Autumn Unlocked (Summer Unplugged) Read Online Free PDF

his back against the headboard. His calloused hand touches my shoulder but I remain still.
    " Bayleigh."
    "Yeah?" I say to the wall.
    His hand glides over my back in a reassuring way. "Why are you mad at me?"
    "I'm not mad at you," I mumble.
    "Sure seems like it."
    With a sigh, I roll over and face him. "You're mad at me. You're mad because I didn't want to have sex and Ian used to get mad at me for the same reason. I should have known you'd be the same way and I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry."
    He groans. "What the hell?"
    I roll back over and face the wall, ignoring him. I think I made my point clear enough. I don't need to keep explaining it.
    Jace inhales a deep breath and then talks to me without even trying to make me look at him.  "I'm not going to be that guy, okay? I'm not going to be that asshole who thinks with his dick and only wants sex. I refuse to be like that." There's a pause, and when I don't say anything, he sighs again. Slowly, I roll over and face him. He continues, "It's just really fucking hard when I love you so much and you're so beautiful and—" He shakes his head and runs a hand over his face. "And, it's just hard. I'm sorry. I won't push you to do anything you don't want to do. I'm not mad. I would never be mad over that."
    My bottom lip hurts from where I'd been gnawing on it this whole t ime. Maybe Jace isn't like Ian at all.

Chapter 7
     
     
     
    We sleep until noon the next day. I had always thought that sleeping next to a guy would be awkward or so nerve-wracking that I’d never actually fall asleep. It wasn’t that way with Jace. I loved every moment I spent wrapped in his arms.
    It isn’t until we’re awake that I have problems.
    Jace pours himself a third bowl of cereal while I’m still working on my first bowl. I’ve successfully eaten all the crunchy pieces and left all the marshmallows, allowing them to partially dissolve in the milk to create a sugary, pinkish mix that will be delicious when I get around to slurping it from my spoon.
    “I need to run by the track today if you don’t mind,” Jace says, but I don’t hear any of it. I’m too busy swirling my spoon around a marshmallow, letting the anxious thoughts in my mind take over. Thoughts about sex. And why I’m so nervous to just do it already. I love Jace and he loves me. I held back all summer so there’s no reason to keep holding back now. I mean, my only reservations aren’t about the sex itself, but about myself—my body isn’t perfect, I have no idea what I’m doing.
    What if I’m a terrible lay and he’s grossed out by me? What if I do or say something stupid and ruin the moment?
    “Bay- leigh,” Jace says in a sing-song voice that pulls me out of my thoughts. “Have you heard anything I just said?”
    “Huh?” I shake my head to clear my thoughts.
    Jace laughs and pours more chocolate syrup into a glass of milk. “I’ve never seen you so zoned out. What were you thinking about?” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “Picturing me naked?”
    “No,” I snap in defense, but I feel my cheeks blush anyhow. He has no idea how close his little joke is to the truth.
     
     
    My stomach twists itself into knots not even one minute after we arrive at Mixon Motocross Park. An overly jubilant girl about my age jumps off the bleachers and runs up to Jace as we walk through the grassy area between the parking lot and the dirt bike track. She wears a denim skirt that’s cut so short the fabric lining of her pockets pokes out the bottom.
    “Hey Adams,” she says, calling Jace by his last name. “I thought you didn’t work on Saturdays?”
    Her smile is full of shiny white teeth and she doesn’t take her eyes off him. Not even to bother looking at me, the girl who’s standing right next to him.
    “I normally don’t,” Jace says as he shoves his keys into his back pocket. “I just have to check on a few things before the races.”
    The girl flips her hair over her shoulder. “I’m just watching my