“Try to figure out?”
“Overthink it. Definitely. Wonder if it’s too soon. Wonder if you want me to.” He swallows. His eyes drop to my mouth for half a second. “Wonder if I should just go for it or ask first or—”
I kiss him.
Not soft. Not tentative. Not the way Trey kissed me—careful and asking. Not the way Kyron kissed me—deliberate and claiming.
This is me. Deciding. Taking.
His hands find my waist and pull me closer and I go, pressing into him, feeling the sharp inhale he takes against my mouth. He tastes like chocolate from dessert and something warmer underneath, and when I slide my fingers into his hair he makes a sound that shoots straight through me.
I don’t stop.
I kiss him like I’ve been thinking about it all night. Like I’ve been thinking about it longer than that. Like fifteen years of not being touched has built up into something that needsout, and he’s here, and he’s warm, and he wants me, and I—
Iwant him.
His hands tighten on my waist. He angles his head and deepens the kiss and I let him, let myself get lost in it, in the slide of his mouth and the press of his body and the way my blood is singing under my skin.
Time stops meaning anything.
And then the door opens.
“I told you to have her home by ten.”
We break apart. Rane’s breathing hard. So am I.
Vaelor is standing in the doorway, arms crossed, but he’s fighting a smile.
“Shut up,” Rane manages.
“It’s almost midnight.”
“Shut up.”
Vaelor’s grin breaks through. He shakes his head, steps aside to let Rane pass. Rane gives me one last look—heated, promising—and disappears inside.
Which leaves me on the porch with Vaelor.
He’s backlit by the warm light from the house, golden hair loose around his shoulders, looking down at me with an expression I can’t quite read. Soft and somehow heated at the same time.
“Happy looks good on you,” he says.
The words make me feel something I didn’t realize I was ready for.
I don’t think about it. I just move—up on my toes, one hand bracing against his chest for balance because he’s so damntall, and I press a kiss to his cheek.
He goes still. Completely still. I feel his breath catch under my palm.
Then I drop back to my heels and slip past him into the house before I can see his face.
The living room is full. Because of course they all waited up.
They’re scattered around the room, trying very hard to look casual.
None of them are pulling it off.
“So,” Kyron says. “How was it?”
