unforgivable. Evans claims he didn’t graffiti your truck, and trust me, I pressed the issue. I’m still not sure I believe him. He doesn’t scare me and neither does his prick father.” His lips caressed mine once more. “Just so you know.” He swiped my key card and gave me a light shove inside, and the door closed behind me. From inside our gazes held tight through the glass, and he just started backing up, his stare matching mine, and I wondered if he was in as much awe as I was. Under the street lamp I saw his beautiful mouth curve into a smile, then he turned, straddled his bike, and I stood there in the common room of Oliver Hall and watched as Brax disappeared into the night. I knew then if Kelsy screwed up, nothing would stop Brax. God, if Brax found out the rest of the story? About what happened beyond the drinking that night at the pond? Neither me, Kelsy’s father, nor the authorities would stop him. It was simply an unsettling yet bald-faced fact.

As I crept into bed I marveled at the absolute contentment, mixed with limitless fear that filled me. Was it truly real? Was Brax? I prayed to Jesus and begged him to make it so. It’d been fate on that first day at Winston, when Brax Jenkins had slammed into me on the front lawn. What else could it have possibly been? As I replayed every conversation, every shocking admission and every sensual kiss we’d shared, I drifted off into a deep, satisfied slumber. And for the first time in a long, long time, my heart was full.





“I gotta admit, Liv. He’s not what I thought he was. Well. Minus the short fuse and cocky attitude. Both of those traits he definitely possesses.”