He shifted me off his lap and stood up. I held my breath as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a foil packet. His expression was one of nervousness mixed with love, and I felt my eyes open wide as I watched him place it on the side table.

“I . . . uh, bought them when I realized I wanted to share this part of me with you,” he stammered.

My mind raced a million miles a minute. What if it wasn’t good? What if I wasn’t good? Was it going to hurt? I’d never done this before.

“Oh, stop, Sam.” I muttered aloud.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, umm, nothing. Just . . . talking to myself.”

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

He brushed his hand down the side of my face. “Let’s go up to my bedroom,” he whispered.

I looked around and shook my head.

“It’s okay. We don’t have to do this, if you’re not ready.”

“No, that’s not what I was shaking my head about. I . . . I just don’t really want to go up to your room right now. I mean, we have the entire house to ourselves, and this beautiful fire is right here. It’s . . . pretty romantic, Alec.”

“Oh. Good. You mean right here? On the chaise?” He looked surprised.

I felt my cheeks flush. “Yeah, I mean, if that’s okay.”

“Anything you want is good with me, Samone.”

As I thought of what we were about to do my stomach fluttered.

He stepped back and grabbed the hem of his t-shirt, pulling it up and over his head, only breaking eye contact with me momentarily. I watched as the muscles in his abs and chest flexed with his movements. As he kicked each shoe off, my pulse began to speed up.

Okay, it’s my turn. Just take my dress off . . . I can do this.

I looked up at him then, standing there, watching me. He gave me a small smile, and I felt his love, his complete adoration. I slipped my hand in his as he held it out to me, and I stood on shaky legs. He gently rubbed his thumb back and forth. His gaze never left mine as he reached down and freed the button of his jeans. When he began to lower his zipper, I found the courage I needed to slip my arms through the straps of my dress, letting it slide to the floor. I dropped my eyes while he looked at me standing there.

“Please don’t look down, Samone.”

I glanced up at him, as he stood there with his eyes roaming over my body.

“You’re absolutely beautiful, and most importantly, the girl I love. I want this to be special between us. Always”

“Me, too.”

He pulled me to him, wrapping me up in his arms, and kissed me. It was a kiss like nothing I’d ever felt before. We melded together, and he held me in a possessive embrace. He lowered me onto the chaise, kissing me tenderly. As he hovered over me, he looked into my eyes. My gaze held his as he gently laid kisses on my cheeks, the tip of my nose, and finally settling on my mouth.

“Love you always,” he breathed.

“I love you, too,” I whispered.

When our bodies met at first, I flinched.

He stopped instantly, as a look of terror spread across his face. “I’m so sorry. Are you all right? Is . . . this okay? Do you want me to stop?” he rambled.

“No, I’m good. It just hurt a little. But it’s okay now.” I kissed him as he looked down at me with wonder.

He took his time and made sure we both felt our love and passion. I hugged him to me and kissed each corner of his mouth, running my hands down his strong arms, winding my fingers in his.

We moved together as one, cherishing each other and making love by the fire. Our bodies wrapped around each other in tangled limbs. I didn’t think I could ever feel any closer to another human being than I did at that moment with Alec.

It had been four weeks since we’d discovered our passion. We were studying for our exams, cramming everything we could into our overworked brains. It was exciting being seniors in high school. The world was truly at our feet, as the old saying goes . . . we just had to choose our path.

With only half days remaining, Alec met me for lunch one day after class. As we left hand-in-hand, he led me around the side of the café in the alley.

“So, I was thinking . . . maybe we could hike Sweet Water Creek this weekend,” he said.

“That sounds great.”

“We could even bring Gage with us if you want.”

“Oh, yeah, let’s bring him!”

He stopped suddenly and pulled me into his arms, kissing me deeply. I was breathless, staring into his eyes as he stepped back.

“I just had to kiss you,” he breathed onto my lips.

“Oh, Okay . . .”

It was all I could say before he leaned in and captured my mouth again. His hands ran up my back and into my hair as he held my head in place.

“I cherish you,” he said between kisses. “You’re my everything.”

He dropped his hands from the back of my head and hugged me to his chest, and I melted into him, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“I love you Alec,” I whispered.

“Love you always.”

We resumed our hand-in-hand walk back out of the alley and into the parking lot, the sun shining down warm on us.

When we got back to Alec’s truck, I watched as he got in. I always got lost in his fluid movements. I was utterly mesmerized by him.

“Where are we going next?”

“I thought we could go see that Robert Downey Jr. movie you’ve been talking about,” he said.

I covered my face. “Oh my God, how did you know that?”

He laughed. “When I walked into the cafeteria, I overheard you talking to Heather about it.”

I couldn’t look at him. I was so embarrassed. He reached over and turned my chin toward him until I met his crystal blue eyes with mine.

“It’s okay. I’ve known about your infatuation with him since our first date, remember?” he teased.

I smiled and rolled my eyes. “Why don’t we just go watch that new action-thriller we both want to see? You did watch The Notebook with me a few weeks ago.”

“Well Samone, there wasn’t much movie watching going on that night,” he said as he waggled his eyebrows at me.

My cheeks heated. “Yeah I know, but you intended to, so that counts just the same.”

We drove over to the theater, bought our tickets to the movie, then bought a soda and popcorn. When we settled into our seats, he put his arm around me. I snuggled into him and smiled.

“I think we’ll have to start catching the late matinee more often. We practically have the theater to ourselves,” he whispered in my hair.

“I think so, too.”

We watched the movie and shared popcorn. It was another awesome afternoon with Alec, and I was so happy to have him in my life.

I’d been checking the mail for weeks, waiting to see if I’d been accepted to Kennesaw State. The girls had begged me to apply to Auburn as well, so I could be with them. I gave in, as always with them and applied. My acceptance letter for Auburn came in the mail the week before. I didn’t tell Alec about that. It’s not as if I was actually planning to go there.

When the mail truck stopped in front of my house, I ran downstairs and out the front door to check. I flipped through the envelopes until I found it. My stomach did somersaults as I worried what the contents would say. I pulled my phone out and sent Alec a quick message.

Me:

OMG, my KSU letter came!

A:

Well, what’s it say?

Me:

I don’t know. I haven’t opened it.

A: