We come to a stop in front of a door, and I take a deep breath, knowing that I’m finally ready. West grins down at me like there’s a thought bubble above my head, tucks one finger into the waistband of my jeans, and pulls me in to him. I blush hot, and he sweeps his thumbs over my heated cheekbones before trailing a familiar path over my mole, across my jaw, down the side of my neck. I turn my head to press a kiss to the inside of his wrist. Eyes shining bright, he swipes the key card to unlock our room. I push the door open in anticipation and dissolve in a fit of laughter.
It’s so tiny that West could stand in the center and touch both walls, but that’s not what gets me.
He follows me into the room with a strangled groan. “Bunk beds?”
We stand in front of the rickety furniture and eye each other warily. We might need to rethink our plans. I don’t even know if we can bothfitin one of those beds.
“They really said if we’re going to pay like broke college students, we’re going to sleep like broke college students.”
“To be fair, some of us are broke collegedropouts,” West deadpans as he places his duffel bag on the floor. My stomach tightens at the remark.
“Well, in a couple of months, we’ll both be broke, and college won’t have mattered at all.”
“You’re about to sell your book for a million dollars, but okay.”
I roll my eyes. “No one gets million-dollar book deals.”
West slants his eyebrows. “You sure about that?”
“Fine,almostno one, and definitely not me.”
He crosses his arms and leans against the post of the bunk bed with a sardonic smile. “I can’t wait to say I told you so. Top or bottom?” he asks, changing the subject so abruptly that my mind returns to the daydreams I was having in the hall.
“What?”
“Top or bottom?” he asks again slowly, one side of his mouth curling up. “Where do you want to sleep?”
My cheeks flush. “Top.”
“Perfect. This arrangement will be good inspiration for you,” he says, his eyes glinting in the dim light.
I smell a setup. “How so?”
“You can start planning book two while you’re lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, pining for me.”
“I hate you.”
His smirk transforms into a wide grin as he pulls me into his arms. I yelp in surprise when he cuts me off by planting a kiss on my lips, and my embarrassment melts into desire.
As he pulls away, I nip his bottom lip with my teeth. “You’ll be the one dreaming of me,” I joke.
He looks at me through half-moon eyes, which makes mythroat dry. “I always do, Jupiter.” He kisses my forehead and then leans toward the window to pull back the curtain. “Check it out.”
I stand over an ancient radiator, and my breath fogs the glass as I stare at the glittering Empire State Building. “Should we go out?” It’s late, but we’re still on Pacific time, and I’m so loaded with adrenaline that I don’t think I could sleep in these shitty bunk beds if my life depended on it.
West wraps his arms around me from behind and rests his chin on the top of my head. “Sure. This is your trip, I’m just along for the ride.”
I frown. I don’t want him to think of it like that. I want him towantto be here. I crane my neck back to look at him. “What do you think of New York so far?”
He nudges my face back to the window, and I watch his eyebrows raise in the reflection of the glass. “I think I need to see it before I form an opinion, but I’m not worried. If you love it, I’ll love it.”
I spin in his arms and peer up at him. “Do you mean it?”
His eyes heat as he tucks a lock of hair behind my ear and cinches me tighter against his chest. He opens his mouth, grimaces, closes it again. “All these years later, I still have a hard time finding the right words around you,” he says, an edge of frustration bleeding through.
“What do you mean?”
He rubs the back of his neck. Looking at war with himself as he considers what to say, he finally reaches a détente. “I hope you get everything you’ve ever wanted, Mars, starting with New York.”
