She pursed her lips. “Yes, I do think I still feel diabolical. You want to go to this party?”
I pulled back to look at her. “You still feel up to going?”
She nodded. “I think I’m back to normal now. But,” she pointed in my face, “don’t do it again.”
“I promise to make it my life’s mission not to do it again.”
“Good. Take me to the party, Cap.”
TWENTY-NINE
VIOLET
OCTOBER | COLUMBUS, OHIO
Colton hadthe gleeful grin of a kid who had robbed the candy store as he ran back to his car. He had two paper bags with tall boy beer cans in them and two university sweatshirts slung over his arm. When he got in the car, he tossed the goods over to me.
“Now we can blend in!”
I sniffed one of the sweatshirts. “Wait, is this worn? It smells like college boy. Where are the tags?”
“I bought them off some guys in there. Gave them $100 each.”
“Ew! Colton!”
“What? They looked clean.” He pulled a baseball cap from the driver’s side door pocket and put it on, tugging it low.
“College boys don’t wash their clothes. You know that.”
Colton smirked and gripped my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Live a little, baby girl.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“What? You said you liked Jordan Houser! Didn’t he say that in the book?”
I smashed the end of his nose in like a button. “Jordan Houser didn’t weaponize it against me.”
Colt just laughed, threw the car in drive, and we went trolling for a party.
Crashinga college party was all fun and games until Colt and I stood in a dingy basement somewhere on campus in Columbus, Ohio. Bad decisions surrounded me, and it took every fiber of my being to not be the party mom and start cleaning up cups and handing out condoms. We couldn’t have been more out of place. I was a doctor of neuroscience and he had a mortgage. Or, hell, maybe he paid for his place outright. Best not to worry about the finances.
“Everyone here knows I have retinol in my skincare routine,” I hissed as we searched for a place to stand. “And you’re going to get recognized any second now. Isn’t that a hockey jersey on the wall?”
“I’m wearing a hat. No one will recognize me,” Colt said, taking a long slug on his tall boy. “If somebody talks to us, I’ll just kiss you until they go away.”
“Is that all we’re doing?” I asked innocently. “Kissing?”
He cupped my chin and passed his thumb over my bottom lip. “You’ll be kissing alright.” He dropped a feathersoft kiss on my lips that sent my insides dipping and diving. I was on my toes, chasing after him and begging for more. But instead, he leaned into my ear. “Lots of wet, messy kisses all over my cock.”
A spark lit in my belly and a smirk spread over my lips.
“You’re so bad,” I said, starting to quote the book. The book itself was lots of fun, though the dialogue sometimes left something to be desired.
“And you’ll be bad for me,” he said, picking up the partI was referring to. “Someone’s headed our way. Better get to the kissing.”
He backed me into the shiplap wall behind me, driving his thigh between my legs like he did in my work closet. He paused and raised an eyebrow, checking that I was okay with what we were doing. I nodded and his lips sank to mine. The whole thing was delicious: surrounded by Colton, his weight on me, his lean muscle molding into me, the malt of the cheap beer on his tongue. My college love and I were at a college party, making out like we were in some sort of time warp. Colton curled his hips so I could feel his hardening length against my stomach. I pulled away, breathless.
I lifted my tall boy to my lips and tipped it back, keeping my eyes on his. “Seems like I need to use the bathroom.”
