Bad Boy Ink (Get Ink'd #5) - Ali Lyda Page 0,57

a good word for you if you keep up the hard work.” Then he pointed a finger at the both of us. “A good word will earn you an interview most likely, but it won't land you the job. The only thing that will land you a job at the bureau will be your skills.”

By this point, I was practically trembling, coming down from the elation of the presentation and overwhelmed with the hope of being handed the keys to my dreams. The professor walked out of the auditorium, leaving us alone to collect the remainder of our presentation.

“That went well,” I said, though my voice was weak and thin.

“Are you kidding me, baby? That was fucking awesome. We rocked it,” Bryce said, but his words got muffled in the crowd of thoughts already competing in my mind.

It wasn't until Bryce cupped my cheeks and placed a gentle kiss on my lips that I managed to come out of the fugue.

“I'm so proud of you,” he said. There wasn't a hint of facetious implication in his tone. He really meant it.

“I can't decide if my heart is going to come out of my chest or if I'm just going to puke,” I admitted, head reeling. I leaned into him, letting his warmth become an anchor.

He looked at me then, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “Don't tell me you're going to struggle to finish the race now,” he teased. “I was looking forward to spending more time with you. and Lord knows you’re the best motivator I've ever met.”

It hit me like a big, thick stick that he had called me baby. Dumbfounded, I stood, hoping against hope that he’d call me it again. That Bryce would call me it a hundred times over.

“Baby” was something you’d call a boyfriend. Not a hookup.

Flutters in my stomach went into overdrive as I imagined what it would be like to be Bryce’s boyfriend. I half expected a flood of reasons to walk away at that moment, before I did something stupid. But all that came were visions of waking up next to him, spending late nights on computers with him. Hearing him introduce me as his boyfriend.

And all of those ideas felt so right.

Dizzy, I swayed on my feet. Bryce’s look of triumph became a look of panic. “Baby?” he asked, granting me my wish. “Baby! Breathe, okay?”

Like a dumbass, I realized I’d been holding my breath. I rocked forward, allowing him to grab me and support my weight a bit. It was an excuse to bury my nose in his shirt and smell his musk and soap.

“We don’t have any reason to keep meeting up, you know.” The words spilled from my mouth before I could stop them.

Hands gripped my shoulders firmly and pulled me back, forcing me to look him in the eye. “Uh, yeah, we do,” Bryce argued. “Like I said, you’re the one kicking me into overdrive. And we’ve enjoyed hanging out, right? We could just hang out as fr--”

We both stiffened at the word that didn’t come. ‘Friends.’ We’d never been friends. We’d been enemies and rivals, and then we’d become something so much more.

“Look,” Bryce said, pink staining his cheeks. “I want to see you again. You mean…you mean a lot to me. We don’t have to make promises or try to label anything right now, okay? Let’s just agree: See you later.”

Then he kissed me, his soft lips crushing against mine, increasing in pressure until our teeth clicked by accident. His fingers fisted the front of my shirt and he growled into my mouth. I tasted his want when I slid my tongue into his mouth, seeking out more. My body reacted instantly to him, coming to life at his taste and smell and the heavenly heat of him.

“Gentlemen, sorry to intrude, but this lecture hall has a class booked in twenty minutes.”

We broke away and I knew I was scarlet with embarrassment. But Bryce, ever congenial, smiled and winked at the unfamiliar professor standing there. “Sorry, ma’am. We’ll get out of your way.”

We threw everything into bags, shoving it down and zipping up and walking out on stiff legs until we were free from the auditorium. Only to erupt in peals of laughter.

“So,” Bryce finally managed. “We’re good, right? Later?”

The heat from his kiss felt branded on my lips.

“Yeah,” I managed to choke out. “Later.”

17

Bryce

Burst pipes in a school building meant canceled classes for the day, an unexpected but much needed break. I was