Kiss and Break Up - Ella Fields Page 0,97

her knowing ones. “Pretty much.”

She kicked her legs up, moving over and patting the couch for me to sit down. “You’re scared?” she asked when I’d taken a seat.

“Yes.” I pulled my legs up to rest my chin on my knee. “I mean, it’s already changed so much that I don’t even know why I am, or how to take the next step.”

Her fingers toyed with my curls. “It doesn’t always need a big discussion or an elaborate gesture. Sometimes, you simply just take the step, and then another one, and another, until it feels right.”

I stewed over that as we ate dinner, and then I dawdled back to my room and switched on the Xbox.

Dash wasn’t online, but I waited, playing with Raven until I saw his username pop up.

PegSue12: If you can kill me, you can come over.

There was a pause before he responded.

F*ckoffandie666: Does that mean …?

PegSue12: I suppose you’ll have to try to win to find out.

He didn’t respond, but he played a mean game. I laughed as a bomb landed on my house and cursed him for destroying something that cost me thirty dollars to build.

I’d just escaped and was racing across the street to sneak into a building when he shot out of nowhere. I retaliated, bullets spraying and my axe flying, and then my stomach sank.

He was dead.

We both said nothing for the longest time, and as my heart threatened to explode with every beat, I typed out another message.

PegSue12: Come over anyway.

He logged off a second later, and I began flitting around my room. Nerves shot through me from head to toe, and I flapped my hands around my face, trying to think clearly.

Once I could, I hit the bathroom and brushed the remnants of mushroom ravioli from my mouth, then I tried to do something about my hair, but it was a lost cause.

“Pegs.”

I turned and saw Mom leaning in my doorway, her head tilted curiously. “What are you doing?”

I stilled my clammy hands. “I told Dash to come over.” Then I panicked for a different reason. “Shit, I mean, crap. I forgot to ask you—”

She raised a hand. “That boy has never once asked permission to enter our home. But honey”—she raised a brow—“chill. And leave the door unlocked. I’ll be in the living room.”

I nodded even though she was gone, then jumped as my window flew up, and Dash flew in, the bed bouncing as I hurried to shut the door.

“That was quick.”

“Longest ten minutes of my life.” He kicked off his boots, and they landed in front of my desk. “Come here.”

I blinked, kind of stunned by his confidence, but then again, it was Dash. I took my time moving to the bed. He hooked his hands behind my legs when I reached him, bringing me between his thighs, thumbs caressing through the flannelette.

“Are you diving in?” he asked, and the edge of vulnerability in his gaze, to the planes of his face, and saturating his voice threatened to send me under in an instant.

My pounding heart was bruising my chest and every breath I tried to take without giving in.

Unable to take anymore, I tipped his chin and lowered my lips to hover over his. “Yeah. You win.”

“Freckles.” A silent laugh hit my mouth before his lips whispered across mine. “We both win.”

Seven months later

Dash

She was radiant, draped head to toe in moonlit silver that shimmered under the glow of the stars.

As I helped her out of the limousine I’d rented, my chest filled with something other than air. Warmth drenched each inhalation I took, furthering the heating of my heart and tightening each breath.

“You look like magic.”

Peggy pressed a hand to the tiny tiara tucked in her hair. Not by some dumbass rigged prom committee, but by me. “After a whole night of dancing?”

“Especially after that.” The driver closed the door, dipping his hat to me after I’d given him a generous tip, and then returned to his side of the car.

Slipping her hand inside mine, I picked up our overnight bag with the other and led her to the doors of the hotel. A few other students were checking in, but I didn’t give a shit. Let the hypocrites assume what they wanted. They were here with partners for the same reason.

Yeah, we hadn’t had sex. Over seven months together, and we’d still never done it. Though it didn’t mean we were new to each other’s bodies.

No fucking way.

I’d been willing to wait, even when