Free First Time: Ian's Story (First Time (Ian) Book 1) by Abigail Barnette Page B

would have had less of an
effect on me. I’d been completely smitten with her all day. We’d
talked about those forbidden, extremely personal topics at the
park, but I hadn’t realized that every moment we’d spent together,
every laugh—there had been many—and every new revelation, had been
another press on an emotional accelerator. Now my heart was a
metaphorical car teetering on the edge of a cliff, and I still
wanted to slam my foot on the gas pedal.
    Fuck it . I wasn’t getting any younger. If the fortune cookie had been
right, Penny was the one. I’d waited long enough for her to show
up, there was no sense in holding back now. “Maybe it’s better to
hope that it doesn’t.”
    I leaned against the building with one
forearm, and she didn’t move away from the broad expansion of my
personal space. She was physically small, but she had a presence as
big and bright as a firework. She gazed up at me, wetting her
bottom lip with the tip of her tongue—I could still remember
exactly what it had felt and tasted like in my mouth—and I leaned
down.
    “ This is ill-advised, at the
very least,” I warned her.
    “ Yeah, I’m way too young for
you.” Her breath teased my lips. She pressed her palms against my
chest then tugged me forward by two handfuls of my shirt. Our
mouths found each other as though we’d done this a hundred times. I
truly hoped we would do this at least a hundred times. Her
enthusiasm wasn’t just flattering. It was a drug that only made me
crave her more. I wrapped my other arm around her waist, still
using the wall for balance, which was lucky because our feet became
an awkward, clumsy tangle between us.
    I heard a car door slam and jerked my head
up, praying police intervention would not become the hallmark of
our dates.
    She gripped my shirt tighter and said, in a
half-whispered plea, “Nobody’s going to see. And if they do, they
won’t care.”
    Far be it from me to argue with her about
her own neighborhood. I caught her up in both of my arms, and she
leaned against my body like I’d kissed all the strength out of
her.
    A loud, jingling crash cut startled Penny,
and she looked away to shriek, “Rosa!” at a dark-haired woman
leaning down to scoop up her keys.
    “ I’m sorry, I was trying to
sneak past.” The woman, Rosa, gave me a steely-eyed assessment. I
had the distinct impression she found me wanting. But she looked to
Penny, said, “Carry on,” and disappeared through the
door.
    I stepped back, scratching my neck.
“Remember those signs from God you were talking about?”
    “ Yeah, he is clearly
reminding you that you have church in the morning.” She sighed.
“That’s my roommate. You’ll have to meet her sometime when you
haven’t just been feeling me up in front of her.”
    Ah, the over-protective friend. In the past,
I would have taken an immediate dislike to the very idea of Rosa.
After all, her sage advice might end up being an obstacle to
overcome, as it had gone with women in my past. Though I didn’t
know her, I was relieved Penny had someone looking out for her. A
person would have to be totally oblivious to not notice Penny had
been through some painful relationships in her past, no matter how
cheerful a face she might try to put on.
    Still, I had to defend my self-control. “I
was not feeling you—”
    “ I’m fucking with you, Ian.”
She grinned as she rose on her tiptoes to reach my lips with hers.
“Just one more?”
    A groan of pained restraint caught in my
chest. I did kiss her, but I didn’t linger; the longer I stood
there, the more difficult it would be when I had to walk away.
    “ I’ll call you tomorrow.” I
reached out and stroked the backs of my fingers down her jaw. The
need to touch her was a gnawing pain beneath my ribs. Even that
small contact was enough to take some of the edge off. “If that
isn’t too soon?”
    “ Not too soon at
all.”
    If I called her fifteen minutes from now,
would it be too soon? “All right.