Page 24 of Fame & Chaos

But then she sighed against my mouth, and every thought in my head vanished completely. I slid my hand gently into her hair, holding her close while I deepened the kiss carefully. Her fingers curled around my arms before moving into my hair, and the tiny tug she gave made a low groan escape me before I could stop it.

She smiled against my lips.

And Christ, that smile nearly ruined me.

I’d imagined kissing Indi more times than I could count, especially over the last few months, but none of those fantasies came close to the real thing.

Because this wasn’t just a kiss.

This was years of friendship.

Years of ‘almost’ moments.

Years of wanting her and trying not to.

I eased her backward onto the bed slowly, never breaking the kiss while she wrapped her arms around my shoulders, holding onto me like she wanted me there just as much as I wanted to stay.

And God… I did.

Every part of me wanted to stay right there with her forever.

But even with all the heat building between us, there was still something gentle about the way we touched each other. Careful. Like we both understood how fragile the other one really was beneath everything else.

Indi especially. She’d been through hell, and the last thing I ever wanted was for her to think this was just about hormones or lust.

It wasn’t.

Not even close.

I kissed her slower after that, taking my time while her fingers stayed tangled in my hair. Every soft breath she gave me felt addictive, and I already knew I was completely screwed when it came to her because there was no coming back from this.

Not for me.

Not when it was Indi.

The girl who somehow owned pieces of me without even trying.

We stayed wrapped up in each other for what felt like forever until Dad’s voice carried down the hallway. “Caleb?”

We both jerked apart, breathing hard and staring at each other wide-eyed before Indi burst out laughing softly.

Actual laughter.

The kind I hadn’t heard from her in months, and I couldn’t stop smiling at her. I leaned forward and stole one more quick kiss before sitting up on the edge of the bed, trying to look even remotely normal.

Indi sat beside me, cheeks flushed and lips pink from kissing me, and I swear I’d never seen anyone more beautiful in my life. I brushed my thumb gently across her bottom lip, and she kissed the pad of it softly.

That tiny action hit me harder than anything else.

Because right then, I knew I was completely gone for her.

Dad pushed the bedroom door open a second later and smirked when he saw us sitting there looking suspiciously guilty.

“Everything okay in here?” he asked casually.

I nodded while Indi squeaked out a very unconvincing, “Yep.”

Dad’s smirk widened. “Well, dinner’s ready if you two can drag yourselves away from homework for five minutes.”