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When I eventually heard the stairs creak, I went completely still and held my breath, ears straining. Oh shit, what if it was Taylor and Holt sneaking upstairs for a mid-party quickie? I did not want to hear that. I’d have to try and sneak out, praying they hadn’t left their bedroom door open.

I shot up from the bed when the door opened, trying to think of a reason I’d been waiting in here if it was anyone but Seb.

But it was him. My body sagged in relief, and my face automatically broke into a grin as he slipped inside and closed the door softly behind him.

“H-hey.”

“Hi.” He gave me a tiny smile back, gaze roaming from my face down to my bare chest. My dick twitched, so I clutched at my towel. Eyes returning to mine, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“Uh-huh. Yep. I’m great.” Shifting from foot to foot, I asked, “Um, have you… had fun?”

One big shoulder rose in a shrug as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the door. “Sure. Have you?” he asked, sounding a little concerned.

“Oh, yeah, tonnes.” I waved a hand, then squirmed and admitted, “I mean, I think I’m just not… in the right mood today, I guess? I dunno. Maybe I’m tired.”

“Did you sleep okay?” he asked immediately, brows furrowing a touch more.

A small smile tilted my mouth. “I think so.”

We lapsed into silence. He was watching me intently, and after a few moments, sounding a little apprehensive, he asked, “What did you want to talk to me about, Lark?”

Shit. Maybe this had been a bad idea. He didn’t really seem like he wanted to be here. I’d dragged him away from the party for something I could’ve just asked him tomorrow, and probably shouldn’t ask him at all.

“Um, well, I was thinking…” Heat crept up my neck. “I’ve been thinking that maybe… um… I was thinking that… practising… um, kissing… might be a good idea after all.”

He’d gone completely still, his face frozen into that emotionless mask. As my pulse throbbed in my ears, face on fire and wings twitching manically, he finally moved, his shoulders drooping as he raised a hand to scrub his face.

He let out a tiny chuckle. “That is not what I thought you were gonna say.”

I managed a wobbly smile and curiously asked, “What did you think I was going to say?”

“I thought—never mind.” He straightened and moved closer, flashing me that big grin. “So… you want to practise kissing. With me.”

“Uh, yeah,” I said shakily, locking my knees as they started to tremble when he got closer. “It… it just makes sense. To… cover all bases. R-right?”

He nodded, coming to a stop right in front of me. His throat bobbed as his eyes darted down to my mouth, their colour growing darker.

“And you want to practise right now?” His voice was lower and had grown a little gravelly. The sound of it sent a shiver of excitement up my spine.

I nodded, already breathless. “I just—I thought—We had to push back our lesson, so maybe we could… s-squeeze another in now. If you want to.”

His mouth hooked up into a crooked smile that made the pit of my stomach throb. “Good idea.”

I managed a tiny smile. “I’m full of ’em.”

He chuckled, still smiling down at me. “Yeah, you really are.”

“So, um…” I glanced at his mouth, my belly swooping again. “H-how—What do you…”

“I have an idea,” he rasped, fingers twitching by his sides. “Why don’t you make the first move and kiss me, to build your confidence about doing it a bit?”

I didn’t want to remind him that I had, in fact, already done that. Although that make-out sesh with Hans to impress those girls was a bit of a drunken blur. And I was actually pretty sure that he’d been the one to kiss me—just grabbed my head, smashed his mouth to mine and gone to town.

Thinking about it, this would probably be pretty useful practice. Making the first move was nerve-wracking as shit. Being able to spot the signs that someone actually wanted you to kiss them was kind of nerve-wracking too.

“Okay,” I breathed. “Um, h-how… how do I tell if someone wants me to kiss them?”

“There are signs,” Seb murmured. “Like dilated pupils.”