The Boy and His Ribbon (The Ribbon Duet, #1)(73)

I rubbed at the fist wrapped around my heart.

Happiness was never something I’d begrudge Ren, but happiness from kissing Cassie drove me into a painful place that I couldn’t untangle.

“I dunno.” He finally stopped, not that he had anywhere else to go. His back pressed up against the weeping willow, its fronds all around us like a magical fairyland. “Why do you want to know?”

“’Cause I’m sick of not knowing. I want to know everything.” Brushing aside a frond, I stood directly in front of him.

He eyed me warily. “I want to go back.”

“We’ll go back after a kiss, okay?” I hated that I was the younger one, but I was the teacher in this. I didn’t like it. Here, I was seeking answers, and instead, I was giving them to him instead of the other way around.

“One kiss?” He looked at me sceptical. “Then I can go?”

“Yup.”

“And you won’t tell anyone my worm is small? ‘Cause if you do, I’ll say you have no tits.”

“Deal.” I stuck out my hand, glad he made us promise because I didn’t want that secret getting out. Tits were something older girls had, and I wanted so much to be an older girl.

I was sick of being in the dark and categorized as too young to know.

Liam placed his hand in mine, and we shook hard. Still touching, we brought our heads together while our naked bodies stayed put.

He puckered his lips.

I copied.

He sucked in a breath.

I copied.

Our lips met in a flurry of pressure.

It was over.

It’d been the same sort of kiss Ren had given me time and time again. There were no secrets, no answers, no wisdom to be found.

“Again?” I asked, tugging him forward, bitterly disappointed but determined not to stop until I understood why others seemed to enjoy it so much.

“Ugh, you said only one.” Liam exhaled, yanking his hand back. “This sucks.”

“One more and then you can go.”

“Promise?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” I drew an X on my flat chest.

“Fine.” He leaned toward me, looking bored.

I leaned toward him, trembling eagerly.

And just as our mouths met a second time, our little experiment was shattered.

“Liam! Della! What on earth do you think you two are doing!?”

Liam squealed and took off.

And all I could do was turn around and stare at Patricia Wilson’s sandal-covered feet, naked as the day I was born and still just as lost.





CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX


REN



2008





“DO YOU WANT me to talk to her?”

I hugged myself against what Patricia Wilson just told me. “No. I can deal with it.”

How, I had no clue?

I had a mind to spank her. To pull her dress up like she’d done today and smack her bare backside until she understood that being naked around boys was never going to be an option for her.

I groaned under my breath, rubbing my face and trying to rid the images Patricia had put there.

Liam and Della.

Naked under the willow tree.

Kissing.

Goddammit, how the hell did I deal with this? She was eight, for God’s sake, not eighteen. It had never crossed my mind that she would be like me and start seeking answers to her feelings inside. I’d been older than her when my first urges appeared, and I’d had the benefit of already knowing that two animals climbing on top of one another equalled a baby a few months later.

I knew that lesson so well, it was the main reason I hadn’t let Cassie tempt me any further than fingers and tongues.

I did not want a baby.

I already had one.

And I’d ruined her by keeping information away from her.

Keeping my eyes downcast, I mumbled, “They didn’t…have sex, did they?” I winced, already dreading her answer. The thought of someone touching Della, even if it was Liam, made things inside me hiss and howl.

Did that mean Della was pregnant just like the Mclary’s ewes after one visit with his ram? And if she was, how the hell would we deal with this? How the hell would I get over the sick feeling inside?

“No, nothing like that. It was just kids being kids.” Patricia shook her head, clutching a tea towel stained with berry juice from making jam. “They’re curious, and it’s my fault that I left the talk with Liam so long. I’ll sit him down tonight and make sure he understands everything about sex and body parts and make sure it never happens again.”

The minute I’d come in from the fields, Patricia had asked me to share a cup of coffee with urgent things to discuss.

I’d wanted to refuse.

It’d been a long day, and I suffered a little of heatstroke and wanted shade, cold water, and quiet in that order.

But now, Della had screwed up my plans by being as loose as Cassie was.

Perhaps, I better pack a bag right now and leave.

If Cassie’s tendencies were rubbing off on Della, no way would we stay here. No way would I stand by and let her open her legs for the local boys and riff-raff in this town.

No fucking way.

My nostrils flared as my temper grew hotter.

The thought of it.