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“What do you want? You can have it.” If she was going to ask me for more, I’d give it. I’d give her anything.

“I’m not… I mean, I don’t…”

She couldn’t get the words out so maybe I was going to need to say them for her.

“Do you want to go to my bedroom and try some things?”

Her nod was almost instantaneous.

Okay. We were doing this. I was letting Delaney experiment with me.

“Before we do anything,” I told her, “we’re going to talk about everything we do. And if either of us wants to stop at any time, we can stop. No questions asked. Understood?” She had to know that this only worked if we were both into it.

“Yeah, got it,” she said, her pupils blown, and her cheeks flushed. I’d been turned on since last night, but my desire had reached heights that I’d never known before. I could barely walk as we both crossed the short distance to my bedroom. I was grateful that I made my bed every day so it wasn’t a mess when we walked in. Sure, there were a few clothes on the floor and other things out of place, but I kicked them into a corner and turned to face her.

Delaney hovered in the doorway.

“Everything good?” I asked, stepping closer to the bed.

She had her eyes on it and she looked up at me. “Yeah. I’m a little nervous.”

I didn’t want to bring up the fact that the last person she’d probably had sex with was my brother. He didn’t get to have any part of this. I banished him from my mind.

“Do you want to take off your clothes? Or keep them on?”

She opened her mouth to respond and then pulled her shirt off. She only had a bra on underneath. It was almost the color of her skin.

“Me?” I asked, fiddling with the hem of my shirt. She nodded. I’d never undressed so slowly before. Usually it was a race to get as naked as possible.

Delaney pushed her joggers off and then she was standing in front of me in just her underwear. I followed, peeling my shorts off.

“Can you—” she pointed at the bed. I hoped she would get more comfortable.

“Do you want me to lay on the bed?” I asked.

She nodded, her eyes racing up and down my body as if she didn’t know what part of me to look at.

I rested on my back and held my hand out to her. “Come here.”

She stepped toward me and took my hand but stayed standing beside the bed.

Her eyes were locked on my belly ring. I flicked it with my fingers. “Do you like that?”

She nodded. “I thought of getting one, but I never did.” I wondered if it was part of her “good girl” thing. So many people had teased her about being a rule follower and a suck up and all kinds of nasty words. I couldn’t take those words back, but I could give her a positive experience here in this room. With me.

“You can touch me, Delaney. I’d love it if you touched me.” I was going to die if she didn’t touch me in the next ten seconds.

I moved over on the bed and Delaney sat next to me, her legs folded under her.

I’d seen her body in the Pilates outfit she’d worn, but I’d done my best not to stare at her. Now I got to look all I wanted to. She was softly rounded, and I loved that I got to see all those little silvery stretch marks and the softness of her belly. She was incredible.

Tentatively she reached out and stroked a finger across my stomach and I did my best to hold still. Her touch felt like a burn, searing me with fire.

“You’re beautiful,” she said softly.

“You are,” I told her. “You’re gorgeous, Delaney. Sometimes I can barely look at you.” Her eyes met mine as if she didn’t believe me.

“It’s true. I’m not lying to you.” There would only be truth in this room between the two of us for as long as we were here together.