He wound his big arms around me. One created a pillow under my head and the other nestled right under my breast like a push-up bra.

The worst part and maybe the best was his erection, which I felt thick and hard through his jeans lined up against my butt. Was it wrong to relish the effect I had on him? If only he wasn’t so pigheaded about his rules. I’d come to realize it wasn’t his need to bang every girl that stopped him from being with me. I also didn’t want to guess what the bad thing was. As they say, ignorance is bliss.

He pulled me tighter against him. “God, you smell good.”

His nose brushed my neck and he pressed the tiniest kiss there. I closed my eyes, wanting to cry because I wanted him with a fierceness that made me crazy. But I was tired of asking, demanding, and fighting with him over this. I would enjoy the moment, the feel of his strong muscled body against mine.

I understood that saying about playing with fire, but I didn’t care.

“What’s the one thing in the world you want and can’t have?”

Though I had whispered, it roared through the room like a summer thunderstorm.

Was it validation I sought or legit conversation? Maybe equal parts both.

“You.”

He’d spoken even softer than I had. If not for the fan of his breath against my nape, I wouldn’t have been sure I’d heard him.

I rolled in his arms to face him. “I’m being serious.”

With his gaze fixed on me, it was hard not to believe him. “I am too.”

“Kiss me, then,” I said without thinking of the consequences.

His head drifted left then right so slowly I lost my flirtatious grin.

“If I kiss you now, I’ll be inside you within seconds. My dick is so hard, I won’t waste time on a condom and your panties don’t stand a chance.”

My mouth moved like a chirping bird but no sound came out.

“Turn around, Angel, and pray like hell because only God can save you now.” My body rejected my brain’s command and I didn’t move. “Trust me. There’s an innocence about you and you believe I can’t corrupt you. If you don’t move like I asked, I’ll prove you wrong.”

Finally, I listened, slowly though. I turned feeling a finality to his words. I was so ready to give in and find out what it would be like to be with him. But he’d scared me. Not physically—I knew he would never hurt me that way no matter what. But he only reinforced that he could break me and my heart into tiny fractured pieces.

Once I settled back on my side, his hand slid over my hip and down to my bare thigh. It was then I realized he was pushing the shirt back in place, as it had rolled up in my twisting around. I closed my eyes and prayed sleep would claim me quickly.

When my eyes opened, I was greeted by warm sunlight. Our positions had changed. He was flat on his back and I was curled around him using his bare chest as a pillow. I swiped at my mouth as I stretched, grateful to find I hadn’t drooled. That would have been embarrassing.

“Are you finally up, sleepyhead?”

I yawned, feeling like another couple of hours of rest would do me good.

“What time is it?”

“Almost one.”

I shot up, then remembered it was spring break and I wasn’t late for class. When I glanced down at him, I got lost for a second in his clear blue eyes.

“Stop laughing at me,” I said.

His chest shook from silent laughter.

“You’re the one that jack knifed off the bed like a zombie was after you,” he teased.

My gaze drifted from his lips to his chest to the muscles that created defined lines that led to his groin.

“My eyes are here, Angel.”

Caught in the act, my focus snapped back to him as heat bloomed in my face.

“I should go.”

The words may have sounded insignificant, but it was a huge statement if only I understood it. I could get used to this and I couldn’t allow myself to.

“Come with me.”

I blinked because yeah, my head was so far in the gutter, I would have a potty mouth if I spoke. “Where?” I managed to say. He gave me a look of I know something you don’t. I heard the sing-song melody in my head. “What do you know?”

“Our friends are headed to Tade’s lake house.” That sounded fun. “Don’t get any ideas. I doubt they want us along.”

“Oh…” That sucked. “I guess I could go home.”

I texted Reagan, as the thought of hearing my mom banging her boyfriend was less appealing than hearing my friends do it. I felt green as bile threatened to rise.

“Not appealing?”

“Not really. My mom’s boyfriend moved in.”

He nodded, getting it without me explaining. “So go with me,” he urged.

“You never answered where.”

He propped his arm behind his head.

“You know where I’ve never been?”

I shook my head and gave into temptation to run my finger like a maze over the peaks and valleys on his chest. He caught my wrist when I followed his happy trail to the waistband of his jeans.

“Don’t start anything you don’t want me to finish.”

I met his gaze. “You were telling me where you wanted to take me.”

“Ocean City.”

That caught me off guard. “You’ve lived in Maryland all of your life and you’ve never been to Ocean City?”

“Nope.”

Say no, say no, say no, I chanted in my head. “Okay.” I mentally slapped myself. What was I doing? “But I can’t. I’m strapped for cash.”

“Don’t sweat it. My treat.”

I frantically shook my head. “No way can I let you pay.”

“Why? If I go by myself, I still have to pay for things like gas, food, a hotel room.”

The hotel room. Yeah, that was why I shouldn’t go.

“And what do you expect from me?”

That was a loaded question if there ever was one in the world, especially after his declaration last night.

“Nothing. We’ll go as friends.”

“Did you just friend zone me?” I asked in mock shock.

He winked. “We could always add benefits to that if you like.”

I crawled over him to get off the bed. “No thank you. If you want boyfriend benefits, you have to be one.”

“Touché.”

When he smiled, I mentally cheered yes. My smirk had worked. Now it was time for a show. As I dressed I did just that, bending to get my jeans and slowly sliding on one leg at a time. He wanted me once. I wanted him always. I’d just take the time to convince him to come to my side of things. Hopefully it didn’t backfire and I gave into him before I’d won.

“When are we leaving?”

He pointed at my bag. “Aren’t you packed?”

“Packed to hang out with Reagan at her family’s house in the woods. Not packed for the beach.”

His eyes raked over me and I fought the urge to cover myself. I wasn’t naked, but he’d made me feel like I was. “Whenever you’re ready.”

I grabbed my bag. “Say in an hour.”

He nodded and started to get to his feet. I placed a hand on his chest.

“I think I can walk myself to the door.”

“Megan,” he warned.

“It’s the middle of the day. If I’m not safe now, do you plan to walk me to all my classes and meals for the foreseeable future?”

His head barely bobbed, but he got it. Then I left the room because it felt like I should kiss him goodbye. But he’d drawn the line at friends. Though I wanted more, he had to make the moves otherwise I’d look like all the other girls that had probably chased him all of his life. And a guy who looked like him most definitely had a fan club probably since birth.

Back in my room, I swapped parent-approved clothing for others Gavin would appreciate before meeting back at his place.

The ride to Ocean City turned out to be fun. He turned the tunes on. The boy had a great voice, which only added to his list of qualities. We stopped for fast food and ate burgers before we got out of town. Then it was car karaoke until we got close to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

“Angel, why are your eyes shut?”

“I’m afraid of heights,” I admitted, keep a lid on things.

When his hand landed on my arm, I nearly jumped out of my skin, not seeing it coming. My eyes popped open.

“Don’t look at me. Eyes on the road!” I sounded shrill, but I didn’t care.

He threaded his fingers through mine.

His next words were a shot to the heart. “I’ll always keep you safe.”

Gah, this man…Did he know he’d stolen my heart and made it nearly impossible for me to be with someone else?

He drew me over. I leaned my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes again. I just couldn’t watch. It was bad enough the wind felt like it would push the truck over the edge.

“We’re here,” he said.

I opened my eyes. The streets were packed with people and cars. Finding no place to park, we ended up at the southernmost end and got lucky with a parking spot that practically butted up to the beach.

Our luck continued as we found a decent spot on the sand.

“Do you need help with sunblock?” I asked as I pulled it from my bag.

“I need help with a lot of things.” His eyes dipped to my boobs.

“Don’t be one of those guys,” I teased.

“You started it,” he shot back.

Okay, I had checked out his ass and maybe his crotch in his board shorts. They hung low on his hips. They may have been long enough to touch the top of his knees, but I hadn’t looked there.

“Fine, do your own sunblock.” I chucked the bottle at him. “But do me first.”

He laughed. I lay down tummy first and reached around to untie my top.

“What are you doing?”

I angled my head and had to use my hand to block the sun. “I can’t have tan lines there. It will look stupid.”

His jaw worked. Clearly, he wanted to say more but didn’t. He rubbed my back, working in the lotion. His hand felt so good I could have fallen asleep, and in fact I did.

“Wake up, Angel.”

The sun was much lower in the sky.

“I’m sorry.” I lifted an inch before remembering my top. “Can you tie me up?” I heard what I said and laughed. “And no jokes.”

He did, his touch electrifying. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold out. The fantasy of what he could do to me was almost too much to bear.

We’d dumped my bag in the car when he said, “Come on.”

He grabbed my hand in his and I wondered if he understood that he was totally crossing into boyfriend zone. He didn’t seem to notice and I was too much of a glutton for punishment to say anything.

We walked for a little while and I had to stop myself from asking, Are we there yet?

Music poured from a place coming up on the left, which was where he took me. It was crowded and I could see why. There were tables in the shallow water. Gavin held up a finger and walked over to the hostess station. Instantly, I missed the warmth of his hand. I watched as he charmed the girl and passed her some cash. Seconds later we were taking our shoes off before being led to a booth out in the water we had completely to ourselves.

“This is fantastic,” I said, glancing around. Besides the booths, they also had high-top tables with bar stools. “I wonder how they keep them anchored.”

He shrugged. “Maybe with concrete like they do bridges.”

Our conversation switched topics easily as the Caribbean feel with the music and food was like being on a tropical island. The spicy food kept me warm as the day progressed and a slight chill in the air blew in.

“Come here,” he said.

We hadn’t been sitting side by side. Though I hadn’t noticed, so caught up in the atmosphere until he mentioned it. I put my second fruity drink down and complied. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“Now watch.”

He pointed off in the distance where sky met water, or so it seemed. The big ball of fire in the sky had almost reached its base. His arm tightened around me.

“Wait,” I said and pulled out my phone.

I removed it from the Ziploc bag I’d been smart to pack. Awkwardly we turned, the confines of the booth making it hard. Somehow I took the cutest selfie ever with the most attractive man I knew.

He plucked my cell from my hand as I’d admired it.

“What are you doing?”

I reached for it and was grateful I hadn’t texted Reagan about what an awesome time I was having. I would have been mortified. The only text I’d sent was that I was going home after all because initially that’s what I’d thought.

He handed back my phone. I gave him my best stink eye, but there was little behind it. I wasn’t mad, just mildly amused and curious. Plus I was a little buzzed.

He tipped my chin up, our lips entirely too close. “You’re going to miss it.”

I tore my eyes from his and watched. The music had gone silent. I think the DJ announced it because all eyes were on the horizon. I held my breath the entire time.

Once it was gone, there was clapping. I’d been so caught up in the moment I sucked in a breath when his lips covered mine. Cool water splashed over my toes, but none of that mattered. I was so captivated, enthralled, snared by him, I knew if he wanted me tonight, I’d give in.

He pulled back. “Let’s dance.”

I squealed as he led me through the chilly water back to the sand and then to the dance floor.

Drinks flowed and our feet moved. He spun me around only to wrap me in his arms from behind. I was having such a great time, I had no idea how long we’d been here.

“Are you ready go?” he whispered in my ear.

I nodded and hoped for a room. I wanted my clothes off and his too. Screw our rules. I was so ready to give into temptation.