Seven was sleeping at the foot of my bed and snoring softly as I pet her fluffy head with my big toe. I could hear Brayden’s shower running, which thankfully meant it was getting close to breakfast time—the noises my stomach was making sounded like a swamp thing had taken up residence in my gut.

Right as I was about to roll out of bed, my phone dinged with a text.

Adam: Good morning, beautiful.

Seeing a man, I thought was way out of my league call me beautiful first thing in the morning was a thrilling feeling that I, sadly, had never felt before.

Me: Morning. How’re you?

Adam: Doing well. Just wondering when I am going to get to see you again.

Me: My schedule is pretty wide open.

Adam: Perfect. Dinner tomorrow night?

Me: Sounds like a plan.

Adam: Great. I’ll make reservations and give you the details later.

Me: Awesome! Can’t wait.

Adam: Neither can I.

Seven started to whimper that the door. “Ok girl, let’s get you outside before you have another accident in the house and Brayden decides to make good on his threats to take you back to the shelter.”

I threw my robe on and shuffled into my fluffy slippers, picking my new puppy up into my arms. The first week with her had been a learning experience for all of us—to say the least—but we were getting the hang of it. She was finally starting to listen to her name and picking up on my routine. Crate training wasn’t going well, but slow and steady was going to win that race for sure.

Setting Seven down on the back steps that led to our small fenced yard, I heard Brayden tinkering in the kitchen.

“Bray? Can you start the coffee?” I called through the screen door as Seven hopped down the wooden steps, rushing into the yard for her morning pee.

“Way ahead of you!” Brayden replied, coming out to join me with two cups of steaming coffee in hand.

The smell of pumpkin spice wafted into my nostrils. “You’re the fucking best, bro.”

“Oh trust me, I know. Egg whites?”

I licked the sweet coffee from my lips before responding. “Yes, please.”

* * *

The rest of my Sunday was spent lazily reading on our back deck, letting Seven get all her crazy puppy energy out frolicking around the backyard. The crisp fall air caressed my body as I flipped the pages faster and faster. I needed to know if Nutter was actually as crazy as he seemed and if Bender was really going to be the hero he didn’t think he could be. I swooned at M. Stratton’s words as the hours ticked by. Right before I was about to hit the big climax that had been building for the last few chapters, my phone started vibrating in my pocket.

I cleared my throat before answering the call. “Hey, Simon. How’re you?”

His flamboyant personality rang in his voice through the phone. “I’m great. Want to grab a bite after work tomorrow? I feel like we haven’t had a date night in forever.”

“It’s been too long! But I have an actual date tomorrow night with Adam. Rain check?”

His voice hit an entirely new octave as he shrilled. “You what? That is so fantastic!”

I bit my lip; I was starting to get nervous about the entire thing. “Simon, I just don’t know if I should go out with Adam.”

I heard a heavy sigh come from the other end of the line. “I thought you liked him. I could tell he was totally into you.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, I’m just nervous.” I got up from my chair, starting to pace around the backyard as Seven trotted behind me.

“Nervous? You two hit it off so well the other night. You’ll have a great time.” Simon started to chomp on something crunchy in my ear.

“Eating celery again?” It was Simon’s addiction and it was so freaking odd to me. How can someone eat celery all the time? Gross.

“Don’t change the subject. Why are you nervous, my dear?”

“Ugh. He’s just so much older than me, probably way more experienced. What if I disappoint him?”

“Oh, honey, no one is telling you that you have to sleep with him on the first date. Go to dinner, enjoy yourself a bit, get dropped off, and go in for a goodnight kiss like a normal girl.”

A gentle tap came on my hotel room door. I checked the clock—it was already well past our lights-out time. With having a competition in the morning, I was reluctant to answer the door, but I had a pretty good feeling who it was going to be.

Tommy was standing in my doorway with his goofy ass smile and thick-framed glasses, making me melt within seconds. “Come on, My, just let me in for a bit?”

Whispering, I moved out of the way so he could enter my hotel room. “You know if Ms. Riley catches us we won’t be able to skate tomorrow.”

Breaking the rules had never been a strong suit of mine.

Sitting down on the end of the bed, Tommy looked up at me with his crooked smirk that made me weak in the knees. “Is it a crime that I want to spend a little bit of time with my girl?”

I had never been anyone’s anything before—cue the swooning feels and butterflies crashing.

“No, I guess not.” I took a seat next to him, fixing my gaze on the blank television screen as my nerves started to get the better of me.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Tommy put his hand on my knee. “You looked awesome today during practice.”

I turned to him. “You really think so?”

He scooted a little closer to me, close enough that I could feel his hot breath on my shoulder. “Yeah. You’re going to kill it tomorrow.”

And with that our lips were touching. I had never even really been alone with a guy that wasn’t family. A rush came over me that I couldn’t explain at all. I was a mess of excitement, nerves, flutters, and jitters all rolled into me having no idea what the fuck to do. Being seventeen and completely inexperienced wasn’t unheard of in the competitive sports world, but I was still embarrassed by it.

Tommy’s hand started to travel its way up my thigh while our lips were still locked together.

“Tommy, I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

He put a finger over my lips, shushing me. “Don’t worry babe, I’ll be gentle.”

Within minutes, we were both naked under the covers with his hard cock pushing into my stomach as he kissed down my neck. “You’re so beautiful, Myla. Since the moment I met you, I’ve been thinking about this happening.”

Tommy’s hot sticky body was making it hard for me to breath as he slowly started to rub the head of his dick over my clit.

“Do you have a condom?” I breathed into his ear, trying to make it sound as sexy as possible.

Reaching over, he grabbed his jeans and pulled out a small wrapper. “Of course, babe.”

He put on the rubber and slid his slender manhood into me without warning. Euphoria was as far from the truth as I could ever imagine. He thrust a few times, moaning loudly as I pretended to enjoy the encounter.

No more than a minute or two passed before Tommy was shuddering on top of me, dripping with sweat and panting. “Oh God, Myla. You felt amazing.”

And that was when I learned what a two-pump chump really was.