The Perfect First (Fulton U, #1)

by Maya Hughes

Dad had screwed up by getting married before he was even drafted—not that Mom wasn’t awesome. They were disgustingly and embarrassingly in love, but damn he’d missed out.

Most people would love to have parents as in love as mine were. Sometimes they were slightly embarrassing, but no one could miss how much they cared about each other. It scared the shit out of me.

With the way she lit up when she saw me, I couldn’t have stopped the smile from spreading across my face if you’d held a gun to my head. Stepping out onto the field with thousands of people cheering for me didn’t come close to how she’d just made me feel—and that meant trouble, which was why sleeping with her was a one-way ticket to fucking up my future. You don’t sleep with girls who look at you like that and get away unscathed.

“And when did you lose your virginity?” Both Reece’s and the server’s eyes went big and round. “You don’t have to answer that.” Reece tried to wave off the question. “Excuse her, she doesn’t get out much.”

“You must be a barrel of laughs when you go out with your friends.” He dropped his gaze back to the menu, picking it up. I ran my finger over my thumb and stared down at my hands. Direct hit, Reece. “I don’t have any friends.” That had been a crushing realization a few days earlier, and it sucked even more now. My college career was off to a seriously depressing start. “I can see why.” I didn’t realize I’d made a sound, but I must have. Reece glanced up from the menu and his eyes widened. He started shaking his head immediately. “I didn’t mean that, not like that—not like something’s wrong with you.” He ran his hand over his face. “Do you really not have any friends? Like none?” Gathering up my bag, I slung the strap over my head. “This was a mistake. I’m sorry I made you come. I’m sure you have a lot of other things you could be doing right now.” I fought to keep my voice from cracking. Why did it hurt so much, like a sawing in my chest? I’d never felt like this back home. Glimmers of light surrounded by the dull monotony was what I was used to. Not this. Reece grabbed my hand, pinning it to the table. “Seph, wait. I didn’t mean it like that. It was my attempt at a joke and it didn’t work. I’d really like to have lunch with you. Please don’t go.”

“If there were a sex hall of fame, I’d be the first inductee, but I’m not a relationship guy. I’m not a cuddles after sex and curling up on the couch kind of guy. That’s the kind of guy you need.”

The juicy burger looked better than anything I’d ever had before. I sank my teeth into it and closed my eyes. My feet danced on the floor and I shook my head from side to side, savoring the flavor in my mouth. So good. There had never been a more delicious burger.

“A baby manwhore, then?” I smirked at him and pushed my plate away. “Maybe a little bit.” He held up his thumb and pointer finger barely an inch apart.

Seph walked like nothing could stand in her way. Literally, people jumped out of the way as she talked, her eyes focused on me. I grabbed her shoulders to stop her from running into a light pole. Knowing her, she’d probably knock it over and keep walking.

Nix: No problem. I’ve got to have dinner with my dad tonight, so if anyone would like to run me over with my car, please feel free. Me: You mean the brand new Mercedes S-Class your parents got you over the summer? That one? If I do, do I get to keep the car?

Better that than trying to fit in and finding out no one actually liked me for who I really was.

I was tired of being nice and quiet and small. I was tired of being me, and the only way to change that was to stop being afraid of what I wanted.

While I should have been focusing on studying and making sure my grades were where they needed to be, I was worried about a little fish who’d nearly drowned.

“This isn’t our theater.” My eyes widened. Someone was going to see. Someone was going to figure out we were going into the wrong theater. “Shh. No one will know. I’ve been dying to see this movie and it looked like you were about to die of boredom in that other one, so I improvised one of the things on your list.” We rounded the end of the narrow walkway that led into the theater. “Which one?” His shoulder brushed against my chest and he spoke out of the side of his mouth again. “Breaking the law.” His lips curled into a smile.

His smile made me forget my name. I wanted to feel those laugh lines against my skin, wanted to lift my head from his chest when we were both covered in sweat and have him press a kiss to my forehead. “What do you say we mark it off one more time?” Mischief leaked into his smile, and I couldn’t hold mine back. “Where to next, my corrupter?”

“I can’t believe that worked!” She jumped up and down with nervousness radiating off her. “You’ve got to sell it, that’s all.” “You’re a bullshit artist to the extreme.” Her compliment hit me square on the chin like an accidental elbow that wasn’t meant to hurt but stung.

Her hands went up over her head just like any good woo girl. Shaking her hips and moving her body, she kept up with the beat of the music. I definitely wouldn’t have thought someone like her would have moves.

She wasn’t just beautiful—she was stunning. When she finished, flowing waves of hair cascaded down over her shoulders, way longer than I’d have thought from the style.

Without thinking, I reached out and wiped away the liquid dripping off her chin, rubbing it away with my thumb. The tip of my finger grazed her bottom lip. My heart collided with my ribs. The world froze. The people on the dance floor disappeared. Nothing existed except for my thumb and her smooth, full lip. Her tongue darted out, nearly grazing my thumb, and I swore my dick jumped like a drill sergeant had called him. I wanted her to wrap those lips around my thumb. I wanted to taste those lips and even more of her. A hunger I’d never felt before pounded in my gut. I wanted to taste all of her. She looked at me and tilted her head to the side like she was trying to figure out what the hell I was doing. Get in line, Seph.

“I don’t want to say I told you so.” I whipped my hand out behind me, holding up one finger. “If you say it, I swear, I’ll spend the rest of my time here destroying every pair of shoes you own.” “That’s just mean. Why would you say something like that?” His voice hitched up an octave like I’d just threatened a pet or a child. “A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.” Standing, I looked at myself in the mirror. Death. I looked like the Grim Reaper’s new girlfriend.

He threw on a smile that could have melted the panties off a nun.

“You can’t let people run all over you, Seph. You think it’s easier that way, but it’s not. Don’t ever let someone treat you worse than you deserve to be treated.” His gaze locked with mine like this was something he didn’t just want me to hear, but to really know.

Then her eyes brightened. “Wait, I’m back out super early in the morning and I’m wearing my clothes from last night—is this a walk of shame? Am I doing my first walk of shame?” She looked up and down the sidewalk like she expected a banner to unfurl in congratulations. “It doesn’t usually work that way. Usually, you’re walking home by yourself, and it’s not after just sleeping.” I stuck my hands into my pockets. She shoved her hands into hers. Her lips thinned and the mental calculation Olympics were going on in her head. “Then we’re doing a double walk of shame.” She looped her arm through mine and tugged me playfully toward her. When she put it like that, who could disagree? “Sure, I’ll give you that one. Another thing marked off the list then?”

I’d thought it was seven months, not that it mattered. She’d be gone. I’d be gone. Don’t get too attached. Don’t get too involved.

“Don’t clean up because of me. I was just thinking how much this looks like a real college room. You’ve even got the naked girl calendar thing.” I darted across the room and batted it off the wall. It slid straight under my bed. “Berk got it for me as a joke.” “Don’t be embarrassed. She was very pretty.” She’s got nothing on you.

I’d give her the other firsts, as many as I could, because if I gave her too much, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from never wanting to stop.

“That’s what I thought. So what’s the deal? She’s hot, can hold her liquor like a boss—how have you not already banged her seven ways till Sunday?” Right, Berk?! At least there was someone on team Reece Should Bang Seph. Wait, Berk thinks I’m hot?

“Angles and inertia, huh?” I crossed my arms over my chest. Nippling in front of a bar full of people wasn’t exactly my idea of fun. “That was a little harder than I expected.” “You don’t say, Wild Child.” “At least you still have your coat?” She held it up with a winning smile. I grabbed it out of her grasp and threw my arms into it. “Now I just have my boxers flapping in the wind.” “They’re cute. Are those Pikachu?” “Everything else was dirty,” I grumbled under my breath.

“Your skills of deception need a bit more honing. Stand aside and let the grownup handle this.” “The grownup in Pikachu underwear,”

Lifting her fingers, she pulled out the double-knotted stem. Fuck me. I mean, not fuck me, but damn.

I’d never wanted to kiss someone more than I did right then, standing in the middle of a crowded dance floor in nothing but my Pikachu boxers, dancing with a woman who was unlike anyone I’d ever met. She’d gotten so fully and completely under my skin, I didn’t know how I’d existed before I met her.

Every part of me wanted to wrap around her, wanted to make this a special kiss, make every touch one she’d crave, because I was slowly becoming an addict and I didn’t want to be the only one. A few weeks earlier, I would have been able to resist her. Stepping back hadn’t been a herculean effort, but now I couldn’t do it. Not this time. I wasn’t that strong.

The kiss. The kiss that had somehow blown away every other kiss I’d ever had and made me forget every pair of lips other than hers?

I could spend the next fifty years with this girl and I’d still be learning more about her.

He was equal parts raw masculinity and caring that made me almost come out of my skin. My body was on fire for him and I wanted him to devour me. I knew he’d make my first time one I’d never want to forget.

She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. More than any win on the field, any pair of limited-edition Adidas, she was so many things, and I couldn’t even believe she was there with me. Take me to bed had to be the sweetest words ever spoken. The emotional charge of them was almost more than I could handle, so I focused on the mechanics of it: lifting her into my arms and kissing her while she squirmed, squeezing her thighs together in my hold.

Her eyes were filled with the kind of humbling trust that would have brought me to my knees if I weren’t already there.

My need to make this special and go slow warred with my cresting need to be inside her.

“You’re playing with fire, Wild Child.” I licked my lips. “I’m playing with you.” “I am your jungle gym. Play to your heart’s content.”

“I swear you’re going to kill me,” he murmured. “Glad to know I’m a quick study.” “Any quicker and you might be a lethal weapon.” “But what a way to go.”

they hadn’t had to look into her eyes when she found out I hadn’t told her we’d be only a few miles apart today. It was a barb straight to the heart. I’d have to suck up my fears about not measuring up and do this for her.

Seph’s pride made my heart swell. She wasn’t embarrassed by me. She was proud of me, and I didn’t take that lightly.

If my heart hadn’t already belonged to him, it would have been wrapped up with a bow and presented to him on a rainbow platter at that moment.

Shit, I was already a goner and I hadn’t even noticed it. I loved her, and that scared the shit out of me, more than I’d even thought possible.

Her eyes glittered with a love I’d never experienced before, the kind I’d run headlong away from even the hint of, but with her, I wanted it all. I wanted even more, and that scared the ever-loving shit out of me.

We’d always used protection, but what if Seph did get pregnant? What then? It wasn’t that it scared me; that wasn’t what was making me run. It was that it didn’t scare me. I was twenty-two and way too young to have kids. I’d be drafted and away from her and our child. My lips thinned to a grim line. Stop talking about your hypothetical children. Stop thinking about how much it would suck to be away from her and them when you’re on the road.

I wanted to claw back everything I’d said at the stinging pain in her eyes. Every fiber of my being shouted that I should wrap her up in my arms and tell her I was sorry, the same voice telling me this was a mistake and I was an idiot. What did any of that matter? The cheering stadiums, the fans, the draft. This was what had stopped my dad dead in his tracks. I wasn’t going to live a life of regret. I couldn’t do that to myself, and I couldn’t do that to her. This was for the best. This was what we’d both decided in the beginning.

“Of course.” She shook her head like she could knock the thoughts from her mind, the silly thoughts of me and her. Reaching behind her neck, she tugged on the silver chain draped down over her collarbones, the same ones I’d had my lips on minutes ago. “You should have this back.” “Seph, no. I gave that to you.” I stepped forward, reaching for her hand. She stepped back, evading my grasp. I swallowed the lump in my throat. She undid the clasp and let the chain and pendant fall into her hand. “Keep it,” I said softly. Staring up into my eyes, her tears caught on her lashes like rain. “Why would I want to keep it when it’s not true?” Her voice cracked.

A pro career lasted however long it took for my body to fail, but her love…that was forever—at least it would have been if I hadn’t fucked it up.

“There wouldn’t be a day that went by without you that I wouldn’t feel that never-ending sense of loss, knowing I gave up something I could never get back, knowing I sacrificed being with the person I love for fame and glory to strangers who could never mean as much to me as you do.”