that’s usually under my bed. The one that I’ve never shown anyone.
“Josie…” He stares at me and then glances back down at the album.
Even upside down I can tell which picture he’s looking at. It was taken one day when we were teenagers and Gabe had the grand idea to try to pop wheelies on this old motorcycle Zack had fixed up. In the photo, Zack is watching his brother with a look of patient affection. He looks happy.
“I look so young in this picture. When was this taken?”
“Um, that was the summer when my parents made me take ballroom lessons so that must have been when I was about sixteen. So you would have been about nineteen.”
The wonder in his eyes when he looks up at me takes me by surprise. “I didn’t even know you had a camera. Obviously you had a camera a lot of times when I wasn’t paying attention.”
He’s referring to the fact the entire album is filled with pictures of him. Nothing but pictures of him. Most of them taken at times when he wasn’t even aware I was photographing him.
It’s a little embarrassing that he’s found this. But it’s the only definitive proof of what I told him. That my feelings for him aren’t a new thing.
“Teenage girls can be a little obsessive. It’s a good thing you didn’t find this back then. You would have gotten a restraining order.”
“I wouldn’t have minded, even then.” He tugs on a lock of my hair. “I think that’s why I was so mean to you sometimes. Gabe took you for granted and it killed me because I always knew I couldn’t compete with him for your heart.”
“You didn’t have to win my heart. You’ve always had it,” I whisper.
He leans in and this time when he kisses me, he doesn’t stop.
chapter seven
†
ZACK
I would have thought that nothing could surprise me at this point in my life. I’ve gotten used to living life behind a wall. Caring about nothing and no one because it was easier than being disappointed over and over again.
But seeing that album of pictures took me completely off guard. There was a very real fear in the back of my mind that Jo was only with me because her first choice wasn’t available. That I was some sort of consolation prize. But a simple book of pictures has convinced me of her sincerity in a way that nothing else could.
She has an entire album of me. There’s no denying that this was a work of love done with all the intensity of a teenage crush.
Those pictures prove that she was telling the truth. I’m first in her heart and always have been.
As I’m kissing her, I feel my walls crumbling and all the emotion I’ve spent years hiding from seeps out. Her hair flows around us in a mass of brunette waves and I gather it in my fists, using it like an anchor to hold her close. Now that she’s here I don’t want her to ever leave me. She’s just as intense, kissing and sucking like she can’t get enough of my taste.
I pull back only long enough to help her out of her jeans and long tunic top. When she drops her arms, she grabs me again fusing our lips in another deep kiss. Somehow I manage to get my shirt off too. We’re both taking gasping breaths between kisses, not wanting to stop long enough for anything more. I know a brief moment of frustration trying to toe my boots off when one gets stuck. Finally it pops free and lands on the floor with another loud thud.
Somehow I manage to turn us around so she’s reclining on the bed. As she settles back I come down over her, holding up my weight on one arm while the other explores. There’s so much to touch and taste. I place a trail of soft kisses down her neck until I get to the front clasp of her bra. When I look up, Jo is watching me with wide, watchful eyes.
“Do it, Zack. I want you to,” she whispers.
I unclip her bra and her breasts spring free. As my lips trail down her torso, her back arches pushing her plump breasts out for me like an offering. She’s built like a dream with full, berry tipped nipples and creamy skin. As many times as I’ve imagined this, I couldn’t have imagined how sexy she actually is. I spend long moments