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“We should get ready to go,” I muttered. Nope. Not thinking anything stupid like that he might be feeling even an inkling of what I was. That was a ridiculous thought. Me and Jaxon were nothing but friends, my crush aside, and we’d stay like that for the rest of our lives. I would never lose him. Not ever.

“If you want.”

I didn’t want to go. I wanted to hoard all my time with him like it was gold. I could easily become a dragon when it came to him. Did dragons hoard gold? I would have to look that up too. But no matter. Normally, I enjoyed spending time with people or socializing, but that meant allowing Jaxon to spend time with Aaron. I snorted. Allow. Like I had a say.

“You okay?” Jaxon asked, his fingers curling around my wrist.

Not even close, but I wasn’t going to say that. “I’m good.”

He stared at me for a moment, like he didn’t believe me, and he might not have. He knew me better than anyone, even my siblings. He probably knew my tells the same way I knew his. But maybe if I tried to say I was fine with everything enough times, I would believe it enough for both of us.

“Can I braid your hair?” I asked, as I often did, expecting the same answer as usual—the shrug of “why bother.”

“Sure.”

My eyes shot open wide. “Really?”

He shrugged. “If you want.”

“I want to,” I practically shouted. I really did. He never ever let me play with his hair, and it was so pretty. I always wanted to bury my fingers in the strands.

“I don’t see the point of it, but I don’t care if you play with it.”

“Then you should let me do it all the time.”

A soft smile tugged on the corner of his mouth, and he ducked his chin, but it wasn’t enough to hide the brightening of his cheeks. “I guess, if you want.”

“Uh, yeah. You’re going to have to get up early for me to do your hair before class,” I said, already planning.

His expression darkened. Jaxon really did hate mornings.

I wanted to say I’d make it worth his time, but that wasn’t our relationship. Instead, I popped into the bathroom to grab all my hair care products. Jaxon’s hair was longer than mine, not to mention far thicker. I didn’t have any products made for his hair, so we would have to make do. Maybe I would order more. Tengu had to have some. Those bird shifters delivered everything so quickly.

I slid behind his chair and ran a comb through his hair. It was thick, practically swallowing the teeth, but not a single snarl, lucky bugger. I made quick work of putting product on the strands, then began braiding. The only ogres I’d ever seen either had Celtic or Nordic style braids, so I stuck with the same. I did two French braids on either side of his head, and the middle part of his hair I pulled back into a knot, while allowing some of his bottom layer to hang free.

Tugging on the strands, I grinned at him. “Looks good.”

His cheeks went bright again, and a smug, almost possessive sensation twirled in my gut. I pulled on his hair again, making him look up at me, and when his gaze met mine, that feeling only grew, swamping me, pulling me under while lifting me up at the same time.

I whispered, “Don’t look away from me. Please.”

Jaxon nodded. “I can do that.”

“Good.” I moved to stand in front of him as I dragged my fingers through the loose part of his hair, the strands sliding like water through my grip. I wanted to sit on his lap and claim his mouth with mine once again. Kissing him had felt right—he’d felt like mine.

He trailed his fingertips up my thighs, coming dangerously close to my groin, and settled his hands on my waist. I swallowed. He was so warm, and I swore I felt his touch vibrating through every cell in my body. Unable to resist him any more than a moth could fight the call of a flame, I shifted in between his spread thighs until I was against his chest.

“Thank you for braiding my hair, babe.”

It was my turn to duck my face.

Nudging my chin up, Jaxon said, “If I can’t hide, neither can you.”

“That’s fair,” I whispered.

His eyes flicked to my lips, and I could feel my resolve crumbling beneath my feet. I bobbed forward. So did he. At the last moment, I shook my head and backed away. Nope. Not a line we were crossing, especially because I didn’t think Jaxon actually cared about me that way. I couldn’t risk it, him, us, my damn sanity, everything.

“We should get dressed.” Per the norm, since we’d kissed, I grabbed my clothes and bolted into the bathroom.