"You're nearly a foot taller than me. These are way too big for me," I say, holding a pair of Bryce's sweatpants in my hands.

"Well, it's either this or you freeze to death. I would prefer if you were still alive by the end of the night, so please just put the pants on," Bryce says, leaning against the side of the car.

My eyes narrow at him, but I reluctantly pull the sweatpants up my legs. Sure enough, they're way too big for me, and I have to roll them up a couple times at the waist.

I feel Bryce's eyes on me the whole time, a cocky smile on his face. I stick my tongue out at him before grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the start of the trail.

"Feisty. I like it," Bryce grins, and I nudge him in the arm a little bit.

We're probably crazy for walking around at night like this, but it's also kind of refreshing.

He pulls his hand away from mine, and I'm confused for a second until he snakes his arm around my waist instead.

When I look up to stare at him, he's still gazing straight ahead at the trail in front of us as we continue to walk.

"Bryce? Why weren't you asleep? You're even still wearing the clothes you wore to school today," I say, looking down as his black jeans and sweatshirt.

"My dad and I were starting to look at apartments for me. I'm pretty sure he would bet his life on me getting into Columbia," Bryce snorts, finally stopping walking for a minute.

He tilts his chin down so that I can look into his eyes, and I bite my lip carefully.

"I would too. There's no way that you won't be accepted. We should be worrying about me and Juilliard," I say, and just like that Bryce presses his lips against mine.

I feel my heart racing straight away, and it makes everything in the world seem right.

It hurts to know that in a few months time, I may lose this feeling, but for now I'm going to enjoy it.

I'm the one to break the kiss, and when I pull back, Bryce's eyes are wild.

"I have faith in you," is all he says to me, before continuing to walk as he holds me close to his side.

Neither of us saying anything else as we head to who knows where. We end up exiting the area of trees, opening up into a grassy clearing looking out onto the ocean. We take a few steps farther towards the water before Bryce sits down on the soft grass, taking me with him.

Despite it being the middle of winter, there's no snow on the grass for some reason. Bryce is still insistent on pulling me into his lap, wrapping his body around me to keep me warm. He presses his face to the crook of my neck, leaving a lingering kiss there before he pulls away.

I look up at him, tilting my head up, and Bryce looks down at me with his eyebrows furrowed.

"What's on your mind, Blossom?" Bryce asks me, and I feel my breath catch in my throat.

"It's fine," I say quietly, but Bryce suddenly presses a long finger across my lips.

"Don't lie to me, darling. I know you better than that. Did I do something wrong?" Bryce then replies, and I try to angle my face away from his.

It doesn't work, and the intensity of his gaze is too much for me right now.

"I'm sorry for ruining tonight. I'm just prone to overthinking things. I've already fallen so deeply in love with you and we've only been together for a week. It's worrying me that I don't know what my future is going to look like still, and I guess I'm just freaking out over nothing," I whisper, tears pricking my eyes.

"Our future. Together," Bryce corrects me, and I give him a lame smile.

"Sure, Bryce. Whatever you say."

"You're not ruining tonight at all. Thank you for letting me take you out. There's no need to worry about your future right now; you're only seventeen, and you still have time to figure your shit out, okay? Don't stress yourself out, baby girl," Bryce then says, and something inside of me shifts.

I turn around in his lap so that I'm straddling him, and he's quick to wrap my legs around his waist.

I then grab his face, my heart beating fast as I fuse our mouthes together.

Bryce's hands eagerly slip up under my sweatshirt, gripping my bare waist for a moment as he tilts his head in a way that deepens the kiss. His hands then move even farther upwards, causing him to let out a satisfied groan when he discovers that I'm not wearing a bra.

I shiver under his touch, trying to get closer to his body but then growing irritated by the layers of clothing between us.

Bryce suddenly pulls away from me, his breathing hard. His hands are still roaming my stomach, back, and chest, and it has me biting down on my lip to keep contained.

"I've wanted you all week. I've tried to keep my hands to myself, but you're making it increasingly difficult to do so," Bryce breathes, and my eyes suddenly go wide.

"What's been stopping you?" I ask him daringly, and he suddenly lets out a noise that sounds vaguely like a growl.

He wraps his arms under my thighs, standing up and bringing me with him. I wrap my legs around him so that I don't fall, and without another word we're heading back down the trail in the same direction that we had came in.

I'm growing more and more excited as I anticipate what's going to happen next, but I keep silence as Bryce carries me all the way to the car. I expect him to put me down and leave me to walk beside him eventually, but he doesn't, nor until we reach the parking lot.

I climb into my seat, not bothering with the seatbelt. Bryce is in his own seat a few seconds later, and his eyes are immediately on me.

"Take those sweatpants off and then come sit in my lap," Bryce demands in a low voice, and I feel my heart somehow beating even faster.

I do as he asks without saying anything, and when I'm finally settled in his lap, his fingers trace up my thighs.

He takes the hem of my shorts between his fingers, then saying, "I need these off too."

He adjusts the seat so that it's reclined a little more, giving us some more space, before he hooks his fingers under the waistband of both my shorts and my underwear, yanking them down.

I gasp at the suddenness of it all, but I shift the way I'm sitting so that Bryce can pull the clothing off of me.

"You're keeping this sweatshirt on. I'm not risking having anyone see you. I'm sorry we have to do this here, by the way, but my dad is still awake and your parents will actually murder me if they were to hear us," Bryce says, his words rushed.

I don't have the chance to respond before his fingers are suddenly right where I need him, right at the apex of my thighs, causing my head to fall back.

I let out a whimper, grabbing Bryce's biceps and holding tight. He grins at me, using his free hand to hold my face so that I'm staring right into his eyes.

"I love to hear you," Bryce breathes, and I feel my whole body shudder all of a sudden.

"Bryce? What— what was that?" I ask, confused by the new feeling, and he chuckles.

I suddenly lose his touch as he reaches to unbutton and unzip his jeans. He pushes his pants and boxers down just enough, and I can't help but to look down.

Oh God.

All of a sudden, Bryce let's out a frustrated groan.

"Christ. I don't have a fucking condom with me," he says, leaning forward so that his forehead falls against my chest.

He groans once again, and I can feel his heavy breathing against my neck.

When he finally pulls his face away so that he can look at me, he looks really annoyed.

"I'm so sorry. Here, let me finish what I started," he offers, dragging his fingers back up my thighs.

"Bryce?" I say quietly, and he stops what he's doing.

"Yeah?" he asks, still looking peeved with himself, but I get a small smile on my face.

"I'm on birth control. You never bothered asking," I shrug, and his eyes suddenly go wide with admiration.

"You're a blessing," he says to me, before latching his lips to my neck.

I let out a soft sigh as he trails kisses up my neck and across my jaw until he finally reaches my lips.

I feel Bryce's smile as he pulls me closer to him once again, lifting my hips a little.

"Wait," I interrupt, and he pulls away to look me in the eye.

"What's up?" he asks, still holding my body in place. I'm nervous to ask what I'm about to, but I know that it's the responsible thing to do.

"You don't have any . . ." I start, but then find myself unable to say the word.

Bryce gets my point though, because he asks, "STIs? No. I'm clean. I just got tested right after I moved back to be sure. It's safe to assume that you're the same, yeah?"

I nod at him and he grins, pressing his mouth against mine.

He lowers my hips for me and I let out a whimper of relief at finally obtaining the feeling that I've been missing all week.

It's definitely different this time, seeming as though I can feel so much more of him, but I'm not complaining. It's almost more intimate being in such close proximity as he holds me close, showing me how to move my body as I stay seated in his lap. He's looking at me with a massive amount of adoration, seeming like he's losing control more and more each second.

"Oh God, baby. Just like that," Bryce breathes, and I let out a whimper. His hand drifts between our moving bodies, and I cry out at the multiple sensations at once.

"Bryce, I'm about to—" I start, before cutting myself off as I involuntarily let out a cry, breaking apart in his arms.

He then holds my body still, taking what he needs from me before his head falls back, letting out a deep moan. I feel his whole body tense before he finds his release, his lips finding mine in a frenzy.

When we finally pull away from each other, I shift back in Bryce's lap, leaning my back against the steering wheel. I accidentally honk the horn in the process, causing myself to jump a little as I move away.

Bryce bursts out laughing, and I join him a few seconds later.

"You're such a klutz. It's adorable. I love you. So much," Bryce tells me, and I get a huge smile on my face.

"I love you too. So much," I reply, causing him to tilt his head to the side, a twinkle of mirth in his eyes.

"I'm surprised you're not the type of person who gets offended by saying 'I love you too.' Some people think that it makes it sound like you're just agreeing or some shit," Bryce says to me, and now it's my turn to tilt my head.

"Really? That's interesting. But isn't that grammatically incorrect?" I ask, and Bryce just shrugs at me.

"Perhaps. I'm honestly not sure," he says, smiling at me, and before I know it, I'm smiling back.

🌸🌸🌸

Bryce and I have been sitting in this parking lot, talking and laughing and kissing for over an hour.

After we both regained our composure and got dressed again, I climbed into my own seat much to Bryce's displeasure. He pouted for awhile, but then started mocking me instead because I insisted on putting his sweatpants back on.

Little does he know that I'm stealing these sweatpants now too.

"How often do you take girls out at three AM for walks in the park then have sex with them in your car after?" I ask teasingly, and Bryce rolls his eyes at me.

"Only you. I don't know how many times I have to tell you this before you believe me, but I legitimately never have done any of this romantic shit with anyone else. I never let girls into my room, or my bed, or my car, really. In case you haven't noticed, I generally don't really let people in to my head, which means that I also don't let them into my personal spaces," Bryce tells me, and I give him an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry that I keep asking," I say, and he shrugs helplessly.

"Don't worry about it. Just . . . Can we maybe stop talking about all the girls that I've been with? None of them mean anything to me. You're all I want, ever," Bryce requests sadly.

"Yeah, of course. I'll stop bringing it up. I didn't realize it made you uncomfortable," I apologize, but Bryce leans forward to kiss me, to my surprise; it's just a simple peck, but it means the world.

"No worries. I'm all yours, okay?" he says, and I nod, enjoying his forgiveness.

"I love you," I say, again, and he nods at me, a smile on his lips, but something has shifted since he asked me to stop speaking about those girls.

He catches his change in attitude, quickly correcting it by responding, "I'm never going to stop loving you. I promise."

I nod at him, letting it all slide for now.

For once in my life, all I am is happy. I don't want to take that away from myself over something that's probably not even a big deal, and so I take Bryce's hand, praying that I'll never have to let go.