Nolan stops walking, tugging me close so he can steal another kiss. His breath feathers against my mouth as he whispers, “I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you too.” I nip his bottom lip, and he groans. Before we get lost in each other once more, I pull away and start walking again. “Come on, the others are waiting.”
He makes an over-the-top, dramatic sigh as he lets me tug him along.
When we finally reach the front of the school, Donovan, Kaleb, and Felix are already comparing class schedules. The three of them look up from their phones, and Felix practically bounces over to nab a morning kiss.
“Hi, pretty girl,” he murmurs, brushing his nose against mine, seemingly unperturbed with the fact that I’m still holding Nolan’s hand.
The corners of my lips curl into a goofy smile. “Hi, Casper.”
He kisses me again, this one with a little more intensity. “I’ve missed you.”
“You saw me two days ago,” I remind him with a laugh.
“Too long,” he insists, planting a kiss on my forehead.
Donovan snakes his arm around my waist and quickly extracts me from between Nolan and Felix. “My turn.”
Reaching down to grab the backs of my thighs, he hoists me up so my face is level with his, and I instinctually wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.
“You look so fucking hot today,” he says against my ear.
Heat flushes my cheeks. “Thank you, but I’m not really wearing anything special. Just jeans and a T-shirt.”
His hands slide along my thighs to cradle my butt. “Ripped jeans that hug your very fine ass, and a T-shirt that fits you like a glove. Makes me want to peel them off you so I can get my hands on what’s underneath.”
“Perv,” I tease, lightly tugging on a lock of his black hair that grew shaggy over the summer.
“You have no idea,” he taunts before kissing me like I’m a puddle of gasoline and he’s the match.
I’m dizzy and aroused when he finishes. With a knowing smirk, he puts me down on my now wobbly legs, leaving me hot and bothered. I can’t tell if I want to kick him in the shin for putting me in this state or drag him to some private corner and rip his clothes off. The clear war in my head is telegraphed through my frustrated glare, which feeds his smirk into a full grin.
“Hell of a way to say hello,” Nolan comments wryly, as if he didn’t kiss the crap out of me a few minutes ago.
Donovan closes the distance between them, and with his deep, gravelly voice, he asks suggestively, “Want one too?”
Nolan raises a challenging brow. “I wouldn’t say no.”
Needing no other encouragement, Donovan wraps one of his large hands around the back of Nolan’s neck and commences to kiss him with the same, thorough intensity he kissed me.
Felix watches with an expression I can’t quite read—curious but with a hint of something else. When he notices me observing him, his green eyes widen, and a deep pink stains his cheeks. I do my best to send him a nonjudgmental smile before turning away to give him some privacy with his thoughts.
Kaleb stands awkwardly near the wall of the school’s main building, his gaze trained on his phone. The way his eyes don’t seem to move gives the impression that he isn’t absorbing any of the information on the screen. I walk over, stopping in front of him, and take his free hand to hold between mine.
Skimming my thumb along the calluses that line his palm, I ask quietly, “Have you changed your mind?”
He tucks his phone into his back pocket and shakes his head. “No, I haven’t. I love you. I want to be with you.” His free hand makes a vague gesture toward the others. “I’ll get used to this.”
I bite my lip as I look down at our joined hands. “I don’t want to cause you pain.”
Cupping my face, he guides my gaze up to meet his. “Columba mea, you aren’t causing me pain. Besides, I would see you with the others regardless. Escaping it would mean losing them and you. At least this way, you’re mine too.” He pulls meclose and brushes his lips against my brow. “Do you mind that I’m not as… demonstrative in front of everyone like they are?”
“No, I don’t mind.” I tuck my hand between us so I can rest it over his heart. “I know how you feel. Besides, if your fans found out what an exceptional kisser you are, I’m pretty sure they would trample me for a chance with you. You know, more than they already want to.”
His full lips curve into a smile that makes me melt into a puddle. “All I see and all I want is you. No one else exists as far as I’m concerned, let alone have a chance.”
“I feel so lucky that you love me,” I confess quietly, these words only meant for his ears.
