AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hawk worea suit like no one else could, but the sight of him in a t-shirt and jeans was like a bonfire in the dark. Hot, smoky, and impossible not to notice.
His blond hair was the perfect mess, and the minute he opened his front door and pulled me into his arms, my hands raked into it.
“I’m so glad you didn’t give my clothes back,” he said, running his hands along my sides and taking in the feel of his cotton T-shirt that I’d held on to since last Christmas. It’d become my favorite shirt, one I wore as often as I could.
His cologne teased my darkest thoughts, and his heart pounded promises to my ear with everylub-dub. Possibility. Longing. And more midnight kisses.
Though I’d been to his classy, quirky house a few times, I was still unused to just how stylish and yet honed to him everything was. It had high-end furniture and was sleek and clean, but it also had hints of him everywhere. Game things,jokes on the wall. A full-on jungle gym in the basement. He was really just a kid at heart, which I loved.
“Truth or dare?” I said, admiring his face and the tousle that I’d created in his hair.
He peered down at me, his eyes alight. “You’re asking me?”
“You’re surprised?” I asked.
“You’ve never asked me before.”
“Yes, I have.”
“Haven’t.”
I squinted at him. “I did on the plane.”
His head reared back. “So you did. Okay, then. Truth.”
Truth? I pouted my lip. That wasn’t what I expected. “I’m disappointed.”
“You wanted me to pick dare?”
Hands clasped behind my back, I took a step to circle him. To tease him. “I had a good one.”
“Okay, then. Dare.”
Smugly, I held up my phone. “I dare you to look at this.”
I hadn’t left Westville after all. I’d gotten a job working in the same store Grammy worked at on Seventeenth and had taken more time to prepare my portfolio.
After several more months of preparation, after applications and interviews, the Dean of Fashion Design had replied, stating how impressed the team was by my submissions—one of which included the gown I’d finally finished.
The base layer was a curve-hugging underdress that cut to my thighs and was softened by a much longer,translucent A-line overlay of such thin fabric my movements wafted as though I were floating.
It was brash and bold. It was delicate and unexpected.
When Hawk had suggested we rally at his house and spend the evening together for a night of cheap pizza and video games, I didn’t mind in the least. Having this news to share made tonight even better.
“They liked my portfolio,” I said. “I got in!”
Hawk’s grin knocked a few stars from the sky. I expected another heart-stopping hug—only this time, he bent down as if dodging a bullet. Securing his arms around my backside, he lifted me so I was looking down at him.
My stomach lurched, and the surprised delight in my laughter filled the vaulted ceiling.
“I’m so happy for you,” he said, glancing up at me. “No one deserves it more. Now, I wish I had something stronger than cream soda.”
With my hands secured on his shoulders, I peered down at him. “Cream soda is the perfect celebratory drink.”
My feet teetered in the air as his strong arms continued holding me up higher than I was used to.
I’d be starting classes remotely for the first semester. To help ease my workload, I found someone else to oversee Stitches for Sierra.
