I woke to the low hum of the city and the solid warmth of a body behind me.
For a few seconds I didn’t move. Julian’s arm was heavy across my waist, his chest rising and falling against my back in slow, even breaths. The sheets smelled like him—and like us. Every shift of my legs reminded me of the ache between them, the slight soreness that proved last night had not been a dream.
I had asked him to take my virginity.
He had done it carefully, thoroughly, and then held me until I fell asleep.
Morning light filtered through the sheer curtains. I slipped out from under his arm as quietly as I could and padded to the bathroom. In the mirror I looked different—lips still slightly swollen, a faint mark on the side of my throat where his mouth had lingered, eyes that no longer belonged to th
