I’m just concentrating on kissing AntD, the guy I’ve gotten to know so well over the last month. The guy I really, really like.
The kiss is slow and thorough, like he’s memorizing me. His hand slides from my jaw to the back of my neck, fingertips brushing the short hair there, and I actually shiver. When I part my lips, he makes a low sound in his throat that I feel everywhere.
I grip his hoodie to keep myself upright because my knees have apparently forgotten how to function.
When he draws back, we’re both breathing a little faster.
“We’re going to take this slow, okay?” he murmurs, thumb stroking along my jaw.
“There was nothing wrong with that kiss, right?” I ask because, apparently, my anxiety has no off switch.
He smiles. “That kiss was perfect. I just… I really like you. I don’t want to mess this up by rushing things.”
“Slow is not usually my speed,” I admit.
“Mine either. But you’re different.” His eyes search mine, and there’s something unguarded in his expression. “I’ve never liked anyone at the beginning as much as I like you. So I have a very high motivation for not screwing this up.”
Okay, that might be one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me.
“So we’re going to take it slow,” I say, stepping back. “So…ah…do you want to hang out for a bit? We could watch something on my laptop?”
He grins that perfect Anthony Devine smile. “Sounds perfect.”
I grab my laptop while he kicks off his shoes, and we settle on my bed. It takes me three tries to remember my password because Anthony Devine is on my bed. In my room. Askingwhat I’d like to watch like this is a totally normal Friday night occurrence.
“No pressure, but if you pick something with subtitles, I’m going to fall asleep,” he warns. “Post-concert crash is real.”
“Noted. Mindless entertainment it is.”
We end up with an action movie that requires zero brain cells to follow. Anthony arranges my pillows and pulls me against him like it’s the most natural thing in the world, and I try not to think about how I could ever explain this. “Yeah, so Anthony Devine came over and we just…cuddled and watchedThe Fast and the Furious.”
His fingers trace absent patterns on my arms, and his breathing starts to slow. He shifts slightly, burrowing deeper into my pillows like he belongs there, like we do this every Friday night.
I feel the moment he starts to lose the battle with sleep, his body relaxing completely, the patterns on my arm becoming less deliberate and more like gentle, unconscious touches.
Having Anthony Devine fall asleep holding me is the most surreal moment of my life.
CHAPTER TEN
ANTHONY
I wake up with Nick curled against my chest, his dark hair sticking up and his eyelashes fanning out against his cheeks.
For a moment, I just lie there, watching him and running through what happened last night. The way Nick showed up at the café, sweaty and out of breath, looking like he’d run the whole way. The relief that flooded through me when he pushed through the door was almost violent.
And it made me realize exactly how much I like him and how invested I am in the idea that this could become something more.
I meant what I said. I’ve never liked anyone at the beginning of a relationship as much as I like Nick right now.
He’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a guy. Cute, smart, amazing sense of humor, strong moral compass, someone I can talk to about anything and everything. Someone who makes me feel like just Anthony, not a pop star.
Nick shifts in his sleep, pressing closer, and I can’t help smiling. We fell asleep on top of the bedding, still fully clothed, like teenagers afraid to take things further. The laptop’s still at the foot of the bed, its screen dark.
Sunlight filters through his thin curtains, highlighting the disaster zone that is his bedroom. Clothes everywhere, textbooks stacked precariously on every surface, and of course, the multiple posters of me staring down from the walls like some kind of narcissistic surveillance system.
Nick’s eyes flutter open, and he blinks at me sleepily.
“Hey,” he mumbles, voice rough with sleep.
