Page 47 of XOXO, Valentina

He leaned into the aisle. “Yeah.”

I saw in Shane the man he would be in a few years—a man raised by an extraordinary mom. I felt a camaraderie with him, and I didn’t want to lie to him.

“I like your mom a lot, but she doesn’t like me. And she doesn’t date.”

Shane frowned. “All my mom does is work and read books. She has no life. None.” His voice cracked. “I wish she had some fun once in a while. I wish she had somebody cool to hang out with.”

“Your mom is smart,” I said. “She’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

One of the other kids called to Shane, and he went back to his former seat. I was glad to hear Shane wanted his mom to have a someone special. I just wished it were me.

My chest felt hollow, and I scrubbed a hand over my heart, reminding myself what happened the last time I had fallen for a woman. I’d ended up with a broken heart and a permanent tattoo.

21

Chapter 19

Joey

My long run stretched from its usual ten kilometers to fifteen as I circled the pond at Ginger Cake Acres on Sunday morning. I wasn’t sure if Gabriella would even show up to run, but it was my only chance to see her outside of school or a meet. She was the kind of person who lived on a tight schedule. If I didn’t see her running, I would try the supermarket on Thursday. Stalking the supermarket wouldn’t be easy, so I was glad when I finally spotted her on the other side of the pond.

She was running at a fast pace, and I had to push to catch up to her. If she told me to fuck off, at least we would be talking, which was better than the strange dance of avoidance we’d been doing since we had sex.

“Gabriella,” I called.

She stopped, and when she saw me, the pained longing on her face gave me all the confirmation I needed. She was as hung up on me as I was on her.

I was breathless from sprinting to catch up to her brutal pace. “Can you slow down?”

She brought her pace back a notch and studied the trail in front of her as if she hadn’t run it a thousand times before.

I fell into stride beside her, and we headed into a grove of flowering trees. “I think we should talk.”

Her chin lifted, but she stared straight ahead. “What’s there to talk about?”

I grabbed her hand and tugged her to a stop, then pulled her into the cover of trees. “This.” I grabbed her face and pressed my mouth to hers. I kissed her with all the pent-up energy I’d been holding onto for weeks. I poured every moment I’d thought about her into the kiss, and she kissed me back just as hard.

She wound her arms around my neck and clung to me, her mouth fighting mine for control. We stumbled farther into the cover of woods, and I pressed her back against a tree. Her hands slid under my shirt, and I hissed when her warm fingers grazed my nipple.

“This.” I groaned, grinding my erection against her hip. “We need to talk about this.”

She reached between us and flattened her hand against the bulge in my running shorts. “Talking is not what we need.”

I groaned again when her hand slid over me. “Stop.” I grabbed her hand. “Not here. Anyone could walk up and see us.”

She blinked a few times, coming to her senses as she glanced around. “Your place?”

My eyes widened. I’d expected it to be a lot harder to convince her. She must have missed me as much as I had missed her. I didn’t hesitate. I led the way out of the trees back to the path and we ran to my apartment in silence. I opened the main door for her, and we hurried up the stairs.

This time we made it farther than the front door. We got to the kitchen before I had her clothes off and her hoisted on the counter. By the time I had my cock sheathed in a condom, I was almost ready to come just from looking at her. She was so sexy, sitting on my counter with her legs spread. I almost dropped to the tile floor so I could taste her, but she grabbed my hips and pulled me between her legs.

“I had a fantasy about this.” She locked her legs around my hips. “The day I fell, and you played doctor?”

I lined my cock up at the gates of heaven. “Yeah?”

“I pictured you giving me this instead of a bandage.” She wrapped her slim hand around my aching flesh and guided me inside. “I wanted this.”

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