Steeling Her: A Romance Novel

Carter

“Here let me take that for you.” Nick holds out his hand, indicating to me that I should give him my bag. I do as we walk side by side down the hallway while I try not to freak out because he’s shirtless.

I know I’ve seen him countless times without his shirt, but I can’t handle it with my hormones.

Once we reach the door to his familiar room, he shoves it open, the creak of the door echoing through the empty house. He sets my bag down on the bed and turns around to face me.

“Did you get a little scared?” he teases me, and I flick my eyes up from his abs to his eyes. I hope he didn’t see me eyeballing at him like that. I was so obvious.

“I heard some things moving in the dorm, so I packed a bag as quickly as I could and ran. I could’ve sworn I saw something run across my door out in the kitchen.” I nod and look around the room to see if there is anything out of place. I hate that stupid movie for making me so paranoid. I probably look like I should be in a mental institution.

He leans back, amused by me. I stand there and smile at him chuckling at me. Well, at least I can make him laugh? Even if I was truly terrified.

“You know it’s just a movie, right?” He stops after a while and moves closer to me. Taking my arm in his, he caresses it up and down in a comforting way. It’s relieving. I knew he’d help my overactive imagination.

“Well, the idea had to come from somewhere, and the doll is actually real,” I point out and he nods in agreement with me.

“But you have me to protect you. Nothing will get by me.” He winks. Our bodies are actually touching each other. “I’ve got you,” he promises me, and I could feel my tense body relax at his words. All the worry in me exits my body.

How does he do that?

I smile up at him and express my thanks to him. “Come on, let’s get into bed and get you to sleep. I’ll be right next to you.” He brings me over to my bag and tells me to take out my pyjamas. I slip out an LA Chargers jersey with “Steel” written on the back of it. Once I have it, I turn around to go and change in his bathroom, but something tugs on the jersey. Once I turn around, I see Nick’s hand is on the other end, stopping me.

“Nick? What’s wrong?” I ask, closing the distance between us.

“I want you to wear mine,” he states plainly. He hasn’t removed his eyes from the jersey in my hand.

“Wear your what?” I ask, wondering what he’s talking about.

“My jersey, I want you to wear my jersey.” He flicks his eyes up to me and let’s go of the sleeve. Backing into his closet, he finds his jersey that has “Jackson” written in the back of it. I smile as he brings it up in front of him, showing it off to me. “Wear mine,” he asks again. Making the decision, I set my jersey down onto the bed and secure the jersey from his hands. As my hand brushes against his skin, goosebumps raise on the surface.

“Okay,” I reply breathlessly. Once it’s in my hands, I walk into the bathroom and position it on the sink. Stripping off my clothes, I can feel the thick ambiance between us. We’re not even in the same room, and yet the air feels heavy. Sliding down my jeans after kicking off my shoes, I clip off my bra and stand there almost completely naked in Nick’s bathroom.

He better not have a camera in here.

I place the material over my head, letting it fall around my figure. It’s large, as I suspected. Falling mid-thigh, but it feels so comfortable. It even smells like him.

I gather my clothes up from the floor and fold them into a neat pile, hiding my bra. I have kept my underwear on because my legs go everywhere at night time and I don’t want to flash him.

Walking back out, I stuff my clothes into my bag and see he’s already lying in bed with the sheets gathered around his hips. My mouth begins to dry up.

“Wow . . .” he greets me. I feel my cheeks heat up from his attention. “My jersey looks better on you than it does on me, Carter,” he says as he flatters me in his clothing. “I never understood why guys say girls in their clothing look sexy, but now I do.” And now I’m bright red. So red that I could direct ships away from land and be a stand-in for a lighthouse.

I smile at him, trying to hide my embarrassment as I slip into the sheets beside him. Act natural, Carter. We do this all of the time.

“You’re so cute when you blush,” he says that to me as I lay down on the comfy bed. He hovers over me and smiles. This makes me redden even further. My cheeks are heating up with everything he utters. So, he just needs to stop talking, and there’s only one thing that can make him stop.

I lean up and kiss him, and he immediately responds with a smile on his lips. He recognizes what I’m doing. His free hand cups the side of my cheek, putting more pressure onto my lips. I sense his tongue caressing mine as we move around from side to side. It’s getting intense. Usually, I would stop it but for some reason I don’t want to. I want this.

I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him down on top of me. Our bodies pressed against one other, I bend my leg up over his, and his palm begins to stroke my thigh. He starts off gentle and then he grasps it higher up my leg. I lightly gasp at the pleasure.

Trailing his hand higher and higher up my leg, he pushes up the material of his jersey to reveal my underwear. It takes him a moment to decide if he wants to swim in that water, but only a moment, because he perseveres with pushing the material up higher and higher, with no protest from me. His hands feel too good right now, and I don’t want him to stop. Gripping my waist, I can feel him grow in length against my inner thigh. And so can he, he extends a hand down to adjust himself. He brushes against my core, and I moan out at the pleasure.

“Shit,” he curses after hearing me. I can’t believe that even left my mouth in the first place. I have never made that sound in my life, I’m stunned.

We gape at one another for a few moments, trying to figure this out. He’s wondering if he can do it again; all I want is for him to. It felt so incredible, even if it was for less than a second. Swallowing hard, I can sense his hand slowly trail up my inner thigh while we haven’t removed our eyes from each other. Reaching the cloth covering my pulsing core, he rests momentarily and checks if I’m okay. I don’t say anything. I can’t think of anything other than that feeling I had.

He then lifts the material away and brushes his fingers along my lower lips. Feeling the pleasure as he brushes over that spot again, I gasp breathlessly. “Jesus Christ . . .” he curses in my ear as he buries his head in the crook of my neck, peppering kisses as he strokes my outer lips. “You’re dripping wet, Carter,” he tells me. I know that that’s a good thing.

Sucking on my neck, I moan again when he moves up to the pulsating part of my private area. When he touches it, a burst of nerves hit me hard. I moan out for him. “Nick,” I call out to him, and he grunts on my skin, allowing the pleasure to build. He backs away but keeps his pace going.

This feels unbelievable.

He’s moving his fingers in a circular pattern while I’m panting like I just ran on a treadmill for the past hour.

He draws back, and I didn’t even notice that my eyes were closed until I had to open them to see what’s going on. His mouth connects with mine before I could ask anything. He releases himself and leaves kisses down my neck, down the valley between my covered breasts. Simultaneously, he bunches up the jersey just so it sits below my breasts. When his warm lips kiss my cold skin down to my bellybutton and further, I think, What’s he going to do next?

I look down to meet his mischievous gaze as he kisses my hip bone and down to the sensitive area just above my underwear. Apparently, that’s my weak spot. Taking the band of my underwear between his teeth, he pulls it down slowly while he watches me. I’m panting but then I suddenly realize that I’m exposed. He can see my vagina. I cover myself with my hands. He sits up immediately and reads my expression.

“Hey, hey. Carter, look at me. Carter, please look at me, it’s just me.” I remove my eyes from the ceiling and look back at Nick, who is smiling softly. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Just say the word no and I will stop. I don’t want you feeling uncomfortable.” But I don’t feel like that. I’m just embarrassed that he wishes to do that with me. I’m not experienced in this department. I have a feeling that this is going to be awkward. “Do you want to stop?” he asks me and I shake my head. I see both of his eyebrows rise. He’s shocked by this. I’m giving him consent to touch me like that. It did feel amazing.

“I’m ready,” I blurt out. His eyes grow wider above me. He opens and closes his mouth, not knowing what to say like a goldfish.

“A-A-Are you s-sure?” he stammers cutely. His eyes are darting back and forth with my own. “Because if you’re not, it’s tota—” I cut him off by kissing him again. Smiling on his lips, I pull him down closer to me again.

“I want to do this, Nick,” I whisper on his lips.

“Okay,” he says in a daze. I laugh at the face he’s making. He’s in complete shock. So, what he does next catches me off guard. He locks his lips again with mine and repeats the process of making his way down low, kissing my stomach and rolling his tongue along my skin. A breathy moan unwillingly escapes with his name.

He kisses the inside of my thighs. I start to wonder what it feels like when a guy pleasures a—

Holy shit.

He kisses my throbbing nub, and I feel that spike of pleasure again. My hands feel along the fresh cold sheets of his bed. Just when I was about to open my eyes, his tongue flicks it again, then he sucks on my opening over and over to increase the pleasure that I’ve never felt in all my life.

He’s good.

Very good.

Meanwhile, I’m very shit at this. But then again, I am just lying here while he does all the work.

Good Lord, does this feel mindblowing.

“Is this what an orgasm feels like?” I wonder absentmindedly. I’m starting to sweat, then I feel a hum of laughter on me. I bite my lip to control myself.

“Trust me, baby, you’ll know when you’re orgasming.” He continues to lick me, and there’s this pressure building between my hips; this feeling that is all so unfamiliar, and I don’t want it to end. The knot in my lower body tightens and he’s not slowing down. As if he knows I’m on the edge already, he quickens his speed. My hands clutch the bed sheets with a lot of strength. Now I know what he means when he said that I’ll know when I orgasm. Although I felt the pleasure, it doesn’t even compare to what it’s building towards.

“Oh my God,” I moan, and he doesn’t stop. I can feel my hips rise up from the bed and my legs beginning to clamp down on his head, but he’s stronger than I am. He separates them to stop me. “Oh my God,” I repeat from the sensation. “Nick!” I yell as this feeling has reached its zenith inside of me. “Oh God!” I arch my back, and my eyes roll into the back of my head at the feeling while he tries to keep me pinned down to the bed. I’m panting heavily as my body shudders from the aftermath of that bliss. I’m still moaning, feeling every inch of my body being filled with that sensual pleasure.

That felt amazing. The high was so real. The contraction of my muscles created a response I’ve never felt before.

Breathing erratically, I can feel the warmth of his kisses trail back up my leg. My body is sensitive to his touch. Now I get why people enjoy this. It’s addictive, and I understand much more clearly why girls want more of him.

“How was that?” He kisses my neck sweetly and I smile upwards, beginning to laugh in absolute hysteria.

“Wow,” I voice to the ceiling. The low rumble of his laugh can be heard and felt on my skin while I’m still coming down from my high.

“That good, huh?” he mumbles playfully on my skin, and I sigh.

“I want more,” I tell him. He pulls back away from me to see my face. I feel so addicted to the feeling he had created and I’m hinting to him to take the opportunity I’m giving him. Not that I’ll change my mind, I have no doubt that I want him to be the one to take that special piece of me, and I want it now. I’m ready for him because I trust him.

“What about your rules?” He smirks and I bite my lip trying to suppress my smile.

“I’ve kind of broken them already, before we started dating,” I joke with him. The two of us are on cloud nine; mainly me. “Rules are meant to be broken, right?” I giggle, and so does he.

“You got that right, but are you sure? Are you sure you’re one hun—”

“I’m sure,” I cut him off. I should probably stop doing that because he’s going to get annoyed at me. “I’m sure,” I state once more, this time more confidently.

“Alright. If it’s too much, you can just say so and I’ll stop. I don’t know how I will be able to, but I will,” he jokes and reaches across my body to get something. I can hear his drawer opening and a rustle of something. Grabbing what he needed, he plants it between his teeth and closes the drawer again. A condom.

Then I start to freak. This is actually happening. I went from being alright with it to having an internal panic attack. Oh, fuck.

“Woah, woah, woah! Whats wrong?” Now he’s panicking. I can see the alarm bells ringing in his eyes, the ones I set off.

“I-I . . . Is it going to hurt? I don’t want to be hurt. I have no idea what I’m fucking doing! Do you go on top or do I? Oh God . . . I don’t even know if I shaved down there . . . SHIT! Oh my God, I’m a walking embarras—” He covers my mouth to stop me from rambling. All of these thoughts I didn’t have before are now running through my head. I know that this is probably going to hurt like a bitch.

“Okay, Carter, look at me. Hey, look at me.” He leads my face around to meet his intense, sultry gaze. I can hear my own heart pumping in my body and I’m wondering if he can hear it or feel it too. “I’m not going to lie, it will most likely hurt for a little bit. I’m clearly not a girl, so I have no idea what it’s like on that end, but I will be gentle if you want to continue with this. The first few seconds will be a little sore, but after that you will feel the feeling you had when I went down on you.

“I will be on top, but in the future, you can take the reins if you’d like. I do love a girl on top.” He winks. I giggle and roll my eyes at him and his cheekiness. I like knowing what I’m getting involved in beforehand or else I’ll freak out; like what I’m doing right now, only it’s happening during the activity. “You don’t need to know what you’re doing. I’m going to show you what to do. And yes, you did shave down there. You just need to relax and let me do all the work. The girl comes first, in every sense.”

He smirks and rips the foil with his teeth. “I’m going to ask again, are you sure you want to do this?” He triple checks with me. I take a deep breath and nod multiple times, demonstrating that I’m fine now.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’m ready,” I assure him and myself. I am ready for this. I am ready for this.

He smiles tenderly and kisses me delicately on my lips. Not once, but twice. I didn’t even notice he had already put the condom on. Damn, he’s a pro at this.

“I’m not going to be good at this. I won’t be like those other girls you’ve—” He cuts me off by kissing me again, consuming my mouth at once.

“I don’t want . . . you to . . . be like . . . those other . . . girls, Carter. I want . . . you . . . to . . . be . . . you,” he whispers after each kiss he gives me. I melt beneath him and almost lose myself in his lips. The tender kisses he’s giving is making me drift into a different dimension.

Each kiss tells me a little more about him. That he’s a soft man on the inside despite his hard exterior; that he’s actually a romantic guy; that he’s sweet and caring about to the people he lets in; that he’s loyal and considerate of others. He puts the girl first, in all aspects.

It wasn’t his words telling me to believe him, it was his actions. Then again, the only thing he didn’t put first was a girl’s emotions. From those past hook-ups. He only does with me, and I can’t help but feel giddy inside with that thought.

“Because this is your first time, it will be uncomfortable, but you need to relax into this. Okay?” He kisses my forehead to calm me down. I try to relax my muscles while I can feel the calloused hands on my waist, pulling the jersey upwards. “I want to take this off. Is that alright?” he asks me first, referring to the jersey he had given me moments ago. I nod. “I need you to put your hands over your head,” he orders me gently and I do follow. I rest my hands up above my head and he pulls the soft material over my eyes. I can hear him growl back.

Feeling his hot mouth on one of my breasts makes me gasp at the sensual touch. His tongue rims around my pink nipple that’s erect and is demanding him. Simultaneously, he lifts the jersey away from my skin and throws it onto the floor below us. Climbing his mouth back up to mine, we lock our mouths together and move them in sync with one another, tongues swirling in the heat of our desire for one another. I know he wants this just as much as I do, perhaps even a little more.

He pokes my entrance and he doesn’t stop kissing me. I try not to focus on the potential pain and focus on him. Slow nudging himself in, I can now feel him inside of me. It feels full and pressured. Although I’m feeling this, he keeps pushing himself inside. I whimper now that I’m feeling that pinch. He pulls back and wipes a tear that leaks from my eye. I didn’t even realize it was there.

“I know, baby, I know,” he coos in my ear. Sliding himself back out of my entrance, he pushes back in. There it is again, only this time, it’s a lot stronger. This really does hurt like a bitch.

I whimper again with another thrust, and I can feel the rush of something within me. The pain peaking with his next thrust, I grip onto his shoulders with all I have and squeeze my eyes shut. He’s whispering sweet words to me about not wanting to hurt me.

With the next soft penetration, it dies down. Until he hits it again and again, then it’s gone. I can’t feel any pain but the pure fullness of him inside of me. I know my channel is tight because nobody has dared to enter my chamber of secrets. He’s the first.

When he thrusts again, I can feel the heavenly feeling I experienced when he went down on me. The surge of electricity charges my body, awakening it to feel the pleasures that it will create.

“Jesus, you’re so tight,” he moans to me with the next slow stroke. He gives a more powerful one to make that feeling inside me more concentrated. That sensation has me moaning breathlessly.

He hides his head in my neck, running his tongue along the shaft of it. I grip the back of his soft hair encouraging him to keep doing that. It sends a shiver down my spine and to my core that is now completely full of Nick Jackson.

With his sexy moans mixed with mine, he keeps rubbing this spot inside of me, as if he knows he’s hitting the right spot. My G-spot, if I remember correctly from Sex Ed. With every thrust, it sends me a burst of pleasure to my stomach, increasing that all too familiar knot that is getting bigger. I grip onto his shoulders like it’s going to support my senses.

“Fuck,” Nick moans and ravishes my mouth, letting us both moan into one another. He hikes both of my legs up, and I wrap them around his waist making him go that little bit deeper. He cups the part of my ass that’s available to him and squeezes it while he devours me.

The headboard is banging away above us in the quiet room and house. The entire bed shakes with the shrill of my voice when he brushes his tip over the one spot that’s making me see stars.

“Shit,” I pant when I can feel him picking up the pace a little more. It’s not uncomfortable anymore, it feels like a rush of joy filling my veins. “Oh my God!” I gasp when the headboard starts banging more frequently, indicating that he might be at the same stage as I am.

“Lift your hips up, Carter,” he instructs me and I do as I’m told. I angle my hips upward and feel the sense of pleasure I have felt before. This is so incredibly intense, I don’t know if I’ll be able to manage this for much longer.

“Holy fuck!” I scream from the pleasure I feel from the simple motion of adjusting the angle of my hips for him. His head rolls back momentarily before resuming his initial position.

“Oh shit, just like that, Carter,” he groans as he keeps the steadfast pace he’s set. Sliding back and forth inside of me, he rests his head on mine. We stare longingly at one another, watching the lust beam through our eyes. I watch his hues dilate into dots, hypnotized by the intuitive motion. The beauty of our bodies intertwining together has me almost lifting off the bed and soaring through the sky. I feel like I’ve left my body and traveled with this wave I’m riding.

I get when people say they see stars. “I’m close, Carter,” he informs me, holding his breath. “Fuck me, I’m so close.” He exhales roughly. I can feel the pleasure accumulate in my walls, but I can’t form a single sentence in my mind. Everything has become foggy and lost. I don’t know any words to tell him that I’m so lost in him. I can’t describe what I’m feeling because it has influenced muteness within me, like someone is controlling me and has erased the English language from my mind.

Once my breathing comes out in rapid demanding pants, I can start to feel my legs quake. That sensation is rising in my body once again. My body archs into his to be closer to him. Our skin rubs one another, and a layer of sweat forms and mixes between us.

Once I hit my point of no return, I stop breathing and call out for him. “Nick!” I scream for him, and he doesn’t stop. My walls convulse around him, trapping him within me, as he continues to slide himself in and out, trying to ride out his high.

“Holy fucking shit, Carter!” he roars back, cupping the side of my face and resting his forehead still on mine. I close my eyes and breathe heavily as I come down from my high as he rides his out. After a while of him exhaling firmly, he finally lets go and eases from his.

I stretch to hold his neck in my hands, our breaths tousled along with our bodies on the bed. The grinding of our bodies has me losing control over it. If this is what sex feels like, then I wouldn’t mind doing it again.

“Wow . . .” Nick chuckles in a daze. “That was . . . just wow.” I can feel my own cheeks heat up with that . . . compliment? I’m not certain if it was a compliment. “You’re really sexy in bed.” He kisses my cheek and lays himself on top of me, careful not to crush me under his heavy muscles. I wrap my arms around his neck and allow him to be flush with mine, coveting him to be nearer to me.

That was amazing. I’ve never felt so good before. I feel so free after my release. I never knew a body could react in such a way before. I get why people say they become addicted to being with their partner. It’s a special moment between two people . . . or more if you’re into that.

“You look so beautiful right now. You have this after sex glow like I’ve never seen before,” he says in an almost mesmerized tone, like he hadn’t intended on saying that out loud. It’s confirmed to me when his eyes expand and he puffs out his cheeks.

“Did you mean to say that out loud?” “I wasn’t supposed to say that out loud!” we say simultaneously. Then we both erupt in laughter. We know each other too well, it’s almost scary.

“You also weren’t supposed to read my mind, Steel. I may just have to punish you later,” he jokes with me and I roll my eyes playfully. If I wasn’t so sore, I would smack him. The aching becomes more prominent when I move. I thought it would have been just the start of sex that the virgin would be sore but, as it turns out, it’s afterwards too. “And you never called me ‘daddy’ either, but we’ll save that for next time.” He ducks his head into my neck, softly kissing the skin and moving up to my jaw. He showers me in kisses, as he always does.

I hum again at the touch of his lips on me. I could never get used to it. It always feels like the first time we kissed and it always leaves me craving more.

“How are you feeling?” he asks curiously. Forgetting that he’s still inside me, he gently moves to lean on his left elbow. Slowly pulling himself out of me, I wince at the pain. He sees it too. “You still a little sore?” He looks down at our bare bodies and makes a face. I look down as well. I see there’s a small amount of blood on the condom. His head snaps up to me, and I turn my attention back to his handsome face. “That’s sometimes normal for the first time, don’t worry about that.” He caresses me, assuring that it’s all fine.

“I know, I remember from Sex Ed.” I snort as he removes the condom from himself and stands up to discard it into his trash bin over by the desk at his window. He turns around to ogle down at me. He then drops his eyes down to my bare core, licking his lips with a devilish smirk on his face. “Oh no you don’t! Nick, I’m so sore, I literally can’t move right now,” I whine playfully as I sit up in some pain and scurry back up the bed away from his crawling body. After watching Annabelle, anything that crawls near me is a big no-no for me right now.

“You’re doing a fine job of moving away from me right now.” He smirks but I can see he’s a little offended through his green eyes.

“I just watched a horror movie with things crawling around in the fucking night, do you honestly think I’d sit here with open arms while you crawl towards me like that?” I sass back with my arms folded over my bare chest, and he just couldn’t help himself. His eyes drift down to my breasts that are pushed up, not helping the situation.

“Point taken.” He grins, finally releasing his stare from my chest back up to my eyes. “How about this, I’ll run us a bath and we can relax in it for a while until you feel less sore? Then we’ll go to sleep,” he offers as a compromise while slowly moving up to me, wolfishly grinning at me like he’s got a plan. “I’ll wash you too if you’re good for daddy.” He chuckles, going for the neck. He hums kisses onto my glowing skin, as he so kindly described it.

Without even me answering him back, he jumps off me and runs to his bathroom. I hear him run the bath. If I could remember when I was changing clothes, his tub wasn’t an overly large one, but it can fit two people in it. Well, two people where one is tiny (me) and the other is a monster (him). I can overhear the water hitting the base of the tub as I wait for the green light from him. When I hear his footsteps, I sit on the edge of the bed to stand up but he lifts me up bridal style when I least expected it. I squeal in surprise.

“You know I have two feet, right?” I poke his dimple that made an appearance.

“My girl is sore. I don’t mind carrying you. I want you to relax and enjoy the hot water.” He smiles and I can feel my body start to melt in his arms because he called me his girl. He’s never called me that before.

Why is he so adorable with this stuff? He really is a romantic despite the player attitude he once had. It’s like staring at a different guy entirely. It’s nice to see, though, and I’m glad he is showing his true self to me because if he hadn’t had, I wouldn’t be falling for him. This was the deciding moment for me.

I like how gentle he is with me; making sure I was okay, tending to my needs, and putting me before him. This side of him is what I like most about him. Haley always criticized him about how selfish he can be with girls, but right now, he’s anything but selfish.

This is a good look for him. I adore the way he treats me like a queen. I’ve never had someone go all out for me; outside of my family, of course. I don’t care about how much money he has, the fancy dates he plans, or the things he buys for me.

All that matters to me is how he treats me, and I think he knows that too. I’m more of the simple type of girl, I’m not into big fancy things. As long as I’m comfortable, I’m content.

He places me into the steaming hot bathtub alone, and I sigh as the feeling of the hot water reaches my sore muscles. Bubbles surround me while a masculine scent hovers above me. I sniff in the scent as it reminds me of him. No doubt, he’s using his own shower gel. He lays beside me outside the tub on the floor, watching my face.

“Aren’t you joining me?” I ask as I rest the bubbles in my hand and blow them over to him. He catches them and smiles, nodding back. Rising to his towering height—still naked, might I add—he slides in behind me. Once he’s settled, his legs are on the sides of the wall and his arms wrap around my waist, pulling me towards his body. My back rests on his chest.

“This better?” he asks over my shoulder. I rest my head back on his own shoulder and nod, closing my eyes in relaxation, my energy plummeting. I can hear the water dripping; he cups some of the water and lifts his arms up to get some warmth on my chest. It is really helping me right now. The soreness is leaving my body little by little, and I couldn’t have thought of a better idea than to sit in a steaming hot tub. I love this temperature.

“I love steaming hot baths, so this feels amazing right now. Plus, you being here with me makes it so much better,” I say to him. He continues to pour the water on my chest. Not touching me, but letting the water and the sounds calm me and my body down from the new experience I’ve just shared with him.

“I’m glad I could be of some assistance to you. Would you like a martini with that, Miss Steel?” he teases me, making me chuckle in the quiet house.

“Shaken, not stirred, good sir,” I joke back, making him roar with laughter behind me.

“ ‘Good sir’? Who the fuck are you calling ‘good sir,’ Steel?” he finally says through his laughter. I know he gets the James Bond reference. I saw the collection in his house when we were looking for a movie that time we went down to Ellie’s birthday party. They had all of them, even the very old ones.

“Wait! Are you not my waiter?” I keep a serious expression on until I see him smirk and then he pulls me back to his chest, holding both of my hands in his as we both cut through the water together.

“I’m Nick fucking Jackson. You’ve never heard of the great Nick Jackson? Ole Miss’s first-string quarterback? Co-captain of the team and the sexiest man on campus? I even have a six pack too,” he jokes. I snort, lifting my leg up out of the water. The cold air latches on to my skin, causing goosebumps and a chill to appear for a short time, so I dunk it back in through the bubbles.

“I’m sure that got you a lot of attention too,” I point out in the most playful manner. I feel him kiss my shoulder, the crook of my neck, and up behind my ear.

“It did. I loved it. I loved having girls around me all the time. I felt like a god, and they treated me like one too. I found it easy to lay them. They came to me, and I wouldn’t protest. Everything was sweet and easy,” he says.

I purse my lips and squint my eyes, wondering where he’s taking this.

“Until I met this girl,” he continues putting a goofy smile on face, “I met her at this party. She was in this gorgeous . . . sexy . . . breath-taking red dress that hugged every inch of her perfectly.” I lean my head back again, listening to him converse about me and that night. “She had this urge to keep running away from me.” He sighs, and I beam at him, remembering when all I did was run away from any football player that night, especially him. “But when I eventually spoke to her, I got addicted to her personality. I thought she was the cutest person I’ve ever met.” He makes me blush again. “You still are.” He blows on my skin. “You always will be to me,” he whispers behind me, kissing behind my ear.

“And you always will be to me too,” I whisper back. “I know I’ve said this before, but you’re nothing like I thought you’d be. All the rumors I’ve heard of you, not a single one has been true. Except for the one where you got around.” I tilt my head to the side, expressing the truth. Not to hurt him, but to state the fact that there was more than meets the eye with him.

But he has to let you in first in order for you to see the other layers. As for those girls that practically throw themselves at him whenever he steps out in public, I understand why he acted like that towards them. I mean, if it’s there why not? But it still doesn’t mean he should hurt them. After all, they’re only human, they were only looking for love too.

I continue, “You have many depths to you. You always surprise me with new things about you. I like learning about you, about your childhood, and I’m flattered that you like sharing your memories with me.” I take his hand up out of the water and kiss his knuckles delicately. Twice.

“You remind me of my mom,” he admits and I freeze. That’s not a comparison I want to be made between the two of us. “Not like that!” This gains a laugh from him. “Jesus, not like that!” he explains. “You both have the same kindness. You look after other’s first and then yourself once you know everything is alright around you,” he compliments both of us.

“I could say the same to you. You have your mom’s kindness too. Putting the girls first, in every sense,” I recite his own words back to him and he continues to chuckle at me.

“If you don’t, then why have sex in the first place? The girl comes first. Plus, I like watching you cum. Your face is so sexy when you reached the peak. Jesus, you looked like a piece of art. I’m getting hard again just remembering you. The rush of redness to your cheeks and the way your body lost all control because I guided you to a place that you’ve never been before. I was the first guy to ever touch you like that. You have no idea what that means to me. The fact that you trusted me enough to make you feel that way . . .” His speech has the butterflies in my stomach acting up again. My heart is pumping the blood around my body via my veins. The strong pulse rhythmically thumps inside of me. I’m not sure what the cause of it is, it could be a mixture of him and his flattering words.

“I trust you. I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d want to share that moment with,” I confess truthfully to him because I couldn’t think of another guy who would have made me feel that way.

The gentle touches, asking me if I was okay to do that, coaching me through what I needed to know about this entire thing without getting frustrated because he was there for me when I felt the expected pain, and telling me it’s okay and it’ll get better. He never lied to me during that special moment between us; he was truthful, and that’s why I trusted him so much.

Because what is a relationship without trust?

And I wouldn’t change that moment for anything.