I’m jealous because I want to take you out and show you a good time. I want to see that smile of yours and hear that laugh.” I shrugged, as if I wasn’t confessing my deepest feelings to her right now. “If that makes you uncomfortable, I can see about talking to the professor to see if we can change partners—”
Trying not to scare her away was hard. A lot harder than I thought. She looked like she wanted to bolt, to run away and not look back.
But then her fright eased, and she dropped her gaze to her lap. When she said what she said next, my heart sped up in my chest: “I don’t want to work with anyone else. I only want to work with you.”
I felt myself smiling, unable to stop myself.
“Even though sometimes you’re a little much,” Bree whispered, glancing at me behind dark lashes, “I like listening to you talk. Last night your texts actually made me smile.”
My out of control jealousy made her smile? Well, it was totally worth it, then, wasn’t it?
“Wish I was there to see it,” I spoke, running my palms against my legs. Felt clammy, sweaty. Plus, I wanted to reach for her, bring her onto my lap, and feel those lips on mine. Bet they were soft.
“I was in bed.”
That made me think of other things, things which I shouldn’t think about right now, not while I was trying to act smooth.
Bree must’ve known where my mind went, for she quickly added, “I didn’t mean—I don’t—” She let out a soft sigh, running a hand through her pink hair and getting her fingers tangled in its lengths. “You make me confused, Mason.”
“A good kind of confused?” I questioned, leaning toward her in spite of myself. She just looked so small, too busy wrestling with whatever was in her head. I really just wanted to hold her. Would that be going too far, too fast?
“Is there a good kind of confused?”
I nodded. “There is.”
Her cheeks were pink and absolutely adorable. She appeared embarrassed to be having this conversation with me, but at this point, there was no going back. “We should…really get to work,” Bree whispered, never once breaking eye contact with me. She must’ve seen me leaning closer, but she did not make any moves to back herself away.
I probably shouldn’t do what I was about to do. It would probably only make things complicated, but I didn’t care. My body, my mind, every part of me craved this girl, and I had to show her that I wasn’t just some jealous boy who didn’t know how to handle himself around a girl he liked. I wanted to show her that I could be the smooth, confident guy that could take her out and show her the world.
My lips found hers, touching them softly. Not a passionate kiss, but a gentle, sweet one, one that told her everything my fumbling words couldn’t. I liked her. I liked her so much it was almost unreal, and I couldn’t help myself when it came to her. She was the only one I wanted, the only girl I wanted to spend time with. Somehow, that pink hair and the seriousness behind her emerald stare had gotten to me.
Bree was too stunned to kiss me back. By the time I pulled my mouth off hers, she was giving me a shocked look.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured, not very sorry at all. “I could take it back, if you want?”
Her lips were parted slightly, and they were actually softer than they looked—and they looked pretty damn soft, let me tell you. Not cracked and dry, they were exactly the kind of lips you could spend hours getting to know, and still crave more. “How would you take a kiss back?”
“Like this.” It was more of a demonstration than anything, and it involved kissing her again. This time harder. I was more confident now, wanting more, needing more. She truly brought something out of me, and I was too weak to fight it, to try to bottle up my emotions and hide them away, pretend they did not exist.
Bree’s mouth was more pliant this time, molding against mine effortlessly. She was being cautious, but at the same time, she was kissing me back—and that’s all I really wanted. Feeling her lips play a gentle tug of war with mine told me all I needed to know: she liked me, too, even if her words did