Tears by Francine Pascal Read Free Book Online

passionate intensity and focus.
    â€œI want you, too,” she murmured in response. She wanted to be clear:
This
was the moment she’d been waiting for since she’d first laid eyes on Sam. The dingy room seemed to spin around her.
This is it,
she realized. A sweat broke on her palms. The time had come. Now. Apparently Gaia’s life could have a goodsurprise, too, every now and then—not just an endless onslaught of betrayal and pain and violence spilling out of every gutter in the city.
    Sam stared back at her, attentive.
    â€œI’m ready,” Gaia whispered. She brought a hand to Sam’s strong jaw, traced the shape of it with her fingers.
This is it,
she said to herself once more. It seemed that all her life had been a climb to this peak of experience. It was the right time to lose her virginity to the one guy she knew she’d never regret loving.
    Of course, she was also kind of skittery.
    Not scared, obviously, since. . . well,yeah. . .
but it was whatever came in a close second to fear: some nerve-splaying, bone-charging kind of anticipation that felt crazy and sane all at the same time.
    Her eyes swept to the desk drawer. She knew Sam kept the condoms in there. They’d bought them together. Her face reddened a little—with a mixture of shyness and embarrassment but a desire to at least have them ready.
To be on the safe side
...
    â€œNo,” Sam said. His voice seemed to float from nowhere.
    Gaia turned to him, eyes wide. “What do you mean?” she asked. The words were little more than a whisper.
    Sam smiled, catching her hand and bringing it to his lips. “That didn’t sound right,” he murmured.“Gaia, you have to understand—of course I want to do this. It’s all I ever think about, if you want to know the truth. But I also want the moment to be special. Not here in this hellhole room that I haven’t cleaned for a week.”
    Gaia couldn’t quite fathom the words. What was he so worried about? She’d been in this dump over a dozen times. She didn’t need candles. Or flowers.
She had no desire to know Victoria’s Secret, and she had no need of any other tacky ceremonial shit.
The act would speak for itself. All they needed was each other.
    â€œThe right moment?” Gaia asked, her voice breaking slightly. “Don’t you know anything about me, Sam Moon? My life isn’t exactly made up of right moments. I kind of have to take them where I can get them....” She trailed off, threaded a hand through Sam’s hair. Enough of this dillydallying already. She leaned closer to him.
    Silently Sam covered Gaia’s mouth with his, his teeth grazing her lower lip, his hand clamped firmly to the space between Gaia’s shoulder blades. He didn’t need to say anything. Gaia knew that he got it. Got her.
    His weight pressed down on top of her, and for once Gaia felt small and delicate—not some hulking giant of a girl. She could feel the desire hammering there in his chest with every heartbeat. She foundherself pulling Sam’s shirt off over his head as he kissed her neck. She didn’t think she could take much more of this. She was as ready as she would ever be, and every hope and prayer and even doubt and missed opportunity had converged and conspired to bring her to this moment—
    Brring!
    Crap.
    Sam jerked up, narrowing his eyes.
    â€œIgnore it,” Gaia whispered, reaching for him.
    But he didn’t. With an apology flickering across his face, he jumped up off the bed and snatched up the phone—as if this were just any old moment that had just passed. As if they weren’t about to make love for the first time.
As if whoever was on the other end of the phone could really be so important. . . more important than the most beautiful moment in Gaia Moore’s life to date.
She couldn’t believe it—
    â€œOkay,” Sam mumbled curtly into the receiver. He hung up without