I searched for a way to explain the schism that was me. 
The old Gracie and this Gracie.  
“Thomas, there’s a wall that cuts right through my life.  It’s like I was one person before Track and a different person after.  I’m not explaining well so I know that probably doesn’t make any sense.”  
He held up our joined hands.  His was the right hand, his scarred hand.  
“It makes complete sense.”  There was a sad sympathy in his words.  Our paths hadn’t been the same at all but he understood.  Before his attack he’d been the all star athlete, leader of a charmed life, destined for greatness.  He’d left college, abandoned his training.  He was still trying to figure out where he stood, and where to go from here.  We were different, but alike in an important way.
Transferring over into his lap felt like the most natural move in the world.  He pulled me right in and when our mouths met this kiss was unlike the other ones we’d shared so far.  The connection was sweeter, more familiar. We had not known each other long but we were not strangers.  I liked him so much already. More than I should.   
And the physical attraction between us was ferocious.  When he touched me I felt like I’d been lit on fire. Like I’d been awakened.  
We kissed and teased and it didn’t take long to escalate.  I tugged his shirt up, reveling in the feel of his hard muscles beneath my palms.  His hands went beneath my shirt, all the way up my back, and he groaned when he found only bare skin.  We were both being aggressive, both of us trying to push the limits.  He wanted me to move, to shift into a straddle, and I could feel him, hard and insistent, trying to reach me through slight layers of summer fabric.  The elastic band in my hair was freed and Thomas sucked my neck hard, making me whimper and hope that he’d do more, take more.  
Which he did.  
He slipped his hands down the back of my shorts, into my panties.  We moved together in torturous rhythm, grinding, teasing, mimicking the act we really wanted and couldn’t have yet.  
I stifled a gasp and buried my face in his warm neck.  “I want to do this.”  My hips bucked and I rode him through our clothes. The need to seek relief was almost unbearable. “I really want to, Thomas. But we probably shouldn’t.”  
“I know. We shouldn’t do this yet.” He groaned and arched one last time and I was nearly at the precipice, could almost feel how it would be to have him inside of me.    
Mind blowing.  Shattering.  Fucking magnificent.  
Thomas withdrew his hands from my shorts and braced them on my hips, holding me away just a little, just far enough so we could catch our breath and let the temptation ease for now….