Page 59 of Off Limits
The girl I don’t like – and for reasons I can’t fathom – has her mother hunting me down like a crazy fucking coyote.
I am screwed.
I go to the bed, take out the phone that I planned to use for Serenity. I switch it back on, a little flame of hope in my chest that she’s sent me a message.
Only there’s nothing.
I sit down. My fingers hover over the keys.
I type out a message.
I’m so sorry.
I messed up.
Please forgive me.
After the message has been sent, I’m tempted to write more. To start begging, I guess. I toss the handset because I know it’s not a good look.
For a minute, I hold my head in my hands.
I think of the look on Serenity’s face. It’s replaced with Lemon and her puckered lips, then finally merges into Sam Conway telling me how close she is to Coach Holland.
Shit.
When I first came to Canyon, I did not think that life would turn out to be this complicated.
Chapter Fifteen
Serenity
On the road back into Canyon, on the dash, the fuel light switches on. When I pull into the nearest gas station, I kill the engine. In the driver’s seat, I let out a shaky breath, because it feels like I’ve been holding it since I left the cabin.
I close my eyes.
He thought I was a virgin.
My bottom lip quivers. It won’t stop. I bite down on it, sucking on my own flesh. It felt good to kiss him again. Too darn good.
The worst thing? He’s the kind of guy who makes me wish I could be a virgin again. Because all those other guys I’ve been with, they pale pretty far in comparison. And I wish I could cancel them all out.
I never went with a sweet guy before. A guy who truly cares.
I didn’t go to the cabin with the intention of sleeping with Jake Walsh. I didn’t think we’d go that far. I guess I hoped I’d get to kiss him again, but his kisses got me so worked up.
At Surly’s, when I’m half naked and dancing for a bunch of total strangers, I don’t see it as a sexual thing. Sure, they do, but for me it’s a way to make money and pay off my father’s debt. That’s all it’s ever been for me. A means to an end.
I’ve not been with a man for two years. I wouldn’t say I’ve been starved, but when Jake’s hands were on my body, it was like he flipped a switch. Half-dressed, with his eyes on my body, it felt like I was on fire. His mouth was so warm, so welcoming. When his fingers slipped inside my panties, need blossomed in my belly, and everywhere else. I was ready to give myself to him.
He thought you were a virgin, Ren.
God, did it disappoint him that I wasn’t?
Does it even matter? Because there’s no universe in which he can be mine.
At the back of Surly’s, at the door, Jaxon is waiting on me.
‘Go get changed,’ he instructs me. ‘You and I are goin’ on a trip.’
