I knew I had feelings for Jovie Ross when I was fourteen-years-old.

We grew up together but I never saw her as anything but my classmate until then. Or, at least, I thought I did.

It struck me in waves. One day she was just weird, loner Jovie, sitting by herself in the cafeteria with a travel book in her hand and a pink slip from the vice principal in the other. Detention. Again. Who knows why this time.

Then, all of a sudden, we were in ninth grade and our English teacher made us read Romeo and Juliet as a class. Roles were assigned at random. Mrs. Carter drew my name for Romeo and the class rolled their eyes. Of course, he’s Romeo, they said. Then, she drew Jovie’s name for Juliet and they laughed in her face.

That was my first clue. I didn’t laugh with them because I couldn’t see anything funny about it. It was just a play. Just a bunch of old words on a page but teenagers don’t think like that. They instantly saw us as star-crossed mates, destined to mayhem and tragedy, but not only that — it was the classic joke of the popular boy forced to lower himself and play nice with the loser chick for everyone’s entertainment. I wasn’t about to be the brunt of a joke like that and the only way to overcome it was to own it.

I got out of my desk, walked to the back of the classroom, and slid into the empty seat next to Jovie without saying a word. The snickers died down and Mrs. Carter got on with it but the cruel glances and puckered smiles remained on their faces. It didn’t seem to bother Jovie, though. Nothing ever did.

We spent the next week reading it aloud as a class and I heard Jovie speak more words than I’d ever heard from her mouth before. Her monotone voice slipped away. Emotion dripped off her words in long, full sentences and I couldn’t help but respond in the same way.

Our classmates probably found it hilarious but I honestly don’t know or care. I was stuck on Jovie the whole time.

That was when she started offering me her second Pop Tart every morning.

Two years later, she was mine.

Three years after that and she was gone.

Fast forward four more years and here she is with her head on my shoulder. She hasn’t budged in a little while, so she’s probably sleeping. I’d look and find out but I really don’t want to wake her. She’s breathing steadily. Her skin is warm and her pulse is strong. I don’t want to know what’s going on in her head. Just having her close by again is enough for me.

I tap the remote on the couch beside my knee, inching the volume down just in case the final action scene startles her out of it. The movie is almost over and I’ll cross that bridge when I get there but for now, this is all I want. A quiet night with Jovie, surrounded by empty drinks and ravaged pizza boxes, and a movie with a plot so dull that it doesn’t even matter that I’ve missed several scenes because I’m too busy embracing her instead.

Her breathing shifts and I hold mine, hoping she’ll fall right back in but she raises her head.

“What time is it?” she asks, focusing on the television again.

“I don’t know...” I reach for my phone next to my seat. “Just after midnight,” I read.

Jovie leans forward and rubs her eyes. “I should get home while it’s still dark enough to sneak out of here unnoticed.”

“Movie’s not over yet,” I say, keeping my hands on her.

She looks over at me and smiles. “I’ve seen this one before.”

“So have I but not with you.”

Her shoulders relax and she settles back beneath my arm. “Okay... fine.”

I wrap my arm a little tighter around her, holding her close and she doesn’t fight it. Her hair brushes the tip of my nose, wafting a bit of her scent upward. I close my eyes and breathe her in. My blood starts pumping south again and I know what will happen if I don’t settle down but I can’t help but touch her a little more.

I brush her hair to one side, revealing the smooth skin of her neck and the black straps of her dress. Her chest rises and falls but it pauses for a second as I slide one strap down.

I kiss her once on the shoulder. My lips stay there as I inhale, fueling my groin with more blood and I grow erect in my jeans.

Jovie tilts her head away, bearing her neck to me. I kiss it again with a firm touch, pulling her closer and she melts against me. She raises a hand to the back of my head, holding us together. Her breaths become sharper and I let my tongue taste her as my lips crawl up to her earlobe.

My hand slips around her, inching steadily closer to her breasts until Jovie takes it and places it there herself. I squeeze once before slipping my hand in to palm her bare breast and Jovie lets out a quiet moan in response. She turns her head back and our lips meet in passionate, breathy kisses.

I open my eyes and look at her, once again thoroughly entranced by the siren in my arms. She twists around a little, pressing her hip into my groin and I kiss her deeper with lust. Her nipple grows hard against my fingers. Her mouth quivers as I pinch the sensitive, pink nub. I fight the urge to slide my hand between her legs and fingerfuck her until she comes for me. Rounding first. That’s where we agreed we’d be for now and I can’t betray that trust we’ve built.

She lies onto her back, slowly taking me with her until I’m lying on top of her. I settle between her open legs, crawling my hand up her thigh to push her dress upward. Her skin is as soft and smooth as it always was. She tastes just as sweet and smells just as good. I kiss her harder and faster as her nails dig deeper into my shirt.

Just two kids making out on the couch, forgetting all about the movie playing in front of them. My ears focus on my mother’s office door for a second, just in case it opens suddenly and I wonder if Sara said she’d be home at five or six…

I pause as a laugh clenches my throat.

“What?” Jovie asks, breathing hard.

I glance around my house. I own this place. I’m an adult and yet, here I am, scared my family will walk in and catch me with Jovie.

Just another old habit, I guess.

“Nothing,” I say, taking her lips again.

She pulls my bottom lip between her teeth and gently sucks on it, sending me back in time. Jovie and her various moves. God, how I’ve missed this. Her little moans. That subtle grind of her hips. From our first kiss all the way to the end, it never grew boring, that’s for sure.

“Will...” she whispers.

“Yeah?”

“You’re kind of... stabbing me a little...”

I shift backward and grab the TV remote pressing into her hip. “That’s not me...”

“Oh…” She covers her mouth and laughs. “Whoops.”

I let it slip from my fingers onto the floor and I ease in close to kiss her again.

Jovie lays a hand on my chest. “I really should go, Will.”

I take a deep breath, relishing in her scent. I’m not ready to let go of her yet.

“I know.”

We kiss once more, long and deeply, before she slides free from my grasp and stands up off the couch. I force myself up and follow her through the house to the bedroom.

She bends over to grab her boots and sits down on the edge of my bed. “This was fun,” she says.

My erection throbs in my jeans. “Oh, yeah. It was.”

I admire her, watching as she steps one foot into her boot. Long, brown hair falls over one side of her face, casting shadows along the bridge of her nose. I can still make out the faintest color of her shining eyes and the hint of rouge on her cheeks.

“Jovie, I don’t want to stop seeing you,” I say.

She pauses and looks up at me. “I don’t either.”

“Go out with me again.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow night.”

Her lips twitch. “I’m pretty sure Jovie Watch will be just as annoying tomorrow night as it was tonight.”

I furrow my brow. “I’ll think of something.”

“Like what?” she asks.

“Something.”

She chuckles as she ties off the other boot and sets her feet on the floor. “Sounds like a plan.”

My heart tugs me closer to her and I step forward. “Jove...”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t go home tonight.”

Her head tilts in hesitation. “Will, I shouldn’t stay.”

“I don’t care about what we should do,” I say. “Do you?”

She bites her lip. “Now you’re sounding like me.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Depends on who you ask, I guess.”

I kneel in front of her and take hold of her ankles one at a time, drawing them up to slide the boots back off.

“Will.”

I move in and cup her face before she can protest. “Stay with me, Jovie.”

I kiss her again and her lips quiver against mine.

“We shouldn’t...” Her voice is weak, sitting on the edge of reason but I won’t force her over.

“And we won’t,” I say, guiding her onto the mattress. Her head meets my pillow and I lay beside her, balanced on my elbow as my left hand caresses her cheek. “I just want to spend the night beside you again.”

She clings to me with bated breath. “And what about tomorrow morning?” she asks.

I smile as I brush the edge of her lips with my thumb. “I’ll think of something.”

We kiss again, holding fast in each other’s arms until we’re both too tired to keep our eyes open.