Page 36 of Dare To Fall

“How can you be sure?”

“Because we were the wrong crowd. Me and Eli.” Kellan replies before I can.

I twist my head to find him by the door. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough.” He places bags onto the table. “Grilled cheese, coffee, and juice.” He busies himself unbagging everything. “Out of bed. I’m not letting you heathens get crumbs on the mattress.”

I reach for the hoodie and hand it to Arabella, then make my way over to the table and pull out a chair. When she joins us, I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her down onto my lap. She struggles. I tighten my grip.

“If you keep wriggling like that, I won’t be held responsible for my actions.”

She immediately stills. I nuzzle her neck. “Good girl.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“I thought we’d already established that.” I squeeze her hip. “Eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”

“Having sex with me doesn’t give you the right to manhandle me.”

“Good sex,” I counter.

“Very good sex,” Kellan adds. “You know, most people would be full of post-coital bliss. You’re just a raging ball of aggression, which I’m sure Eli finds extremely hot, but I’m more into after-sex cuddles.”

I snort. “That’s bullshit.”

“Hush.” He reaches across the table and places one finger against my lips. “You don’t have sex with me, so you wouldn’t know.”

I push his hand away. “No, but I hear you talk about it. You’re the ‘sneak out while they’re still asleep and then pretend you don’t recognize them’ type.”

He rolls his eyes and takes a bite out of his grilled cheese.

“Did you see Miles?”

His smile fades away at Arabella’s question. “No. He wasn’t down there. I’ve dropped him a text. He’ll either figure it out, or he won’t. We have other things to worry about right now.”

As if on cue, her cell chimes. When she rises to scramble off my lap to get it, I hold her in place. “Let Kellan get it.”

He scoops it up and reads the text. “They want to know why you’re not at breakfast.”

“What does it say?” I hold out my hand and Kellan passes it to me.

Unknown number: Why aren’t you at breakfast? You have thirty minutes to get down here. Wear something that shows off your ‘war wounds’ from last night. We want Eli to see what Kellan was sucking on.

Arabella turns white. “I can’t go down there.”

“You have to. Do you have anything low cut?”

“I don’t—I don’t know. I’ll need to go back to my room.” Her hand covers her mouth. “I feel sick.”

I press a kiss to the side of her neck. “You’ll be fine. Wear that pink blouse you flashed Mr. Drake in and no bra. That’ll show enough without being totally indecent.”

“But they must know you’re not down there.”

“Unless they didn’t see Kellan. Who was in the cafeteria when you got there?” I throw the question at my friend.

He thinks about it. “I don’t recall seeing anyone familiar. So, no one from our year.”

“That means they might be expecting us.” I stand, lifting Arabella off me. “Go and get dressed. We’ll go down there now and be waiting for you.” I cup her cheeks and tilt her head back so I can press a hard kiss to her lips. “Be brave for me, Kitten.”

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