"Wait."
Turning. "What?"
"Don't." James steps in, his free hand catching my jaw. "Don't put that face back on yet. I need to say this while you're still... you."
Heart hammering. "Say what?"
"I love you." The words come out rushed, like he's afraid he'll lose his nerve. "I'm terrified, and I'm probably going to be difficult about it, but I love you. And I needed you to hear that before you go back to being the untouchable Huntington."
Can't breathe. Can't think. Can only pull him back in, kissing him hard enough that he stumbles slightly. His arms wrap around my neck as mine circle his waist, and for a few perfect seconds, nothing else exists.
"Jesus Christ, I'm blushing just watching this," Gavin's voice cuts through the haze.
Breaking apart, I find half the frat has appeared nearby, all wearing different looks of amusement.
"Is two guys kissing always this hot?" Ian asks, sounding genuinely curious.
"Yes," Tyler and Ethan answer in perfect unison, then look at each other and grin.
James buries his face against my shoulder, laughing. "Your friends are the worst."
"I know." Smiling against his hair. "But they're your friends now, too."
"Yeah. I guess they are." He lifts his head, those grey eyes soft. “Our friends are the worst.”
We walk back into the gala, hands clasped. Everything's still complicated, James's walls aren't magically gone, my father's going to be insufferable, and we're both walking disasters in the relationship department. But fuck it. At least we're facing the disaster together this time.
That's all I wanted from the moment I realized we weren't fake dating anymore, that and this man that I can't stop kissing.
Chapter 30
The Morning After (Christmas Sprinkles Edition)
JAMES
The frat house is thankfully empty when we stumble through the door. Everyone else is still at the gala, probably dancing, schmoozing, or whatever people do at those things. I couldn't care less. All I know is Caleb's hand is in mine, his bow tie is undone, and we have at least an hour before anyone else returns.
"Your room or mine?" Already I'm tugging him toward the stairs.
"Yours," he says without hesitation. "Jaren's been annoyingly present in mine lately."
We take the stairs two at a time, like teenagers sneaking around after curfew. The second my bedroom door closes behind us, Caleb presses me against it, his mouth crashing into mine like he can't get enough.
"Do you know," he says between kisses, "how hard it was to keep my hands off you tonight?"
Smiling against his lips. "I have some idea." My fingers make quick work of his shirt buttons, revealing inch by inch of skin I've been aching to touch for weeks.
"I watched you talking to that guy from the engineering department," Caleb continues, his voice dropping lower as hehelps me shrug out of my jacket. "All I could think about was dragging you into one of those fancy bathrooms and getting on my knees."
"Jesus, Caleb." My body responds instantly to the image.
"Too much?" He smirks, knowing damn well it's not.
Spinning us around, I back him toward my bed until his legs hit the edge. "Not enough."
We tear off our clothes fast, fancy outfits falling all over the floor. When Caleb is finally naked under me, I stop for a second to look at him. His eyes are dark, and his chest is going up and down with fast breaths.
"James," he says, my name half plea, half demand. "I need you inside me. It's been weeks."
