“Does everyone assume I’m a slut because I don’t have parents telling me what not to do?”

Laughing, I shake my head. She took what I said the wrong way. “No, Sunny. Nobody thinks that. I assumed it because I’m attracted to you, and I know a lot of guys in school are, too. I never thought I’d be the first one to kiss your lips.”

“Now you’re talking nonsense, Rhett.”

“You don’t see yourself the way I do, but trust me, I wouldn’t make it up, and I really wouldn’t want to be with you if you were a slut. I mean, flash was kind of a slut, but -.” She smacks me in the chest before I can continue. As hard as I try not to laugh, I can’t hold it in.

“She was slutty, wasn’t she. I still can’t believe I did that.”

“Shit happens, but let’s talk about this kiss.”

She groans like it’s a painful topic. Nothing about kissing Sunny will ever be painful. It only hurts when I can’t kiss her. “Do we have to?”

“We have to, Kinsley. I should have done so much better. Your first kiss should be so awesome you run home and write about it in your little, pink diary. The one with the tiny metal key you keep under your pillow.” Again, she laughs at me. I assumed all chicks had a diary. At least they always seem to in the movies.

“I don’t have a diary, Rhett. At least not since I was ten.”

“Well, even if you don’t, you should want to gossip about it—like girls do. Did you tell Becca we kissed?”

She looks down at her hands again, biting on her bottom lip. “Not really.”

“Because it wasn’t memorable. See, I gotta do better.”

“It was memorable, Rhett. I was just terrible at it, and didn’t want anyone to know I messed it up. That’s why I ran away. You caught me off guard, and then I panicked.”

She’s gone an entire day thinking she’s a terrible kisser. “You’re really serious right now? Kissing you was awesome, Sunny. Really fuckin’ awesome.”

“You don’t want to hurt my feelings, so you’re being nice.”

“Holding a door for you is nice. Carrying your backpack is nice, too. Nothing about kissing you is nice. It’s the best thing ever.” I inch my way toward her. She gets one warning this time. “I’m going to kiss you again, right now.”

I reach out for her porcelain skin, holding her face like it could shatter if I’m not careful. This kiss is already more intimate than our first. I’m not holding her so she can’t run away. I’m holding her because she deserves to be cherished.

Never taking her eyes off me, she leans into my arms, slowly licking her lips with her tongue. My eyes fixate on that bottom lip of hers as her teeth rake over it ever so slightly. I watch her until I’m too close to see and can only feel.

We start out slow, and like I told her before, nothing about kissing her is nice. As her lips tangle with mine, she gains more and more confidence. Little by little she stops worrying and starts feeling it the way I am. Already it’s ten times better than the kiss we shared in my truck—this is the one that matters. This kiss is our game changer.

I show her with each swipe of my tongue exactly how much I want her—that she’s mine. Laying her down on the cushions, I’m careful not to put my weight on her as I move over top of her, but she’s latched onto my shirt so tightly, she doesn’t give me a choice to go anywhere other than where I’m at.

My arms are shaking from holding myself up for so long, but I don’t want to stop kissing her. I pull away for a second, my eyes darting back and forth between her lips and her gorgeous brown eyes. A slow, easy smile breaks out on my face. “You’re sure you’ve never done that before, Sunny?”

She runs her hands up and down my arms, nodding her head. “You’re my first, Rhett.”

I blink slowly, absorbing her words. “God, I love the way that sounds.” I’m so drunk on Kinsley, I can’t even wrap my head around the fact that she’s all mine.

“You do?”

“Sunny, I want to be all your firsts.”

“I don’t want to take you home,” I whisper against the smooth skin of her neck. “I wish we could stay like this until morning.” My Sunny’s lying on top of me. We’ve been cuddling on the living room couch for almost an hour, alternating between kissing and talking.

All of this may be new to her, but the way she’s looking at me right now isn’t the way she was looking at me when we left school today. For the first time, I feel like she truly trusts me—that’s she not holding back, or keeping any secrets from me.

We’re finally on the same page.

I kiss the top of her head and she holds onto me a little tighter like she doesn’t want to let go either. “I wish we could stay here, too. I like when you hold me.”

“You’ll see me after the game, and be right back in my arms. I promise.”

She lifts her head from my chest, staring at me. Twice she blinks before she says a word. “Have you guys watched a lot of film on this team? They’re going to play dirty like they always do, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I love it when you talk sports, Sunny.”

She laughs and nips at my lips, “Wyatt taught me a lot over the years.”

“We probably shouldn’t talk about him while you’re lying on top of me.”

“We probably shouldn’t talk at all.” She leans forward, finding my lips again, sucking on the bottom one to the point I can barely stand it. More than anything, I want to show her how much I want her, but there’s no way we can do anything other than kiss.

“Sunny, I want you so bad.”

She nods her head, but jumps away from me when her phone buzzes in her front pocket. “I should see who that is.”

I give her one last kiss before she pushes off of me, and sits up, straddling my hips. After swiping her finger across the screen, she reads the message and types one back. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. It’s Carson.”

I sit up as soon as his name leaves her lips. “What does he want?”

She shows me the screen on her phone.

Carson: Where are you? I ordered pizza.

Kinsley: At Rhett’s. I’ll be home in fifteen minutes.

“Not going to lie, Sunny. I don’t like you going home to him. It seems like a date.”

“I promise you have nothing to worry about. He’s just looking out for me. That’s all.”

I want to believe her. In fact, I do. It’s him I don’t trust. I saw the way he was looking at her when I was taking her to school this morning. He wants her. “If you say so.”

“I want you, Rhett. Nobody else.”

I press a kiss to her forehead, holding onto the fact that we’re new. We have a long way to go, and neither of us plan on going anywhere anytime soon. “Come on, I’ll take you home on my way back to school.”

“But you didn’t eat any dinner.”

He chuckles at the mention of food. “You’re all I was worried about.”

“I’m sorry. We can stop and pick something up, or you can have some pizza at my house.”

“You’re cute when you ramble, Sunny, but don’t worry about it. I don’t think Carson wants me intruding on his dinner plans. I’ll grab something on my way to school. Plus, there’s always food in the locker room.”

“You wouldn’t be intruding because I invited you, but it’s your call.” She has a wicked gleam in her eyes again. One that’s going to get her in a lot of trouble if she doesn’t cut it out.

“I’m positive, but we’re going to end up back on the couch if you don’t stop looking at me like that, Sunny-girl.”

She giggles, letting me pull her out the front door, and into my truck. The ride to her house isn’t long enough, and before I know it, we’re in her driveway.

She turns toward me, “Good luck tonight, Rhett. Watch out for number ninety. He likes to take cheap shots.”

“I won’t need any luck with you wearing my jersey. Meet me outside the locker room after the game.”

She runs up the stairs to her apartment door, and just as she’s putting her hand on the knob, the door opens. Carson’s standing in front of her, without a shirt on. It takes all I have not to put my truck in park to tell him what I really think of him. He needs to learn to respect my girl and what we have.