Three years ago.

Jace's POV.

Diego and Blair insist we go somewhere more fun but I'm not in the mood and Cassandra's mum keeps ringing her phone so we both end up declining.

They both go ahead without us, taking Diego's car. Cassandra offers me a ride back to Olivia's house, where I left my bike.

She's headed in that direction anyway since the Richardson mansion is right after Diego's neighborhood.

I've never crossed the Richardson's gates but Diego and I used to ride our bikes right passed the estate when we were younger and every time, we'd stop to stare at the mansion, it just made me feel like my parents were doing something wrong with their lives.

Weirdly, I feel like that right now.

Cassandra Richardson looks like money, hell, she even smells like money. Her hair is golden silk, she's wearing diamond stud earrings, I know her matching outfit was designed by some expensive designer and she's wearing sneakers but even they look fucking expensive.

Why did I ever think that I'd get a shot with her?

"This it?" Her voice brings me back to reality, I look out the window and I spot my bike in Olivia's driveway.

"Yeah." I unbuckle my seatbelt.

"Is that your bike?" She bends her head to look at the bike.

"Yes, and that's Olivia's house." I add for some reason.

"Oh, you getting lucky tonight?" She teases, playfully punching my shoulder.

"No, I met her last Friday for fucks sake." I laugh.

"Attraction is attraction." She shrugs, "If I were you, I'd sneak in her room looking all hot and sexy and fuck her missionary style." She says this so casually I laugh, shaking my head at her.

"You're cooler than your brother." I tell her, staring at her face.

"And cuter." She does a dramatic hair flip.

"Thanks for the advise but I think I'm just gonna hop on my bike and go home, it's been a long day." I admit.

"Alright then," she heaves a sigh, "Go ahead, be boring." She presses the ignition switch.

I smile at her, opening the door and stepping out of the car.

She drives off and I jog to Olivia's driveway, I unclasp my helmet from the throttle handle while staring at the house.

A little voice in my head is curious, is she awake? If not then what is she dreaming about?

Wait, what?

I know, I know, I'm not supposed to think about stuff like that, it's weird as hell but I can't help it.

I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket.

I sigh, knowing that it's Diego.

I take my phone out of my pocket, checking his new text.

It's a picture of a car.

"The fuck?" I squint my eyes at the screen, zooming in.

It's the principal's car, I can't make out who's inside it but I can tell that there are two people inside.

"Sorry, bro." Says Diego's text at the bottom of the picture, that's how I know exactly who's in the car.

Jesus, Mum, not this again.

"Hey?" I hear Olivia's voice, I turn my head to look at the house, she's peeking her head out one of the windows upstairs.

"Hi, sorry, did I wake you?" I try not to raise my voice.

"No, light sleeper, you okay?" She asks, sounding a little concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good," I lie.

My insides are literally fuming right now.

"You wanna come in?" She asks.

She asks me if I wanna go in.

Mostly, when a girl asks me if I wanna go in, it usually means do you wanna come in and fuck me?

I have a feeling Olivia is not all about that so I don't know what this invitation means.

"Sure." Why not.

"Okay, be right down." She shuts the window and I walk over to the front door, still holding my helmet in my hand.

She opens the door for me for the second time today and yet again I find myself staring at what she's wearing.

Silky pink pajama shorts and a white cropped tank top.

Jesus fucking Christ.

I avert my eyes before I can print anymore details into my perverted brain.

I kick off my shoes, leaving them and my helmet beside the door.

"Can I actually crash on your couch? I really don't wanna go home tonight." I know it's a big ask but I ask it anyway.

"There's a guest bedroom upstairs, you can sleep in there." She informs, "C'mon, I'll show you." She starts walking towards the stairs.

Oookay?

We climb the stairs and she opens a door to a huge room.

"Make yourself comfortable and ask me for whatever you need." She tells me like I'm some kind of a hotel guest.

"Whatever I need?" I raise a brow at her.

"I mean.... I didn't mean literally... I meant that... That if you need something like... Maybe... Uh.."

"Liv?" I cut in.

"Yes." She swallows the word.

"It's okay, I know what you meant." I sit on the edge of the bed, slipping off my t-shirt.

She's still standing by the door, looking around the room like she's trying not to look at me, I take that chance to stare at her, I don't know why she covers up a lot at school but this body is fucking gorgeous.

"Okay, goodnight then." She spins around.

"Is it the tattoos?" I blurt out so she won't leave. "Are they scaring you off?"

"What?" She turns back around, "No, of course not," she hesitantly walks over to where I'm sitting on the bed, sitting next to me and tucking her hair behind her ear, her eyes scan my shirtless body, examining every tattoo I have, all sixteen of them.

"Your tattoos are pretty mesmerizing." Her gaze sweeps the ink tattooed along my sleeve before meeting my eyes.

I almost laugh in amusement cause honestly, this girl is now playing with fire and I don't even think she's aware of it, if she is then...

Colour me impressed.

She lays back on the bed, resting her hand on her bare stomach, I also lay back, staring at the ceiling.

There's that silence again but it's no longer awkward, it's quite comfortable this time around.

"Who was your first boyfriend?" I ask her the first question that comes to mind.

"What?" She sounds uncomfortable or is it lost?

"I'll go first. My first girlfriend was Sandra, we were fourteen when we had our first french kiss and fifteen when we broke each other's virginity's. Your turn." I turn my head and my eyes meet the side of her face, she doesn't answer immediately.

"Tristan," She finally speaks but in a whisper.

Twist, why was I expecting her to say she's a virgin who's never kissed anyone?

"Tristan from where? How old were you?" I ask at the same time.

She swallows, not looking at me once.

"From.. church, I was.. fifteen." She stammers, fumbling with the hem of her small tank top.

"You're so bad at this game." I tease in order to ease the tension, she giggles.

Tension eased.

"Why do you really wanna be friends with me, Jace?" She asks, staring at the ceiling.

"Because you and I are gonna do great things together, Liv, I can feel it." I say proudly.

"What things?" She looks at me with a serious expression.

"I'm gonna help you become the next great artist out there and you're going to.." I trail, searching for the right words, she raises her brows, urging me on, "You're gonna let me crash here whenever I break curfew." I say when I don't find anything meaningful.

She laughs, her eyes glowing as she stares at my face from part to part.

She cuts off her laugh and her face turns serious again.

Fuck, I'm sweating, it's not even hot, why am I sweating?

I stare at her from the perfect shape of brows, eyelashes sweeping her cheeks when she blinks, pointy nose, small red lips.

She's perfect.

She's perfect. That's why I'm so hesitant, because everything I touch always turns to dust, I don't wanna ruin Olivia, perfection looks good on her.

"Why did you stop?" She asks me.

"Stop what?" My eyes narrow at her face.

"At the party, in the bushes." She reminds me.

The kiss, why did I stop the kiss.

I prop up on my elbow, staring down at her.

I can't lie to her at this point.

"Cause, you look like someone I'd be obsessed with." I rasp, my gaze lingering on the length of her neck and back to her blue eyes.

I watch as her lips part and she releases a trembling breath like she's having trouble breathing.

I slowly bring my hand to the side of her neck, I expect her to shove my hand or jerk out of my touch like before but she doesn't, I feel her holding in her next breath, staring into my eyes.

My hand slides down from her neck to her chest, down her bare warm stomach and settling on the curve of her hip.

This body though.

I keep my gaze glued to my hand on her hip cause I know exactly how fast things will turn if I look into those eyes again.

My pulse quickens, blood rushing in my ears, my muscles feeling all stiff and tense.

Fuck, I'm getting hard just thinking about kissing her.

I release a deep, frustrated growl through gritted teeth as I snake my arm around her small waist.

My eyes lift to her neck, avoiding her lips completely, I bury my face in her neck, planting open-mouthed kisses and sucking on the soft skin. She lets out a small gasp.

Fuuuck.

It's not enough.

I raise my head, breathing heavily and drinking in her face.

I slowly lean over, I've never kissed a girl slow before but that's how I want this done.

I press my lips on hers, starting with a peck, I tilt my head and I peck her lips again before dragging her lower lip with a soft pull. Fuck. She places her hand on the back of my neck, diving in deeper, pulling my bottom lip into her mouth, I slide my tongue in her mouth, she takes it and gasps, I part my lips, signaling for her to do the same, she does and I suck on her tongue.

She releases a small sound that gives me a tinkling sensation in my stomach and down there, I try to break the kiss but then her head rises, following my lips.

Fuck it.

I climb on top of her, in-between her legs, I pull her legs over my hips, dry-fucking her while I nip her chin, lick her lips, kiss her dirty, wet and hard.

My hands move from her waist to her breasts, squeezing them, my thumbs circling her hard nipples through the thin fabric of her top.

My hand finds its way down to her pajama shorts, slipping my hand in but she grasps my hand, breaking away from the kiss.

My heart's racing so fast I feel like it's going rip out of my chest.

I retrieve my hand, climbing off her and she sits on the edge of the bed, gliding a hand through her hair.

Of course I messed it up.

"Liv-" I start but she gets up and hurries out of the room, shutting the door behind her.