the ready as half the class and the professor looked on. “I can’t work properly unless she sits next to me. Ready when you are,” he said.
Professor Clarence scratched at his graying beard, eyes bouncing to me, and his lips twitching with a barely contained smile. “As long as you’re not wasting anyone’s time.” He nodded. “Very well, the plans we revised last week shall now be scrutinized further with the following method…” He tapped at the board, and my shoulders drooped.
Aiden wrote something in his book, then, keeping his eyes trained forward, he slid it toward me.
I glanced down at it.
Nothing happened with Nora.
Shocked, I mulled over his words, not sure whether to believe them. Then I turned to a clean page in my book.
Nothing?
Well, I mean, I tried… so some things happened. But I couldn’t do it, so thanks for being the reason her friends all look at me like my equipment doesn’t work.
I bit back a laugh, but the first part… I looked forward again, tapping my pen on my book.
It wasn’t as if I had a right to be upset. I was the one who kept running back to a guy who did whoever and whatever he wanted. So could I really not forgive Aiden for making out with some girl named Nora? He’d put the brakes on being with her because of me. It was way more than Everett had ever done.
It was way more than I’d done for him.
Beneath my desk, his hand crept over my thigh, and I stilled, trying to steady my choppy breathing. Then, with butterflies flapping in my dipping stomach, my hand slowly crawled over his.
When class ended, he grabbed my bag after I’d put my things away and slung it over his shoulder before tugging me out of my seat and into the hallway.
“Where are we going?”
“To talk or make out. I’d prefer the latter, but I’m also happy to simply stare at you.”
Passing students who caught some of his words did a double take, some laughing.
“Prince,” I hissed, tugging his hand once we’d reached the sidewalk.
He stopped, and my tongue glued itself to the roof of my mouth as he crowded into me. “You’re all I think about. Whether I’m asleep or awake, you’re always there. And I was willing to wait, I swear. But I can’t anymore.” His Adam’s apple shifted, his eyes taking on a vulnerable sheen. “It’s all or nothing, Petal. So what do you say?”
I didn’t hesitate. Didn’t care that people were still coming and going in the building behind us. “All. Everything.” I took both his hands, keeping my eyes on his. “Please.”
His lips parted, lashes bobbing as he blinked rapidly. “Well, since you asked so nicely.”
Then he was kissing me.
Not the chaste, flirtatious kisses we’d planted on one another’s lips or cheeks before, but a breath-stealing, soul-igniting, tasting the tip of forever kind of kiss.
His hands cupped my cheeks, and mine flattened against his Henley-covered chest as our lips found a soft yet frantic rhythm. The type of rhythm that spoke of lifetimes instead of stolen moments. The type of rhythm that set my heart soaring, thudding against my chest the same way his was doing against my palms.
We broke apart when one of his friends passed, hooting, “Finally, you pussy-whipped motherfucker.”
Laughing, I ducked my heating face.
Aiden ignored him, lifting it to press his mouth to mine again. “I don’t want to ever stop.”
“We have to,” I said, his nose nudging mine. “You have another class.”
“Fuck class, we need milkshakes.”
I couldn’t wipe the giddy smile off my face, the one that matched the feeling swimming inside, making each step to the cafeteria lighter.
With his hand in mine, he ordered our usual shakes. When we found an empty table, one of his teammates swaggered over as Aiden took a seat next to, instead of opposite, me.
“I’ve never seen this egotistical prick have to work so hard to bag—”
“And that’ll be all, Smithers.”
The guy with apple red hair stuck his hand out. “I don’t believe we’ve formally met. Aaron.”
I took his hand, letting him shake mine gently before pulling it back. “Stevie.”
“Yeah, I know.” He grinned. “The whole team practically knows.”
I could feel my cheeks warm yet again, but I laughed it off, and Aiden squeezed an arm around my middle.
I sipped my drink as he and Aaron talked about last weekend’s game, then waved when Aaron wandered off. “Judging by the way you guys were talking, you won?”