Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Lastly, we had our parents. Nora would cover for Ramsey. Not that his dad would care. He was too wrapped up in his new girlfriend. His dad was fat, balding, and broke. Though based on the speed with which he went through women, he clearly had some of his son’s charm. Or vice versa, I wasn’t sure.
In a spectacular show of how well my dad knew me, he hadn’t questioned me when I told him I was staying the night with Tiffany Martin. I’d considered telling him I was staying with Nora, but on the off chance he’d need me for something, two doors down was too close.
Two ham sandwiches, a bag of chips, and a couple cans of Coke later, I was set for the most romantic night of my entire life. Or, more accurately, a night of laughing, bumbling out of clothing, teeth clanking, arguing about why Ramsey had a condom in his wallet, and then finally giving myself to him completely.
Sex was funny like that. It didn’t change us or make us closer. That was an impossible feat. But it was special in its own way because we’d done it together.
He was my first boyfriend.
My first kiss.
My first love.
My first everything.
A laugh bubbled in my throat as he kissed up my neck.
“Stop giggling, Thea. You know what that does to me.”
Straddling him, I murmured, “I don’t know anything.”
He lifted his hips, revealing that he was very ready again.
I moaned, suddenly feeling ready too. “We don’t have another condom.”
He growled and threw his head back against the pillow. “See, this is what happens when you get a condom from the gas station vending machine.”
Right, so the reason for our argument about why Ramsey had a condom in his wallet was because the condom I’d brought had popped before he’d even gotten it out of the wrapper. I guess you get what you pay for in the Quick Stop men’s restroom. Lesson learned.
I slapped his chest. “Hey! I’ve never done this before. Do you have any idea how many packs of gum I had to buy to get eight quarters for that thing without looking suspicious?”
He smiled, magically producing a chewed-up piece of gum from somewhere under his tongue. “I do appreciate it.”
“Were you kissing me with gum in your mouth?”
“Sparrow, I think every time I’ve kissed you I’ve had gum in my mouth.”
I rolled my eyes and shifted to the side to lay beside him, carefully taking the blanket with me.
“Whoa, where ya going?”
“We should probably get dressed. Before things…happen.”
“Okay, hold up. First of all, I’m going to need you to stop with that getting dressed crazy talk. Secondly, it will take me all of three minutes to run to my house and grab more condoms.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why the hell do you have more condoms at home?”
“And here we go again.”
“Ramsey, I’m serious.”
“Oh, I have no doubt that you are. But I already told you that my dad keeps a gigantic box under his bed, and tonight, I’m grateful he does for more reasons than just that he won’t be reproducing again.”
I curled my lip. “Can we please stop talking about your dad reproducing?”
“Sure thing.” He sat up and snagged his shirt and his shorts. “Now you lay there and I’ll be right back.” His gaze dropped to my exposed breast and his face heated. “I’m bringing the whole damn box.”
Pulling the blanket up, I hissed, “You’re going to get caught.” I swayed my head from side to side. “And possibly get a little brother if you bring the whole box.”
He tapped the tip of my nose. “Good thinking. I’ll leave a few.”
Unzipping the door to the tent, he looked at me over his shoulder. If I had known it was the last time I’d ever see seventeen-year-old Ramsey smile, I would have stared longer, engraining every dip and curve into my memory so I would never forget how utterly beautiful and carefree he looked in that moment.
But most of all, I would have begged him to stay.
“Don’t move,” he ordered as he bent down and scooped up my pile of clothes, taking it with him.
“Ramsey!” I scolded without any way to go after him.
“Three minutes.” He laughed before his footsteps disappeared into the night.
Ramsey and I lived unique yet completely common lives.
We’d grown up hard. We’d grown up fast. We’d grown up fearless because we’d already faced some of life’s greatest demons when we were only in elementary school. But experiencing that had only lulled us into a false security because we honestly believed that we could handle anything the world threw at us, as long as we were together. And maybe that had been true.
But that night, we weren’t together.
Minutes after Ramsey had left, Josh Caskey showed up. I wasn’t concerned. I mean, I was naked and pissed the hell off when he crawled through that doorway. Josh was a prankster and my first mistake was telling him where “Nora and I” were going to be camping in his tent that night.