Throwing my head back, I closed my eyes for a moment before refocusing on her. Her words were powerful, and part of me couldn’t believe she was talking about me. When was the last time anyone had said something so inspired—and meant it in reference to me?

I shook my head. “You know what you want to do. You want to go to school and find that normal life you’ve been searching for. But nothing else in your world has to change if you don’t want it to. Everything in my life has to change. Every single thing.”

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing, is it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t feel ready.”

“When will you ever feel ready? Every day that passes is just more time you’re losing and can never get back.”

“I know.”

“Tatum,” she said in a soft, pleading voice, but my gaze stayed glued to the floor. “Tatum,” she said a little louder, and I looked up at her. “I don’t mean to push you. I just really think you’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you don’t at least try. I think you’ll eventually hate yourself for it.”

“Because you hated yourself?”

“I didn’t hate myself, per se, but I definitely regret not doing all of this sooner. Maybe I thought my desire for college would go away eventually. I don’t know, but it never did. It’s like a part of me that is this living, breathing thing. It wants to be recognized. It wants to be fed. That’s what I think music is for you. But I guess I could be wrong.”

I shook my head. “You’re not wrong.”

“You of all people should know how precious time is. That every day we’re given is a gift and not something to be taken lightly.”

My thoughts drifted to my father. Would he be proud of me and the man I became? I knew he would be. But would he want more for me and want me to follow my own dreams? He would want that as well.

With a sigh, I said, “Okay, I’ll do some research tomorrow. It’s a small step, but that’s probably how I’ll need to approach this.”

“It’s better than no steps at all.” Paige smiled and moved over toward me. She dropped to her knees and rested her forearms on my thighs. “You can do this, Tatum. You can do anything you set your mind to. I truly believe that.”

Her head tilted up as her lips met mine in the sweetest kiss. I opened my mouth and drank her in. Paige’s hands wrapped around the lower part of my back, her fingers digging into my skin, and I pulled her even tighter against me. She couldn’t get any closer, but that didn’t stop me from trying. I slid my hand up the small of her back and traced her curves before settling on the crook of her neck. When she moaned into my mouth, I lifted her from the floor and pulled her into my lap. Her hips wiggled as she moved against me.

“Paige, sweetheart, you’d better stop moving your hips like that.”

“Or what?” she asked, her lips moving to my neck and dropping kisses there as her hips still moved, driving me crazy.

“Or maybe I’ll stop being so nice and I’ll start taking advantage of you,” I whispered against her lips.

“Maybe I want you to take advantage of me.” She pulled back, leveling a serious gaze on me, and I met her eyes.

“Is that what you want? You’re ready to do this?” I asked as I desperately tried to keep my real brain in control.

“Are you?”

And that was the million-dollar question. Was I ready to have sex with her? Every molecule in my body wanted to get lost in her, but I knew my head would be royally screwed up if I allowed that to happen and then had to let her go. I was never good at the whole one-night-stand thing, and I definitely wasn’t the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. Being physical with her meant getting attached, and I couldn’t afford to do that with someone like Paige Lockwood.

“Not yet,” I admitted, and I swear I heard my dick cry out in protest.

Paige smiled. “Okay then. No more dry humping,” she said with a laugh before scooting off my lap.

“Aw, man. I didn’t say that,” I said with a whine.

She leaned down, giving me another mind-blowing kiss before saying, “I’m going to head to bed in the house. I’ll see you in the morning.” Her lips brushed against mine. “Don’t forget to start researching. Maybe we can make a list of everything you need to do just to see what sounds good to you, or where the schools might be. We can do that tomorrow, if you want.”

“Would that make you feel better about my future?”

“Don’t make fun of me. But yes, it would. I want to help, and I know this is the only way you’ll let me.”

I’ll be damned if she wasn’t right about that.

“Okay, babe. Tomorrow we’ll start researching my shit.”

“Yay!” She clapped her hands with excitement and I grabbed her by the waist, pulling her back down on me so I could lose myself in her lips.

“I changed my mind,” I mumbled between kisses, and she moved her mouth away from mine.

“About what?”

“I want you.”

I needed to get out of my own head for once and live in the moment. If I let Paige go without really knowing her inside and out, she would be one more thing I’d regret. This amazing girl materialized like magic into my life, and I was acting like a damn chick about it.

“Are you sure?” she said, her voice sounding so damn sweet, I wanted to taste it. “We don’t have to.”

But I wasn’t sure. Not entirely, but my body convinced me otherwise. “As sure as I’ll ever be. You?”

“I was just waiting on you.”

“So sweet.”

Without another word, I swept her up into my arms and walked us to my bedroom, my lips pressed against hers the whole time. The truth was, I was nervous. It had been a long time since my dick had seen any action, and even longer since my brain had wanted it to. My dick always wanted to get laid, but the smarter parts of me tended to win out. Thank God.

After laying her gently on top of my bed, I knelt on the bed and took a deep breath. Knowing what she was about to give me excited me in every way possible. Why would I ever deny myself this kind of connection with her?

Her hands found their way to the hem of my shirt, then she pulled it over my head and sighed a little as she stared at me.

Leaning back on my calves, I reached for her top with both hands and gently tugged while she shimmied out of it. Seeing her like this made my pulse race. I’d already seen her in a bikini, but a man knows the difference between a bathing suit and a bra. Seeing one usually means you’re getting lucky, and the other just means “Look, but don’t touch.”

“You are so beautiful, Paige.” I leaned down to kiss her neck, then skimmed my lips down her chest to drop another kiss in that sweet space between her breasts.

“So are you,” she said with another sigh, and I laughed.

“Really? Beautiful?”

“Hot, sexy, beautiful. Whatever.”

When she smiled up at me, I melted in her gaze. She trusted me; I could see it in her eyes. What we were about to do required trust on both our parts, and she was giving hers to me. Completely. I could see it as clearly as I could see her breathing beneath me.

I took my time exploring her body, removing the rest of our clothing bit by bit before I made love to her. Tasting every inch of her exposed skin, I found a new piece of heaven, right here with Paige. When I entered her, she cried out, and I almost lost it right then and there at the passion in her voice.

Slowly I moved in and out of her, not wanting it to end too soon, and that took almost all my self-control. Out of practice in this arena, I refused to let her down, but it took everything I had to hold myself back. Her body molded to mine as if she’d been made for me, her softness fitting perfectly with my firmness, and the closeness and warmth of her took my breath away.

“I’m not gonna last much longer, babe,” I whispered against her neck as our bodies moved in sync.

She said nothing, but dug her fingers into my back and pulled my hips toward her. I brushed my fingertips along the side of her face, stroking gently until she opened her eyes. Emotions overwhelmed me as she kept her eyes open to watch me move within her. She lifted her head and her lips met mine as our connected bodies moved together in an easy rhythm.