Page 72 of The Wicked Love

“Sophie! We have not slept together, just had some pretty heated kissing sessions. But … I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about trying tonight,” I tell her, that gnawing feeling of honesty surfacing again.

“Do you think you’re ready?” she asks, her voice soft.

The last time I had sex was with Cal, and it wasn’t the most romantic of moments. It was bad, not because of him, but because of me.

I saw Brady, felt Brady, smelled him. He wouldn’t go away, and it was terrifying. I ran out of the room, crying.

But I feel like the girl who did that died a long time ago. She’s lost both her parents since then and learned a hell of a lot about pain and sorrow.

And Brady might have caused me a world of hurt and fear I will never fully shake, but I’m not going to let him decide what I will and won’t do with Cal.

Because Callum is sexy as hell. He turns me on like a light switch, and with one single flick, I’m glowing. And he’s kind and sweet and everything I could ever want. He has pains of his own, and he understands me. For God’s sake, he waited all this time for me.

Fuck Brady. I hope he burns in hell.

I want Cal. I want him to have all of me, always. And I’m going to give him exactly that.

“I’m ready. I’m so ready,” I tell her as a knock sounds on the door.

“Speak of the devil,” Sophie says as she hops off the counter. “Be safe. Condoms are in your nightstand. You’re welcome. Love you!”

She opens the door for Cal.

“Hey, have fun tonight, you two!” she calls as she lets Cal in and then closes the door behind her on her way out.

Cal points his thumb behind him. “She was awfully cheery.”

I giggle. “Yeah, she gets like that sometimes.”

Like, what was I supposed to say?Yeah, she’s happy because she knows I’m going to sleep with you tonight and did her best to not tell you the second she opened the door because she knows how long you’ve been waiting for me.

“All right. How was the rest of your day?” he asks as he rounds the kitchen island, coming closer to me.

And butterflies bounce around my stomach as he trails his finger on the counter, approaching slowly.

“It was good. Better now,” I tell him, wetting my bottom lip. “Yours?”

“Hot, sweaty, steamy. Yeah, practice was good.” He smirks.

I go to take another bite of my salad, but that hunger is replaced with something primal—pure desire.

I glance at the clock to see it’s 10:32.I toss my salad in the trash.

“What do you want to do tonight?” I ask him as I undo the zipper of my skirt, walking slowly to my bedroom. Wiggling my hips, I drop the skirt to the floor, kicking it to the side with my foot. “Oops.”

“Becca, what are you doing?” Cal asks me with a deep, almost-growling voice.

I take another small step and lift my tank top over my head, revealing the fact that I didn’t wear a bra today. “Come find out.”

Nerves are eating me alive.What if he isn’t ready to have sex with me again? What if he doesn’t want to?

My doubts are quickly squashed as he walks toward me, and I hear his steps stop, maybe five feet behind me.

“You know I don’t expect anything from you, right?”

Something smacks into the floor, followed by another, and I realize he kicked his shoes off. Then, I hear the zipper of his jeans, and tingles flutter across my entire body, eagerly awaiting his touch.

“I know. I want this.”