She never would’ve dreamed she’d be having this conversation with Brandon. She told him about several of the stories she had backed up on her computer. The teacher cleared her voice loudly, and looked straight at them. Brandon shielded his paper and pointed at Sofia—as if she who was acing the class—would copy off his work. Even the teacher couldn’t help but smirk.

They walked out together after class. “I’d love to read some of your writing, Sofia.”

She cringed. No one had ever read any of her stuff. She’d never even told anyone about it. “Umm… I dunno.”

“Here.” He pulled a paper out of his backpack and scribbled something on it. “Email me one of your stories. I promise I won’t be mean. If anything maybe I can give you some constructive criticism.”

Sofia took the paper from him and smiled. “Okay. I’ll check and see what I don’t mind sharing.”

She got caught for a moment in his eyes, then she looked away.

“Okay, see you,” he said and walked away.

She turned to walk down the stairs and saw Eric staring straight at her. Her heart fluttered as usual, and she smiled.

“Did he give you his number?” Eric asked, without smiling back.

“No.” Unwilling to share the truth. “It’s about the homework.” She smashed the piece of paper into her hand. “He gave me a website he uses to help him.”

“Since when do you need help from Brandon?” Eric still wasn’t smiling.

Knowing she’d startle Eric, she kissed him. “It was just a suggestion.”

Eric looked around, obviously concerned. “Sofia, stop.”

She giggled. He was too easy. “Never.”

CHAPTER 5

Risking it all

Sofia was in a forbidden heaven. Things had progressed, and even Eric couldn’t stop it. Every time they made out things got heavier and heavier and every time, things were more exciting than the last.

She was doing her usual morning run when she got an idea. Eric’s dad was away for a few days. Instead of doing her normal run, she took a short cut and headed to his house.

Sofia knocked when she got there, but he didn’t answer. She wondered if he was asleep still. To her surprise, the front door wasn’t locked. She walked in, but stopped mid-stride. What was she doing? There was a humming noise in another room. Then complete silence. Sofia stood in place, debating about leaving or waiting.

She called out Eric’s name. Within moments, he walked out into the front room wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. “Sofie? How’d you get in here?”

Unable to take her eyes off his bare chest, she gestured toward the front door. “It was open.”

She rushed to him and kissed him. Just as eager, he spun her around and she was against the wall with his big body pressed against her. He kissed her more ravenously than he ever had. She loved it. Every part of her body was awake with anticipation.

She smothered herself against him, hearing him moan when her stomach pressed against his erection. Then his towel dropped. Sofia froze. One look down and she saw what she’d only felt through his clothes for weeks. Sofia had never seen one. Not even on the Internet like some of her friends. She didn’t dare risk getting caught. With her eyes still glued to it, Eric bent down to pick up the towel and there was a knock at the door.

With her heart at her throat already, she could barely breathe. Eric worked quickly to wrap the towel around him, when Romero flung the door open. They all stood there speechless. Romero stared at the two of them for once, without a thing to say. Sofia grabbed a DVD off the wall and ran past Romero. “Thanks, Eric. I’ll get this back as soon as I’m done with it.”

*

Romero stared at the door Sofia just ran through and then turned back to Eric. “Are you out of your mind?”

In a weak attempt to pretend not to understand what Romero meant, Eric responded, “What do you mean?” The throbbing boner was all but gone now, but his towel still showed signs of life. His heart raced like he’d never felt before.

“Dude.” Romero glanced back at the door. “Do you know how bad that looked? If Angev> l or Alex had been with me…”

Eric shrugged, but the fear that suddenly inundated him just hearing Alex’s name, was a living thing. “She showed up when I just got outta the shower. All she wanted was to borrow a DVD.”

Romero stared at him, unconvinced. “Just ‘cause Angel hasn’t noticed, Eric. Don’t think I haven’t. You really need to think about this. Don’t be stupid. This is Sofie we’re talking about, man.”

Eric frowned. “She’ll be seventeen soon.”

“Seriously? You’re actually considering this?” Romero stared at him, then shook his head, walking past him toward the fridge. “Stop. Just stop, dude. I don’t even wanna hear any more.”

Eric stared at the floor, his breathing finally back to normal. He looked up in time to watch Romero pull a bottle of soda out of the fridge. He took a swig of it then made a face. “What’s with the diet soda?”

Ignoring his comment, Eric rushed into the bedroom. “I gotta get out of here.”

Romero was on his sofa watching television with his feet on the coffee table when Eric walked back in the living room. He had a bag of chips now. “Where you going?”

Eric frowned. “I gotta meet my mom for breakfast. She drove in from Los Angeles.”

He had long forgiven his mom for walking away from him and his dad when he was just a baby. She explained it to him when he was about fifteen. She said she’d just been too young and immature to handle settling down with a family. She was nineteen when she walked away. His dad worried when he was younger that he might be dealing with issues of abandonment. But Eric had always argued, how could he feel abandoned by someone he didn’t even remember?