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  She’d taken something from me last night, something I had freely—willingly—given her.

  She’d taken my heart.

  If I thought I’d been in love with her before, what we’d shared last night had something shifting in me. It had me falling in love with her all over again, harder, faster than even the first time.

  I’d taken her home, dropped her off at the ass crack of dawn, thankful her father hadn’t been waiting up with a shotgun in hand. I’d hated that she couldn’t have stayed with me. I wanted her with me always, sleeping in my bed, waking up next to her, holding her as she opened her eyes and rested her head on my chest

  And now that I as back at home, as I sat on my bed and stared out the window, watching as the sun rose, having been unable to go back to sleep, all I’d been able to picture were the things I wanted to do with her.

  I wanted to share my life with her.

  I wanted to wake up next to her every morning.

  I wanted to tell Kennedy that there was no one else for me. Ever.

  What we had shared was not meant to be a secret. It was meant to be shouted from the rooftops so every fucking person could hear, would know how much I loved her.

  I didn’t want us to have to hide what we felt for each other. She loved me and I loved her, and there was nothing more powerful in this world than that. There was no one in this world who could take that away.

  I wouldn’t allow it.

  And if her father said we couldn’t be together, if my parents told me how wrong it was, well, I loved them, but they wouldn’t fuck this up for me. I wasn’t willing to give Kennedy up, so they could either accept it, or I’d walk away with her in my arms.

  Shit. I scrubbed a hand over my face, feeling exhausted, which had nothing to do with not having slept all night, and everything to do with my mind running at full speed.

  Maybe if I went and worked out, tried to get rid of this nervous energy, used that time to think, to sort out my thoughts, I’d figure out how to go about telling our family? I found that the hardest of all.

  I didn’t care what anyone thought, even my family, but of course they needed to know. There was no hiding it, and although I would love for them to accept us and what Kennedy and I had together, their disapproval wasn’t a deal breaker. They’d have to live with this or they’d lose me in their life.

  Easy as that.

  I brought the bar up and down, up and down. Theo was spotting me, and I could see on his face he had a lot of questions about last night and the party … about how I’d reacted concerning Kennedy.

  But he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut, at least for the time being. I knew he was far too curious to not say anything for long, though.

  I did a few more pumps with the bar before putting it back with Theo’s help. I sat up and breathed out roughly, bracing my forearms on my thighs and leaning forward. I was covered in sweat, but it felt good to work this all out of me.

  I hated coming to the gym, hated seeing all the guys focused on working out while I was trying to figure out what the fuck was going on with my love life.

  This just wasn’t my place. I came here to stay healthy, to keep in shape. But mostly, I came here to think.

  I could see Theo in one of the mirrors, his focus on me, his brows knitted. “Just spit it out. I don’t want you glowering at me all day.” I stood and walked over to my bag, grabbed a towel, and wiped my face off. Then I faced him.

  “I mean—” he said and lifted his hand to rub his nape.

  “You’re wondering about last night,” I said for him.

  Theo picked up some weights and started doing curls. We were both silent, but I could see on his face he was curious, not budging at the moment. If I didn’t start spilling some information he’d slowly start hounding me.

  “I couldn’t let that asshole talk about Kennedy that way. She’s family.” I hated using that word where she was concerned.

  Family.

  But saying I loved her, admitting that to Theo, at the gym no less, seemed grossly inappropriate.

  “Dude, the way you acted, how you went after him, seemed a little bit more than defending her honor.” He was breathing harder as he increased his workout, and I glowered at him. “I mean, if I didn’t know she was your step-cousin, I would’ve assumed you were hitting it.”

  “Watch your fucking mouth. Don’t talk about her that way.” Theo stopped what he was doing and looked up at me, his eyebrow raised in surprise.

  “Damn, I didn’t mean any offense, man.”

  “I just don’t want her disrespected. I care about her a lot.” I looked away, knowing that I was shit at keeping my emotions in check, especially after what Kennedy and I had shared last night. “But I’m not about to talk to you about this at the fucking gym.” I knew I was being an ass right now, but where Kennedy was concerned it was a soft spot, a sore subject.

  I wanted to shout out to the damn world that she was finally mine, but until I talked to her and asked how she wanted to go about this, I wasn’t going to just tell anyone who asked.

  They could speculate all they wanted, assume, probably even know the truth, but I wouldn’t say the words until I knew how she felt.

  We were in this together, she and I.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Kennedy

  Roman reached out and took my hand in his. I couldn’t help but feel happy over the fact we weren’t hiding, that we were showing affection without caring.

  The lights in the theater were dim, the previews having yet to start. I shifted on the seat, moving down just a little bit, getting comfortable. Roman held the tub of popcorn, and I had the drink in the cup holder beside me.

  Since that night, seeing him defending my honor, and then giving myself to him, so much had changed. I looked at the world differently now.

  When the man you loved loved you in return, everything felt right. The sun shone brighter. The air smelled cleaner. Everything was more vivid, colors so bright. And waking up feeling that elation was the best thing in the world.

  I looked over at Roman and couldn’t help but smile. He glanced over at me, this funny expression covering his face a second before he leaned in and kissed me. There were a few people in the movie theater, not something I considered crowded, but enough that showing public displays of affection made me a little uncomfortable.

  It wasn’t because it was with Roman, but because all of this was new to me. All of it was. I needed to break out of that mold, to not care what others thought. Going through life always worried about being on someone’s radar was a hard thing to break.

  But everything was different now.

  The thing was, Roman had been my first ... everything.

  My first real kiss.

  My first true love.

  The man who had taken my virginity.

  He owned every part of me irrevocably.

  “You’re thinking pretty hard,” he murmured against my mouth and I pulled back slightly. I licked my lips, tasting a little bit of the salt and butter from the popcorn.

  I nodded, wanting to express my concerns, worries, and hopes, but figured maybe it was too soon. Maybe this wasn’t the right place.

  Or maybe anytime was the best time.

  “Roman?” I said softly, and he shifted on the seat to look at me. I wasn’t going to just beat around the bush, wasn’t going to drag it out. We’d already waited two years to come clean to each other about our feelings. Why waste more time?

  “I don’t want us to hide … this, us.” I swallowed, my emotions rushing to the surface. He hadn’t said anything, but I could see he had his full attention on me, knew he was waiting for me to finish speaking before he said anything.

  Roman was like that. He had a hard exterior to anyone he wasn’t close with, had a rowdy reputation when he was younger, drank, partied back in the day, but I felt like I knew the real him. The person he hid but who I saw when I looked in his eyes.

  “I want everyone to know that I’m yours ju
st like you’re mine.” God, I was just spitting this all out right here and now. I was embarrassed for saying this out loud, felt silly because we hadn’t been together for very long, hardly any time at all, but I felt like we were supposed to be together. “Roman, say something,” I whispered.

  He didn’t say anything but instead reached up and cupped the side of my neck. He stared at me, looked in my eyes, and I felt like he could see right into me, know how I was feeling as if he were feeling it himself.

  “I have wanted to make you mine since the moment I saw you, and having to wait two years to finally claim you, to know that I can have you in the way I want you has been really damn hard. So, the fact you want to tell people makes my fucking day.” He kissed me before I could say anything in response. But the truth was I probably wouldn’t have been able to form a coherent word anyway.

  “And if our family doesn’t like us being together?”

  “I love my parents, and I love my aunt, but I love you more.”

  His words had my heart racing.

  “So, if they don’t want us to be together … fuck em’. I’m not letting you go.”

  I closed my eyes and smiled. I didn’t want to lose our family’s respect, or them in general, but this was my life, our life, and I wasn’t going to give that up now that I had Roman.

  He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I leaned against him, resting my head on his shoulder. For long moments we didn’t speak, but nothing needed to be said. Roman holding me, us being together finally, was perfection. I felt so sappy where Roman was concerned, but I was happy, and because of that I didn’t care if my feelings did seem overly intense.

  The longer he held me, the more I felt the heat in my body rise. It seemed that where Roman was concerned there was no filter. The way he moved his thumb along my shoulder had all kinds of tingles moving through me. By nature, I was reserved, quiet and shy, and I kept to myself. I preferred being at home over going out, but I was finding that now that I wasn’t hiding how I felt for Roman anymore, it was like everything exploded inside of me. I felt like I was blooming.

  I was the flower.

  Roman was the sun.

  I found myself feeling bold as I moved back and looked at him. He had his focus on me, his smile making me feel like I was the only girl in the world for him.

  “You are,” he whispered, and I realized I’d said those words out loud.

  And then I reached down and found my fingers by his zipper.

  “Kennedy, baby, what are you doing?” Roman sounded nervous, straightened in the chair, and I watched as he gripped the armrest, curling his fingers around it.

  I felt myself grin, this rush of adrenaline pumping through me. I glanced up at him, saw that he was looking around. I held a lot of power, I realized. I’d never seen Roman unsure, but right now, as I unzipped his jeans, reached in the fly and pulled out his hardening cock, I could feel the power move through me.

  “I’m taking control.” I said those words softly and stroked my hand up and down his length, from base to tip, feeling wetness coat the crown. He was breathing harder, his knuckles white from how tightly he was gripping that armrest.

  I moved my thumb over the tip, the slickness startling me, his growl filling my head. I looked around, the back row empty, and only a few people sitting in the front.

  I had to get him into my mouth.

  He inhaled sharply as I tightened my hold on the base of his shaft. I felt his hand on the back of my head, his fingers tangling in the strands. I engulfed as much of him as I could and hummed around his girth softly, trying to be quiet and praying nobody found out the dirty things we were doing back here.

  I’d be mortified if we were caught, but in the back of my head, a darker, sexier side of me was thrilled about what I was doing to Roman.

  I started bobbing my head, taking him deeper, running my tongue on the underside of the length, tasting the salty flavor of him. He had his fingers wound tight in my hair, pain and pleasure mixing as one. And then the lights dimmed in the theater. He moaned louder, but the music from the screen drowned it out. I really started to suck him off then and reached down to cup his balls.

  “Fuck, Kennedy,” he groaned. “That’s it, baby.” His voice was breathless, his body so tight. “Deeper, baby. Take it deeper.”

  Up and down.

  Up and down.

  Hollowing out my cheeks, swallowing the pre-cum and hungry for more.

  I was so turned on, my pussy wet, my nipples hard. He lifted his hips up at the same time I moved my mouth down.

  “I’m going to come.” He said those words low, gruffly. He tried to push me away, but I refused. I wanted this, wanted Roman’s surrender.

  I wanted to have him come in my mouth … and I wanted to swallow it all. I went all the way down until the tip of his dick hit the back of my throat, telling him without words that I wasn’t going to stop this.

  “Shit, Kennedy. I’m coming.” He grunted and pumped his hips up three times before tightening his hand in my hair and coming.

  I relaxed my throat and swallowed everything he pumped into my mouth, the salty flavor strangely enough making me even more aroused.

  “Damn, Kennedy,” he whispered huskily. Thankfully the previews were still going strong, loud enough they drowned out the sound of me sucking him off, and Roman’s deep groans.

  Once he was finished, I let go of his softening cock and straightened. He tucked himself back in his pants, pulled the zipper up, and buttoned his jeans.

  I wiped the corner of my mouth with a finger, saw he watched me do the act with hooded eyes, and then he leaned forward. He gripped my chin with his forefinger and thumb and kissed me passionately. I was breathless by the time he pulled back.

  He moved his mouth to the shell of my ear. “I’m half tempted to get the fuck out of here and take you back to my place.”

  I felt chills move along my body.

  “But I’ve really been looking forward to seeing this.” He pulled back and focused on the movie as he got a handful of popcorn and shoved it in his mouth.

  I knew I looked shocked. Before I could say anything, he glanced at me and started laughing. “Baby, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

  I grinned and shook my head. “Best thing you’ve said all night,” I teased. He leaned in and kissed me once more, then set the popcorn tub down, grabbed my hand, and we headed out of the theater.

  He had his arm around me, his head downcast as he whispered something that made me blush.

  “Kennedy?”

  I felt my body freeze when I heard Isaac’s voice. I looked up to see him standing there with a few of his friends, ones I knew were on the swim team with him.

  “Hey,” I said nervously, Roman’s arm still around me. It was clear he wasn’t going to let me go. I found that endearing, but I was also nervous as hell.

  Isaac looked between Roman and me, his eyes wide before he finally landed his gaze back on mine. “What’s up?”

  I licked my lips and looked up at Roman. He had his focus trained right on Isaac, his eyes narrowed, his body tight and hard against mine. Roman looked angry, downright pissed if I were being honest.

  I went to take a step toward Isaac, but Roman kept his arm tightly around me, holding me possessively to his side. I felt this warmth spread through me. He was acting proprietary. The very female part of me melted at that. “Isaac, you know Roman?”

  Isaac looked up at Roman and nodded. “Hey, man. What’s up?” I could still see the confusion and curiosity on Isaac’s face. I knew I would have some explaining to do. There was no way Isaac was going to let this slide, especially when he kept looking down at where Roman’s hand was curled against my side.

  “Hey,” Roman said in a hard, very cold voice.

  I could’ve laughed at how grumpy he was acting, and assumed he felt threatened by Isaac. I had noticed the same narrow-eyed look he’d given him when he’d picked me up on Saturday for our study date.

  He clearly
thought something was going on between the two of us.

  “We’re gonna get some seats,” Isaac’s friends said.

  I looked over at Roman. “I’ll meet you outside?” It was clear Roman didn’t want to leave me. He kept looking back between Isaac and me, but finally leaned down and kissed me on the lips, startling me. Eyes wide, body tense from the shock that he’d really just staked his claim right in front of Isaac, I felt Isaac’s gaze on me. If he didn’t have questions before, he’d certainly have them now.

  Roman pulled back and gave one more narrow-eyed look at Isaac while walking past him and heading out of the theater. I stood there a moment looking at my best friend. I could see he was holding back a smirk, but that he was also shocked.

  “I have a lot of explaining to do,” I finally muttered.

  He cleared his throat and looked down where his friends had gone into the theater. When he looked back at me, he gave me a genuine smile. “Can we do lunch tomorrow?”

  I nodded and licked my lips. There was no disgust or judgment coming from him. Then again, I should have known there wouldn’t be.

  He stood there for a moment just staring at me, the questions he had clear on his face. I wanted to just tell him the truth, but I needed to let Roman know that I was going to let Isaac know about us. We’d already talked about telling our family, but this was a little different.

  This was an outside person, and although I trusted Isaac impeccably, this wasn’t just my decision to make.

  “Tomorrow then,” I said. He smiled and for a second didn’t move, then nodded as if he realized he’d just been standing there and headed down the hall.

  I watched him until he went into the theater, then exhaled a large breath I hadn’t known I’d been keeping in. I headed back outside to where Roman stood waiting for me.

  He leaned against the brick of the building, his hands in his jean pockets, his head lowered as he stared at the ground. When he heard me approach, he looked up, this heavy expression on his face.

  He pulled me in close instantly, curled his hand around the nape of my neck, and leaned down to kiss me possessively. I wasn’t tense now out of surprise. I closed my eyes, opened my mouth, and let his tongue slide between my lips and into the depths of my mouth.