Page 74 of The Golden Receiver

I took a deep breath. I didn’t know why I was so nervous. It wasn’t like this was the kind of question that could make or break our relationship. It was just the kind of question that determined my plans for next weekend.

“Spit it out, Evie,” Kieran teased.

I relaxed. The teasing was exactly what I needed to remind myself that it was just Kieran. He wasn’t just the guy that I loved. He had also become one of my best friends, the person I could be myself with. I didn’t need to hype myself up just to spend time with him. “The Halloween Ball is next weekend,” I started. Kieran nodded, and I could see the start of a smile forming on his lips. “Would you, maybe, like to go to the dance with me?”

Kieran’s smile grew wider. He closed the distance between us in just a few steps before wrapping his arms around me. “Might not be too into dances, but I’ll go with you,” he answered before giving me a quick kiss.

I couldn’t restrain myself.

My arms wrapped around him. I lifted him up and spun him around in a circle laughing. I gave him another kiss. Which turned into another, and then another, and then a repeat of our first hookup right on the picnic blanket I’d put down.

We did end up eating.

Just later than I planned.

The Halloween Ball was the Saturday before Halloween.

Kieran gave me a kiss goodbye that morning because he said he wanted to surprise me with his outfit. I wasn’t as anxious being away from him because Willis, Reyes, and Hopkins had been expelled on Monday. So had the other two attackers: a third string receiver and a member of the offensive line whose name I didn’t even remember. Dobson, the right guard who had missed the tackle that practice he’d gotten hurt, had spilled everything he knew to Coach Shaw when things started coming out.

He was suspended for a game, and he apologized to Kieran.

It wasn’t enough to make me or Kieran forgive him, but at least I didn’t have to worry that he’d try to seek revenge for his friends.

I found myself waiting for Kieran outside the dorm later that night. He’d texted me to tell him to meet him at our bench, and I thought that meant he’d already be down there. Instead, he made me wait a good five minutes before I felt his hand on my shoulder. I’d been watching the door, waiting for him to come out, and he’d somehow managed to sneak up behind me. It was rare that anyone could sneak up on me; it was even rarer that he could.

I was usually too tuned into him for that.

I turned around to face him, and my breath was taken away. He was wearing a dark gray suit and a thin tie that looked fancy. Instead of his usual sneakers, he was wearing a pair of black dress shoes. They were polished to a shine, and I was adequately impressed.

I was more impressed by the fact that he had a small box in his hand. He opened it and took out a light blue flower in a ribbon that looked the same as his tie. “I got Nick to tell me what colors you were planning on wearing,” he admitted as he pinned the flower to my lapel. “I wanted to get you something special. Since you put together that whole scavenger hunt thing to ask me.”

My cheeks hurt with how hard I was smiling.

I fingered the soft ribbon tied around the stem of the flower. “This is a silly question, but is this red or green?”

“Green. Same as my tie,” he answered without thinking. Then, it was almost like the words settled on him. “Wait, are you colorblind or something?”

I shrugged. “I’m not so great at red and green,” I admitted. “Never have been. I think it’s a werewolf thing, but my biological parents said I was colorblind even as a kid.”

“How have I never known this about you?” Kieran questioned.

I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

“And I have all the time in the world to learn them.”

He linked his arm through mine, and we walked across the campus to Union Hall.

On the walk over, we passed all kinds of students in varying degrees of nice outfits. Some of them were walking around in full human form. Others had some of their more monstrous traits on display. Without pausing, I closed my eyes and partially shifted, letting out my wolf ears. Kieran gave me a sideways look. “I wanted to fit in,” I teased. “I can—I can put them away.”

“No,” he assured me as he reached out and delicately touched my fur tipped ears. “Those ears are a part of you, and I like every part of you. No need to hide any of it from me.”

I couldn’t fight the urge to give him yet another kiss. He deepened the kiss enough to make me contemplate saying screw the dance and taking him back to the dorm so I could strip that nice suit off him. It was an appealing thought, and I was close to giving into temptation when he pulled away. “Let’s get to the dance.”

I whined.

I couldn’t help myself. How could he kiss me like that and then just expect me to be able to go dancing? The only kind of dances I could think of when he kissed me that way were of the horizontal variety.

My whine had zero effect on Kieran. He just tugged me toward Union Hall.