This is why I brought her here. So we could be alone. So I wouldn’t have any excuses as to why we can’t be together. It’s all I thought about on the drive here. I was going to get her naked the second I got her inside. I was going to give her what she wants. What we both want.

And then the damned thing happened.

I fell in love with her.

Right there in the driveway.

Sitting in the cab of that piece of shit truck, her cat asleep on my lap, the wildflowers I picked for her, wilting on the dash, she looked at me and said, I believe you, Declan.

That’s all it took.

To be fair, I’d been warned.

My father told me once, a few years ago, when I took a girl to my first school dance, to be careful.

We Gilroys fall hard and fast and once it’s done, there’s no undoing it. No going back, so make sure whoever she is feels the same way because she’s going to be your forever—even if you’re not hers.

I thought he was crazy.

I wanted to tell him so. That I didn’t have it in me to love someone that much. That despite the fact that I call him a freak every chance I get, Conner is the one he should be saying this to. Conner’s the one, not me.

It’s never been me.

But my dad wasn’t crazy.

He was right.

Sitting in the cab of that truck, Tess felt like my forever.

Looking at her now, I know it.

She is my forever.

I’m not even twenty and I know it. Feel it so deep, my bones are heavy with it.

And that changes everything.

But then she’s standing in front of me. Pushing herself onto her toes so she can wind her arms around my neck. Lifts her mouth to mine. Whispering my name.

And I give in.

Slipping my hands under her ass I lift her, a deep-seated groan rumbling through my chest when I feel her wrap her legs around me. Press her pussy against me. Arm anchored under her ass, I lift a hand to her hair, wrapping my fingers in it to pull her head back so I can take her mouth, licking my way past her lips, tangling my tongue around hers while I walk us upstairs.

Tearing myself away from her mouth I lay her on the bed. Kneeling between her thighs, I find the hem of her dress, gathering and pulling until I have the skirt of it bunched around her waist.

She isn’t wearing any panties.

Jesus Christ.

My face is between her thighs before I take my next breath, my hands planted on her thighs to hold her open. “I need to lick your pussy,” I say, not sure if I’m warning her or asking her for permission and she moans in response, reaching down to pull me closer. I run my tongue up the center of her, licking past her slick folds, I find her clit and she moans again, her fingers sliding into my hair, holding me against her while I fuck her with my tongue, licking and sucking her until she’s shaking, her hips pumping against the pressure of my mouth locked around her.

“Declan.” She moans my name, her heels dug into the mattress, back arched off the bed while she comes so hard my mouth is flooded with the taste of her.

As soon she stops shaking, I pull her dress off, fighting with the long row of button holding it closed until it’s open the waist. Pulling it off completely, I stretch out next to her, running my hand over her to pull her closer. Turn her face so that’s she’s looking at me. “I have to go slow, baby,” I say, leaning over her to brush my lips against hers. “I need to make sure you’re ready.”

“I trust you,” she whispers, the last of it getting lost on a breathless gasp when I stoke a single finger past her entrance, pushing until I feel the barrier of her virginity and she moans softly in response, when I start to stroke in and out of her, each pulse of my finger stretching her further.

Pulling out completely, I add a finger. Pushing back in, I dip my head to her breast, sucking and teasing her nipple with my tongue while I fuck her with my fingers. Skimming my thumb through her slick folds, I roll it over her swollen clit until she’s shaking, eyes closed, chin tipped up. Ready for more.

I ease a third finger into her and she lets out a sharp gasp, freezing me in place. Like she can read my mind, Tess reaches down to clamp a hand around the wrist I have between her thighs. “Don’t stop,” she moans, lifting her hips off the bed to keep me inside her. “Please, Declan…” She starts to shake again, her nails digging into my wrist, urging me to keep fucking her.

“Jesus,” I growl at the feel of her, slick and hot on my fingers. “I need you to come again, baby.” I start moving again, rolling my thumb over her hot little clit while I give her pussy slow, steady strokes. “I need you—” She cries out, her pussy snapping so tight around my fingers that I groan, feeling the shudder and pulse of her orgasm shoot up the length of my arm.

Moving to kneel between her thighs I reach up to drag my shirt over my head. “Tess…”

“Yes,” she whispers, like she already knows what I’m going to say. “Please hurry, Declan.” She reaches for me. “Hurry.”

I work my pants open and get them off before pulling out the condom I have stashed in my back pocket and tear it open. Fit it over the head of my cock and roll it down.

Stretching over her, I brace myself up on my forearms so I don’t crush her. “It’s going to hurt,” I tell her, smoothing a hand through her hair. “I don’t want—”

“It’s okay,” she whispers, lifting her hands to settle them on my hips. “You’ll be careful.” She lifts her head, skimming her lips over mine. “I trust you.” She murmurs it against my mouth, tilting her hips into mine and I’m nearly undone when I feel the blunt head of my cock push against her slick entrance and she moans, tilting her hips into mine to take me in even further.

I sink into her slowly, taking her with slow, measured thrusts that bring us closer and closer together, one word playing itself over and over again in my head.

Forever.