My tongue runs dry as I flush the same shade as the suspended blinking scoreboard. Last night was a night of firsts, and I’ll never forget a second of it.
I fight the quiver from my voice. “So, whatamI supposed to call you, then?”
His hypnotic grin curls sideways. “If I win, call me your boyfriend. If you win, then you can be my girlfriend. Consider your probation over.”
“Isn’t that the whole coin-toss trick? Heads, I win, tails, you lose?”
Brandon nods. “If that’s what you want to call it, then sure.”
I laugh. “You’re so weird.”
Brandon makes a show of rolling a shiny arcade token between his fingers before feeding it into the outdated hockey table.
“And you’re procrastinating. Come on, scaredy Kate. Drop the puck.”
Ten minutes later, I walk out of the arcade with my arm looped through his. I’ve been defeated, but somehow, I feel anything but. My heart glows so bright, it’s like I have my own personal sun.
I never thought I’d be able to feel this way. Or that someone would stick around long enough to feel something for me too.
And Brandondoes.I can tell. His affection is written inside every touch, every joke, every time he sees straight through my crumbling walls. There’s something happening between us. Something I don’t think either of us has ever experienced.
“Say it again.” Brandon tugs me to a stop in the parking lot, breathing into my ear.
Goosebumps feather my neck, but I meet his gaze. Lifting up on my tiptoes, I whisper the word across his lips.
“Boyfriend.”
Sinister glee spreads across his face. “And don’t you forget it.” Brandon crouches lightning fast, squeezing my hips before he stands and throws me over his shoulder. I’m upside down with a glorious view of his backside, but I wiggle my legs in the air and fight against his hold. Brandon races toward his motorcycle.
“Put medown!” I laugh.
“Nope. You’re mine now. No take-backs.”
“Brandon!” I smack his butt, still six inches from my dangling face.
He pulls up short. “Katie. You naughty girl, you.”
He maneuvers his hold until I drop into his arms, one bicep around my back and the other cradling my knees. Those green eyes shine as they stare into mine, but they darken by the second. Brandon’s gaze drops to my mouth, and I’m done for.
My hands fly to his bristled jaw as his lips cover mine. I savor each blindingly white-hot kiss as he carries me to his motorcycle.
After a long while, he reluctantly breaks away and sets me down. Yanking open the seat compartment, he snatches both helmets and jams one on his head before sliding mine on.
“We’re taking taxis from here on out,” he grumbles. “Fast ones.”
“Why?”
“If you have to ask that, you obviously don’t know how much I live for your kiss, Kate.”
nineteen
PAST
KATE
“Kate.”
“Hmm…” I mumble, stubbornly clinging to my deep sleep. The sorority house is quiet, so I surmise it must be pretty early.
