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He laughed. “I don’t need to have witnessed that to know that you can’t fake that kind of chemistry.”

Whatever retort I had died on my tongue when a smooth, pale hand appeared in front of me, setting a linen mocha in front of me. I followed the flawless skin up to the baggy hoodie and finally looked into Tate’s deep—sleepy—emerald eyes. “You’re supposed to be in bed,” I told him, shamelessly taking his hand and pressing a kiss to his fingers.

“Remember that when you’re screaming at Carter in the hallway.” He leaned over and stamped his lips to my cheek, then addressed the other person at the table. “Hi, Tegan.”

“Oh, you did notice me.”

“I did.” Tate stretched a hand out with a bakery bag from Mummy Mocha.

Tegan gasped. “A Werebear Claw! You’re forgiven. Continue lovebirds.”

“Tell him to stop scaring me,” I defended, returning to the reason why Tate was standing beside me and not still curled up in bed—which was right where I wanted to be. “I swear he laughed at me.”

“Cats can’t laugh, love.”

I shivered and heat rushed to my cheeks. Talk about confusing; all over Tate showing the slightest bit of affection with me.

I was a goner.

“Say that again?” I intended for it to be a demand, but it came out more like a breathless plea… or a pathetic one, but I didn’t care.

Tate leaned into my ear now, breath washing across my skin. My textbook was still open in front of me, but the words on the page blurred. What subject was I even working on? Where was I? If it wasn’t Tate’s body, I didn’t want to be looking at it.

“My afternoon classes got canceled,” Tate whispered in place of what I really wanted to hear, which was for him to call me “love” again. Or maybe another pet name. “You want to⁠—”

“Yes.”

Tate laughed, and the sound traveled through my body and tingled all the way down to my toes. “I didn’t even finish my sentence.”

“Don’t have to.”

Tate straightened to his full height, smiled, and gathered his bag from the floor. “I’ll ask Carter to stay human tonight.”

With one more kiss to my cheek, Tate was gone… yet I still felt eyes burning into me.

Tegan watched me, licking a drop of icing off the side of his mouth. “Yeah,” he said, polishing off his treat. “You can’t fake that. I know plenty of casting directors that have spent a lot of money trying.”

My lips quirked involuntarily. “I just wish I could help him see that.”

Tegan tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

I gave him the cliff notes version of the conversations that Tate and I had. No, I didn’t throw my partner under the bus for being a virgin—not that there was anything wrong with it—but that he felt like his inexperience was a negative thing.

“So show him otherwise,” Tegan said, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

But… maybe he had a point. I was the only thing that Tate had ever known and so far, I’d shown him nothing but lust. Devils had that trait about them, but I didn’t want to be like my family. Tate deserved better.

“Text your boyfriend what time to be ready,” Tegan said, dusting sugar off of his hands. “Then you actually have to read that book.”

I returned to scowling at the page. “Do I have to?”

Tegan only laughed in response. He attempted to help me study for sociology, but I was already distracted with putting a plan in motion, hiding my phone in my textbook like I was still in high school.

Have you ever been on a date?

I thought we weren’t going to make fun of the virgin anymore. :(

That’s not why I’m asking.