Nova shrugs, starting to play with the hem of the T-shirt she’s wearing. “Well, I mean... We don’t have a label, and a lot of people at school think you’re hot and...”
Oh.
“Are you jealous?” I ask.
She looks away, fingers worrying the hem of the blanket.
“No.”
“Nova...”
She inhales, then meets me with a small, honest exhale. “What now? I’m not jealous. Not... like you think. I don’t want to be toxic.”
I gently take her chin between my fingers, lifting her eyes back to mine. She looks even more beautiful with the dim light of the scented candles glowing on her face.
“Nova you’re not toxic. I bought those condoms because I want to use them with you, okay? Every time you want, every time you want me. You have no reason to think otherwise. You’re the only one I want.”
“It’s not that simple,” she whispers. “You know that.”
“Then answer me one thing—do you trust me or not?”
“Yes.”
“Then what’s the problem? There’s no girl for me but you, Nova Elizabeth Dehlia Marshall. No one makes my heart pound the way you do. There’s no girl I want to kiss until I can’t breathe if that girl’s not you. No girl I want in my bed, tangled in my arms all night, whispering the stupid plot of a Barbie movie if that girl’s not you. Only you. Why is it so hard to admit you’re jealous?”
Her lips twitch. “And you’re not?”
I shake my head slowly, brushing my thumb over her lower lip. “Plenty of guys at school are into you. I see it. But I don’t care. Maybe I’m insecure, maybe I don’t always feel like I’m good enough for you... but the way you look at me? It’s all I need. Still—”
“Still what?” she presses, eyes narrowed.
I grin. “Knowing you’re jealous? It flatters me.”
“Idiot,” she mutters, laughter slipping out.
“Maybe,” I murmur, leaning closer, my mouth ghosting over hers, “but listen to me, baby—there’s no one else. Not now, not ever. It’s only you.”
Her lips crash into mine. She kisses me everywhere—my lips, cheeks, nose, forehead, neck—scattering her love like it’s the only language she knows.
“Should we...?” I whisper.
“Are you sure?” she whispers back.
“Yeah. I’m yours, Nova.”
She grins and flips us, straddling me again and I laugh, flipping her back under me. “You better be.”
She parts her lips to kiss me again. This time her kiss is slower, hotter, her tongue dragging against mine as her body arches up into mine. My hand slips under the shirt she’s wearing, gliding up her side until my palm brushes the underside of her breast. She gasps into my mouth but doesn’t stop me and presses closer.
Every nerve in me is on fire. The world narrows to just the sound of her breath, the warmth of her skin, the way she whispers my name like it belongs only to her.
And then the doorbell rings.
“Now?” I groan, burying my face against her chest.
She laughs breathlessly and nudges me off. “Oh, it’s our pizza. I’ll go get it. And your eye drops.”
Watching her leave in just my shirt makes me wince. She tosses me a look. “Don’t bother hiding them anymore, Cooper. I know you stash them downstairs.”
