There was such earnestness in his eyes; I desperately wanted to believe him. It may have seemed like a small thing to him, but being able to trust him was so important to me. My old fears whispered in my head just like Jenny, that a guy like him didn’t need a girl like me.

“Let’s go to my room so we can talk.”

I nodded, unable to speak, holding back the tears and the anxiousness that wanted to bring me down.

Once we got there, he sat next to me on the bed, but left enough room so we could meet eye to eye.

“Ask me anything and I’ll tell you the truth?”

Do you love me was the first question to pop into my head.

“Were you on a date with that girl when I saw you at the restaurant?”

We hadn’t talked about it because I’d told him it wasn’t any of my business.

“No.”

He held my gaze and his never wavered. I believed him.

“Was she a former girlfriend or someone you liked before?”

“No. Since I saw you at the bar that first night, there has been no one else I’ve been remotely interested in.”

My insecurity warred with his sincerity. Self-doubt wanted me to bombard him with a thousand more questions on the subject. I fought against it and moved on to another topic.

“Tell me more about your parents.”

He hadn’t said much more than that he’d been adopted by his aunt.

“Well, I told you that they were my aunt and uncle.”

“No, I mean your birth parents.”

“Oh.” He seemed to think about his answer, as it took him a while to respond.

“My father’s in jail.” My jaw went slack. “Yeah, he did some really bad shit and now he’ll never see the light of day.”

I could tell that had been hard for him to admit. Considering I hadn’t thought my questions through, not really wanting to reciprocate, I left that alone.

“Wow. What about your mom?”

His shoulders quickly moved up before falling again. “I don’t know much. According to my father, she showed up with me and took off.”

There was a hefty dose of skepticism in his voice.

“You don’t believe that?”

“Mom, my aunt, she had a private detective try to find her. According to him, she disappeared without a trace. No one knows if she ran or if she was taken against her will.”

His words triggered the headline. “That girl from campus, they think they found her.”

“Alive?” He asked like he knew her.

“No.” I didn’t want to imagine what she’d been through. “She’d been beaten pretty badly. They have to run a DNA test on her.”

“Can’t they check her dental records?”

I went on to explain how her face had been caved in, shuddering at the thought.

“Jesus,” he swore.

His thumb came up and wiped moisture from my face. I hadn’t realized I’d started to cry.

“It’s okay.”

“Is it? I’ve lived in fear for most of my life. And just when I think I’ve beaten it, this happens to remind me that my mother is right.”

He took me in his arms and held me while I cried.

“You should call her, explain that I swear I won’t hurt you. Maybe invite them to come down for dinner.”

I pulled back, amazed by this beautiful man.

“You’d do that?”

My cautious heart wanted to bungee jump out of my chest, but it stayed on the edge, waiting for his response.

“For you, yes.”

I rushed into his arms, tackling him flat on the bed. Our kissing soon turned into more, and fast. He had me on my back and buried his face between my legs. I realized I’d gotten a little too vocal with my whimpers when someone knocked on the floor from below.

“Keep it down,” one of his other roommates called from downstairs.

I closed my mouth and fisted the sheets because Tade didn’t seem to care what his roommate thought. And I didn’t either as he continued making my toes curl.

My dream blurred with reality when I woke up with Tade’s head between my legs. I was on the cusp of a major orgasm and didn’t have time to breathe when it hit. I might have squeaked before Tade’s hand covered my mouth to muffle my scream.

He moved his hand and smirked at me as he inched between my legs. He hooked a thumb in his boxers before shoving them down. His dick sprung free and he rolled on a condom. I spread my legs wider before he pulled me to him and slipped inside me.

Sometime later, he suggested we go out for our first driving lesson. So early in the morning, he drove to one of the local schools’ parking lot so he could teach me.

A zing of nervous excitement thrilled me as he had me sit behind the wheel.

He grinned at me. “There are several things we need to talk about before you actually drive.”

I couldn’t help but poke out my lip. He leaned in and kissed me. “Don’t worry, you will drive soon.”

He pointed important things out like the gas pedal, brake, and helped me adjust my mirrors. And other boring stuff like the temperature settings. He talked about safety to the point that I was more nervous than I ever had been.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this,” I said, fear clamping a hold on my throat.

He moved towards me from his position in the passenger seat. He squeezed my leg to reassure me, but my breath caught, remembering just how it had felt with his hands on me earlier that morning.

“Now, just relax.”

“I can’t with your hands on me,” I complained.

His eyes flashed with heat. Okay, maybe I’d sounded a bit breathy when I’d spoken.

“Biscuit, don’t look at me like that.”

That was just like someone telling you not to look down when you are up high. Immediately, my eyes found the bulge in his pants.

I squeaked for the second time that day. Because he’d had me push the seat as far back as it could go so he could talk about all things car, he easily scooped me up and had me straddling his lap in seconds.

“I thought you were teaching me to drive,” I teased.

The way he looked at me, I felt like I’d won the Miss Universe pageant.

“There are things I can teach you other than how to drive a car.”

He gripped my hips and ground into me. I drove my hands in his hair and kissed him hard. All too soon, our loose-fitting clothes shifted to the side until he could drive into me.

I did learn the art of having sex in a car and I decided that even with the idea of us getting caught, I would probably do it again.

He did eventually let me put the car in drive and press on the pedal. The black skid marks we left behind were a testament to my need for many, many more hours of practice before I even attempted to drive on a street.

Over the next few weeks, Tade more than proved that we were more than something casual. Whenever we were together walking across campus, he held my hand like he needed to touch me. Other days, he’d show up at my place with coffee—icy or hot, depending on the weather—saying we needed a break from studying even if it was only for fifteen minutes or so. We didn’t spend every night together. We both had senior projects to finish for graduation.

“Seriously, it’s the last few weeks of school and you can’t even hang out with me,” Megan whined.

“Aren’t you spending time with Gavin?”

Her expression morphed into shock. “No, I’ve gone out with this guy, Shawn, a few times.”

I let out a gasp. “Not Shawn from the rowing team?”

“Yes, Shawn on the rowing team. He’s cute.”

“Isn’t he a freshman?”

“Soon to be a sophomore. Besides, it's just for fun.”

“No, what you mean is you’re doing it just to piss off Gavin.”

She avoided my eyes, pretending she was interested in her computer screen. “I don’t think Gavin even knows or cares.”

“You’re playing with fire.”

“Speaking of it, have you talked to your mom?”

No, I hadn’t. “She’s not talking to me.”

Dr. Flynn advised me to be patient and said I hadn’t done anything wrong. The truth being out there was healthier for everyone, she’d claimed. But despite all Mom’s faults, I loved her and weirdly, I missed some of her advice.

“Your dad?”

“He tells me she cries a lot, but she’s back to seeing her psychiatrist on a regular basis.”

“That blows.”

It did. She wasn’t willing to meet Tade. Though if she showed up to my graduation, I would introduce her to him. Dad wanted to meet him.

“Let me call Tade and tell him I can’t meet up tonight because I’m hanging with my girl.”