Page 15 of Kiki

“Well, I, for one, am not going to restrain myself one bit. Sorry, Neo, I’m stealing our girl.” I didn’t miss the “our girl” part, but I was instantly distracted when Artemis, tall and built like a stadium, stood and picked me up, settled me on his lap, and hugged me to his chest.

Our girl.

“Why did you come out here in the first place…other than hearing me?”

“Because there are monsters in this world, and we didn’t want them to get you.”

I sat up a bit. Artemis’ hand roamed to my lower back and rubbed circles. If he could do this every night before I went to bed, I would never have trouble sleeping again.

“Are you being serious? There are monsters in the city?”

Ian shrugged. “Can’t be too careful. We don’t want anything happening to you.”

“I think I’m ready to go to bed now. My brain needs to process all of this.”

“Sounds good, but there might be monsters in the hallway again. Mind if we walk you to your room?” Neo asked.

“Not at all. Thank you.” I still thought this bubble would pop any second, but until then, I would try to enjoy it.

They walked me to my room, but before I could reach for the knob, I turned to say goodnight.

Artemis closed the distance between us and bent down a little because he was the Empire State Building. “Would it be okay if I kissed you, Kiki?”

I looked at the others. “I don’t… I kissed Neo earlier,” I blurted.

“We know. He came in gloating. We told him to shut it, but he had this stupid grin.”

I gasped and Neo shrugged. “What? Best night of my life if you ask me. That was before I realized it sent you on a spiral. I’m still sorry about that.”

Reaching out to take his hand, I said, “Neo, stop. It was a great kiss. I don’t regret it one bit. I just have some things to work through.” I turned to Artemis, letting go of Neo’s hand. A streak of boldness ignited inside me. “And yes, you can kiss me.”

He cupped the back of my head and touched his lips to mine. A small moan came from my mouth as his full lips took control. It was a chaste kiss, but there was nothing chaste about the thoughts it caused to run through my head.

“Now I’m feeling left out,” Ian said as I cleared my head. “Should’ve kissed you when we were dancing.”

Another wave of boldness enveloped me. “Come on, Ian. Don’t be shy. That’s outlawed tonight.”

Ian walked over and kissed me, and I was as taken with him as the others. This was all too weird for me, being liked by three guys and not having to choose between them, but I was letting go of expectations of all kinds since coming here. He ended the kiss by nipping gently at my bottom lip. “I knew you would taste sweet,” he whispered.

My face hotter than fire, I forced myself to put my hand on the knob. “I’m going to bed before…”

“Before what?” Artemis asked. His blue eyes widened a bit while his eyebrows rose.

“Good night, all of you. Before I make a fool of myself.”

I dashed into the bathroom and shut the door quietly and then slid down the length of it until my butt hit the cold tile floor.

“What in the world is happening?” I said to myself and kicked my legs a bit.

Surely, I was going to wake up from this dream but no damned way I ever wanted to.

Chapter Thirteen

I found an unoccupied love seat in a far corner of the library by pure luck. And by pure luck, I meant that I barreled out of class, took the stairs at breakneck speed, and caused a commotion when I came in out of breath from my sprinting.

The library was a busy place on Wednesdays since most students had the afternoon study hall block.

Including this girl.

---