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Scorching heat burns away the winter cold until it feels like a furnace is burning inside me.
His mouth leisurely explores mine, like we have all the time in the world. Like we’re not stuck in a storm drain with every asshole in Havoc House out for my blood. Lots of terrible things can hide in the dark. But in this moment, the darkness can also be a sanctuary for whatever isn’t strong enough to bear the light.
In the dark, I can forget that neither of us has a good reason to trust the other.
He breaks the kiss for the barest moment and pulls back. I feel him looking at me, the heat of his attention ghosting over my face and lower where my ragged breaths move through my chest.
I expect him to say the thing he should say, that this is a mistake we’ll regret. If I could see his face, I can only imagine that I’d see regret there. Instead, his hands move down my neck and over my shoulders before sliding down my arms. The path of his touch leaves scorching heat in my blood until it feels like my whole body is on fire.
It only takes a few seconds for the shock to wear off. My arms rise to wrap around his neck as I become a very active participant. Our kiss turns scorching and fevered as he lifts me against him with his hands under my thighs. The angle makes it clear just how happy he is to be pressed against me.
My body reacts to him in the way that it always has — heated and wanting like I’ve been drowning for a lifetime and just had my first taste of water. No one has ever made me feel the way that he can, both the good and the bad.
I don’t ever want it stop.
But I’ve already walked down this path, and I know precisely where it ends. I believe that Drake is telling me the truth when he says I can trust him, but that doesn’t mean something won’t change. When it comes time to lay it all on the line, I can’t be certain that he’ll choose me over everything he’s spent a lifetime working toward.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice…and I probably let raging hormones cloud my judgment.
I break the kiss with an effort that feels like it costs me my soul and push him away.
“We are so not hooking up in a storm drain.”
His reply is bland. “I thought we weren’t hooking up at all.”
I know he has raised a mocking eyebrow even though I can’t see it.
“We should go,” I say through a suddenly tightened throat. “Dawn can’t be that far away.”
Without being able to see his face, I can’t tell if there’s an acknowledgment that I’m right to stop this or something more like disappointment. But he doesn’t argue as he backs up far enough that the air cools my overheated skin.
He takes my hand, but doesn’t touch any other part of me. “Let’s go.”
* * *
It’s easier than it should be to make it back to Havoc House. The exit of the storm drain is only a few hundred yards away from the back porch.
I can’t help but feel like this was all a little too easy.
“How does nobody else know about this?” I ask.
Drake climbs onto the concrete sidewall and holds his hand out to help me up. “Because I found it my freshman year and didn’t tell anyone.”
Even I can hear the suspicion in my voice. “And you’re sure there aren’t a bunch of Havoc Boys waiting out there to drag me into the woods?”
“You really don’t trust easy, do you?”
“Because you’ve given me so many good reasons to trust you.”
Drake stops at the tall grate. Moonlight shines through the trees. The glow outlines the stark lines of his profile as he turns back to face me. “If I get caught helping you, the consequences will be just as bad for me. Maybe worse.”
“I doubt rape and assault are on the table for you.”
He blinks, although his expression doesn’t change. “You might be surprised.”
Entirely unsure how to respond to that, I don’t say anything as he pushes the grate aside and eases out into the shallow ravine that runs along the back of Havoc House.
