My breath catches in my throat.
He runs his tongue along the seam of his lips, his gaze on my mouth once more.
I’m not breathing. I can’t. Not when he’s staring at me with hunger in his gaze.
And that’s when it hits me: he’s going to kiss me on the mouth. The thing we agreed to never, ever do.
Raw want surges through me. My entire body is buzzing, waiting for him to put his mouth on me.
He swallows hard, his stubbled throat bobbing. He leans down and presses his mouth gently to the corner of my lips. My eyelids fluttered. I’m instantly hot, aching for more.
But he pulls away. He blinks and clears his throat. “Goodnight, Poppy.”
He walks off and I stand there, my head spinning, wearing his hoodie that smells so much like him, wishing more than anything that he had broken my rule and kissed me.
Chapter 20
Nick
“Hey, dude, do you have an extra suit?”
I look up from my laptop. Blake is standing in front of me while I sit on the couch in our living room doing homework.
“Yeah. Why?”
He sighs. “The one suit I have got trashed at the dry cleaners. I need a suit to wear for homecoming this weekend.”
“Oh, right. I forgot about that.”
Every October, the Hollis U men’s hockey team hosts a campus-wide homecoming dance in the student union. We sell tickets to the party, and all proceeds go to a local animal shelter that we partner with for charity events.
The theme changes every year. This year, it’s James Bond, so all the guys have to wear a tux or a suit.
Blake grins. “I’m surprised you forgot about the homecoming party. You’re usually pumped to get wasted and let loose.”
I scrub a hand over my face. “This year’s a little different now that I’m focused on school.”
I close my laptop and set it aside on the couch, then walk into my bedroom. I open the closet door and point at the three suits I have.
“Take your pick,” I say.
Blake grabs the navy one. “Thanks, man. Hey, how are classes going?”
“So far, so good. I’m no longer failing my Research and Composition class. I’ve got a solid C now, and in my Media Criticism class too. And I’m close to getting a B- in College Algebra. If I do well on my midterm, I think I can pull it off.”
He smacks my shoulder. “Damn, way to go, you brainiac. I guess your girlfriend is rubbing off on you.”
“Yeah, she’s been incredible.”
I think about the other night when I took her out for ice cream to celebrate her reaching a hundred thousand followers on her YouTube channel. How pumped I was for her.
How she didn’t even think to celebrate herself. That made me so sad. And a little mad too. Her parents grew up with a perfect kid like her, and they never once recognized her brilliance or hard work.
I think about how she lit up when I told her I was taking her out for ice cream. How she blushed when I told that group of students and the nice ice cream shop lady about her channel. That warmth in her expression. How happy she was.
My chest goes tight. I loved making her feel special. I want to do it a million more times.
“That’s pretty cool too that her YouTube channel is taking off,” Blake says. “After you told me about it, I subscribed and watched a few videos. The one she did about the Vikings was really interesting. I have to write a paper for my Scandinavian history class, and that video’s going to help a lot.”
