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CHAPTERFOURTEEN
KYLER
“Hey,”I murmured as I opened the door for Ian. “Is it stupid that I missed you even though I just saw you yesterday?”
Setting the movies and snacks he’d brought with him on the small table by the door, he pulled me into a searing kiss.
His kisses had always ignited something in me that I’d thought was dead after my assault, but lately, it was like the fire they lit couldn’t be put out. Maybe it was weird, but after how well he’d handled the whole ordeal with Max at school, it was like something shifted in me. I wasn’t anywhere near ready to sleep with him yet, but I felt like maybe I was ready to take a small step toward it.
“Nope,” he said, pecking me again. “I missed you too. Hey, how are you getting to the game tomorrow?”
“Well, Iwasgoing to ride with Liss and Eric. But I guess he’s been…unpredictable since he pulled his ACL and had to be benched, and she told me it was probably better if I found another ride,” I mumbled. “So I was going to drive myself. My car’s fine now.”
Honestly, it felt like the closer Melissa and Eric got, the further apart she and I drifted. But whenever I tried to talk to her about it, she just turned it back on me and told me that I hadn’t exactly had a ton of free time either since I’d started dating Ian. Whichwastrue.
Maybe I was overreacting, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right with their relationship. But I didn’t know how to talk to her about it in a way that wouldn’t seem like I was attacking her.
“Don’t do that,” he said, bringing me out of my thoughts. “Come with us. I already talked to my dad about it. We can pick you up on our way out of town at eight. We’re not spending the night there because Izzie and Hillary have to leave to head back to Lawrence early Sunday morning.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Please. Don’t make me worry about you driving there and back by yourself.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “Anyway, let’s make popcorn and get my superhero education started.”
* * *
Ten minutes later, we were sitting on my bed with a huge bowl of popcorn between us and Cosette was happily hopping around the room asCaptain America: The First Avengerstarted. He’d insisted on us starting the movies from the beginning of the timeline.
But we should have known better than to think we’d last through an entire movie. It didn’t even take fifteen minutes before the first kiss happened. The one that made me forget where I was and that ended with some of the popcorn being spilled on the bed. We both backed up, laughing.
“The popcorn was probably a bad idea,” he chuckled as he quickly cleaned up the mess we’d made.
“Yeah, probably,” I giggled, taking the bowl from him and putting it on my nightstand.
I leaned in for another kiss, and he pulled me close against him, holding me tight with one arm as the other hand slowly ran from my waist up my side. I shivered a little, but it wasn’t in fear. Not anymore. This didn’t scare me.
Ian scooted us further down in the bed so we were lying down, but he didn’t crawl over me. Instead, he settled himself next to me and pulled me so I was on my side facing him. I tightened my hold on him, and he moved to hitch my leg over his hip.
Unbidden, my whole body went stiff. As much as I wanted to try to take another step forward with him, it didn’t mean that my trauma responses had just disappeared.
“What is it, baby?” he whispered as he backed away, taking both hands off of me and letting me put my leg down. “Do you need to stop?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m okay. Just don’t move my legs like that.”
Ian smiled. “Okay.”
As he claimed my lips again, he slid his hand up my side, and my shirt accidentally slid up with it, exposing my skin. When I didn’t stop him, he slid the hand around to my back, pulling me closer.
“Is this okay?”
I nodded.
“Tell me if you need to stop,” he murmured, kissing me again.
As I parted my lips, letting my tongue slide out to meet his, I slipped my hand under his shirt, sliding it up to grip his shoulder. I felt him shiver as he gasped quietly and attacked my lips with more enthusiasm than before.
In a bold move that surprised even me, I pulled back for a second.
