Page 53 of Mine to Hold
He rolled to his side, tugging the covers over their bodies, taking a moment to reflect on his life. This was exactly the position he’d promised himself he’d never be in again. It wasn’t about loving, but loving too quick. Trusting his heart to someone without holding a piece of it back.
Only, every other time he thought he’d been in love, that’s what he’d done. He’d hidden parts of himself away. As if to keep them secret, only to be revealed when he deemed whoever worthy.
But that never happened.
He propped himself up on his elbow. “Is there anything you want to know about me?”
“That’s an odd question right about now.” She traced her finger up and down his biceps. “What do mean?”
“I know a lot about your past. Do you have any burning questions about mine?”
“Have you done anything illegal?”
He burst out laughing.
“It’s a legit question.”
He cleared his throat. “There are levels of illegal and let’s say I’ve committed a few misdemeanors in my day, but nothing that would land me in anything but county lockup for a night.”
“I want details of the offenses and if you ever spent the night in jail.”
“You’re nuts,” he said. “Okay. Let’s see here. I ran naked through town.”
“No way.” She sat up, hugging the sheet to her chest. “How old were you?”
“Sixteen and my while my mom thought it was funny, she had to pretend she was pissed.” He fluffed the pillow and adjusted himself a little taller. “I smoked pot in high school and while it’s medically legally in this state now, it certainly wasn’t back then. I jumped the fence to the state park after hours.” He glanced toward the ceiling. “God, I’m lame and pretty much a Goody Two-shoes.”
“You’re a cop’s kid. I think one would expect you to be.”
He held up his index finger. “I did spend the night in the slammer when I was seventeen. But that was only because my mother made us all do that. She thought it would be a good lesson.”
“That’s just cruel.”
“Nah. She put us in there when it was full of drunks and morons. It kind of did the trick,” he said. “Anything else you want to know?”
“I kind of love this twenty questions thing.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “How old were you when you lost your virginity?”
“If I answer that, you have to as well.”
“Deal.” She nodded.
“Seventeen.”
“Eighteen,” she said. “With who? Where? And what was it like?” She tilted her head and batted her lashes.
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. I want to know the sordid details.”
“You asked for it.” No one he ever dated asked him questions like this, much less enjoyed the conversation. Not that he wanted to rehash his entire past, but this part of his life he could laugh at. It wasn’t too serious, though slightly embarrassing. And it felt normal to share it with Rumor. “Her name was Stephanie and she was two years older than me.”
“Interesting.”
He chuckled. “My mother hated her, especially because she was older. But seventeen is legal consenting age, so Mother didn’t have a leg to stand on and that burned her ass, especially when she found the box of condoms in my room. She went nuts, telling me that a woman like Stephanie was nothing but trouble.”
“What did you do?”
“I was in my rebel against Mom stage, so I brought Stephanie around every chance I got.”
