I bit my lip to stifle a gasp. Simon was leaving another trail of kisses down my neck that made me tingle all over.
How could this be wrong, when it felt so right?
I am not the kind of girl who falls for the wrong guy. Really. My entire life has been a series of good choices. I have always done the responsible thing. So what was I doing here with an older guy?
Oh yes, the kisses. That had something to do with it, definitely.
I reached up to brush hair out of hungry eyes that promised a world of new pleasures. Tease. I slid my fingers along the line of scar tissue that crossed his handsome face, drawing a low rumble from his chest. Somehow that candle-wax smooth skin added to his amazing looks. I pressed myself against him, melting into Simon like I was made of wax too. With another growling rumble, he grasped my shoulders and gently pushed me away.
For someone who prided himself as a lady’s man, he sure wasn’t moving fast. Most guys my age are a raging river during spring rains and snow melt. They move fast and hard and are all over the damn place. Yuck. Simon is a river of honey, slow and sweet.
Not that I eat honey. I’m against bee oppression, but you get the idea.
Simon is a gentleman and I like that about him, but some days I wished he’d stop putting on the brakes. I wanted to continue our kissing, but I guess he could only take so much. Secretly, that made me feel crazy powerful.
So Simon was older and had a bad reputation. I knew all of that. I wasn’t naïve. I had entered into this relationship with eyes wide open. In fact, I’d resisted my feelings for nearly a year.
What had changed? Hello, like, everything. My best friend was plagued by ghosts, her boyfriend was a werewolf, and I could talk to snakes. But the big change? I was about to graduate from high school. I’d already been accepted into the pre-med veterinary program at Tufts University, a state away. Even Cornell had sent a letter asking me to visit their campus. Everything was changing, fast. I would be leaving at summer’s end. It was now or never.
Deep down, I knew that part of the reason I chose now was my recent brush with death. I had been in a car accident and was lucky to be alive. Surviving that accident had brought clarity to my feelings for Simon. When I woke up in the hospital, his was the face I longed to see.
I made my decision.
I decided to follow my heart. I chose us. I chose now. I didn’t regret it for one second. Well, not really. Did I feel guilt, worry, and confusion? Hell yes, but I wasn’t confused about my feelings for Simon. He made me inordinately happy. There was no denying that.
Our relationship, as Yuki would say, was made of awesome. Sure, Simon and I didn’t agree on everything. That was part of the attraction. We could debate all of the things we disagreed on…intensely.
No, the thing I was having trouble with, the problem that made me hesitate each time I sank into Simon’s arms, was the objection of my friends. Calvin and Yuki weren’t the most normal couple in the world, so you’d think they’d be able to see outside the box of social norms. Unfortunately, they kept getting hung up on the details—Simon was older, he was a total bad boy, and a studly werewolf.
I guess they were used to me dating harmless human guys, like Gordy. I could understand that, to a point. If I continued dating normal high school guys, they wouldn’t have to worry about me. But didn’t their judging of my relationship make them hypocrites? Why couldn’t they accept my choice?
Why couldn’t my friends just get over it already?