Correction: I was grinning foronefucking reason. One really weird, really fucking perfect reason that I’d had to come to church to finally see the light about. Noah wasn’t just my best friend. He was my motherfuckingboyfriend.
And honestly? Now that I thought about it, it kinda felt like he might have actually been that all along.
14
Noah
My hand trembledon the mouse as I let the cursor hover over the grade portal on my screen. Arnie had come through as my study partner for our economics class, and if I’d actually managed to pull a decent grade on the test we’d just had, then—along with all the other work Gage had made me buckle down and do—my academic standing should now be… decent. Not great, but solid enough that we could actually move on to Phase Two of the plan. Present my parents with concrete evidence that I was turning it around here, and beg—I mean,convince—them to let me stay.
And IthoughtI’d done okay on the test.
But I wasn’t entirely sure.
And if I… if Ihadn’tdone well—
The sound of the door opening behind me had me spinning around in my seat and launching myself across the room at Gage, my palms clammy and my heart pounding as the “if I hadn’t done well” scenario started to spin out of control in my head, because it would ruin everything if that happened and I didn’t actuallyknowif I’d done well enough to get the kind of grade I needed and what if Ihadn’t?
“Whoa,” Gage said, laughing as he staggered when I slammed into him. His arms snapped around me, a magenta-and-black plastic shopping bag falling to the ground. “Did something happen, Noe?”
“Grades,” I gasped out, my chest feeling fifty shades of constricted as my lungs suddenly decided not to work.
Drama queen? Yes.
Was that ever going to change? Doubtful.
Gage frowned, holding me away from him, just far enough so he could stare down at me. “They’re not good?”
Somehow I managed to shake my head and shrug and squeak, all at the same time and while simultaneously gasping out, “I don’t… don’tknowyet.”
One corner of Gage’s mouth quirked up, but I couldn’t even appreciate how sexy that was because… because… oh God, I was on the verge of hyperventilating.
“Noe—” he started.
“What if I didhorribly?” I panic-blurted right over the top of him. “What if I totally messed up on the econ test? What if—mmprh.”
Gage had grabbed my chin and used it to close my mouth. He grinned down at me. “So what you’re saying, you little goofball, is that you haven’t checked your grades yet?”
“Um,” I said, slightly distracted by how hot he looked, smiling at me like that. And not just because he was already super hot to begin with (he was) or because he was still holding my chin and was alsostrokingit now (and why hadn’t I ever known that thechinwas an erogenous zone?) but becausethisparticular smile, along with the way his eyes were busy sort of sparkling at me—a sparkle which was very un-Gage-like, for the record, but which I could totally get used to—seemed to have something extra in it. Something new. It made me feel… tingly. And I don’t just mean horny-tingly, although yes, ofcourseit made me want to drop to my knees and beg him to induct me into the Cult of Serpent Worship again because Ialwayswanted that, but the smile-plus-sparkle action he currently had going on was also giving me a different kind of tingle this time. The kind of tingle that made my fingers itch to start writing Gage’s name all over my binder, connected to mine and encircled with hearts, like I’d suddenly reverted to middle school and grown a pair of ovaries.
“That a no?” he asked, ramping up the smile-wattage like he was bound and determined to make me swoon or something.
“What was the question?” I asked, suddenly feeling breathless in a way that had nothing whatsoever to do with freaking out or hyperventilating… but then Gage laughed and I shook off the fluffy clouds and glittering rainbows I’d gotten lost in for a moment, remembering that I’d been in the midst of panicking.
I got right back to it.
“Gage, I can’t look.” I realized I still had the wireless mouse in my hand and I shoved it at him, pressing it against his chest and squeezing my eyes closed. “Can you do it for me?Pleasecheck my grade. But don’t tell me if it’s bad.” One eye popped back open without my permission, my lungs suddenly failing to work again. “Omigod,” I wheezed. “What if itisbad? What if I failed the test? What if I’m failing theclass? What if my parents say no? What if—”
Gage covered my mouth with one hand, cutting off my word tsunami, then spun me around so fast I felt dizzy. The mouse clattered to the floor as he pulled my back against his chest, locking me in place.
“Settle down, slave, before I have to gag you for real,” he whispered into my ear, his cock swelling against my back like a promise as he held me against him.
“Mph Mphhhhh Mphhhhr,” I said, the freak-out starting to drain out of me now that I was safe and secure in my favorite chromium arm-cage.
I relaxed back against Gage’s chest, hoping he’d follow through on the promise his cock was silently making me right now. That sounded like amuchbetter idea than checking my grades.
Gage laughed. “Gonna assume that was a ‘yes, please, Master’ on the gagging offer—”
He knew me so well. He was totally right.
