Page 176 of Forbidden You

She licks her lower lip, and I bring up a hand to brush her cheek with my thumb.

“What did you do about it?”

The corners of my mouth curl. “I made her mine. Happy birthday, baby.”

47

Iglance at my phone vibrating on my desk, feeling like my smile is stretching to my ears when her name pops up.

“You better not have scratched my car,” I answer, jokingly.

“No, your car is just fine,” she replies, a little offended before her tone turns smug. “You’re never getting her back, though.”

“Baby, are you okay? Did you bump your head or something? Because I could’ve sworn you said I wasn’t getting my car back.”

“I’m dead serious, babe.” She is serious, because there is not an ounce of humor in her sweet voice, keeping my smile in place. “Ginger and I have a connection now.”

“You named my car?”

“Oh, yeah. We’re hitting it off. She purrs underneath me and, well, she made me hooked from the second I took the wheel. Here, listen.” She hits the throttle, and it rumbles over the line. “It’s perfect. It’s exhilarating. It’smine.”

“We’ll see about that, babe.”

“No, baby, I’m serious. I’m taking your car. She’s my best friend now. But don’t worry, I’ll drive you to work every day,” she sasses.

A laugh comes from my throat, shaking my head. The moment she slid behind the wheel for the first time, I knew she was gonna test me on this. She almost looked as in love as she looked at me.

Almost.

“You can drive it. But it’s still mine.”

“Oh, whatever.”

“What time will you be home?”

“My last class is at one, so I can cook tonight!” The enthusiasm is clear in her voice, warming my heart. “I’ve found this new recipe I want to try.”

“Yeah?” I bring my feet up to my desk, glancing at the ceiling. “Not mac and cheese, right?”

“Oh, shut it! You love my mac and cheese! Or…” she drawls, “you could come home early and make me burgers?”

I quirk up an eyebrow. “Did you go to that burger place on campus for lunch?”

Her silence is basically a guilty plea, and my grin expands.

“What I had for lunch is none of your business.” She’s doing her best to sound unimpressed, but she’s failing miserably.

“You did, didn’t you?”

“They are too good, Bodi!” She cries out, her amusement audible. “Just for the fucking burger place I like Georgia State better than Stanford.”

“If you’re going to eat burgers for lunch every day, I’m not going to be getting you burgers for dinner as well.” I try to sound scowling, but a laugh bubbles through.

“Yeah, you are. Besides, they are not as good as yours.”

“Good to know.” I chuckle. “Are you gonna miss it when you graduate early next month?”

I’m so proud of her. It would’ve been very easy to just keep her job at KPI and work her way up over the years. She’s smart, and she would’ve been a great editor one day. She still will. But the fact that she decided to be brave, and finish her degree instead, knowing it was going to take a lot of hard work and catching up, shows how strong she really is.

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