Page 72 of The Prospect

“‘Lay it on thick’?” Hart repeats, his eyes panning up and down my body.

I nod faintly as I cower into the bed, studying his gaze until his eyes lock onto mine.

“Well, then, I guess the only thing left for me to confess to is this. Since our first date at the pottery shop, I can’t seem to get a certain moment out of my head. It’s like I’ve been replaying it over and over in my mind, and fuck, Hazel…”

His sentence may trail off, but that doesn’t stop him from leaning his body in close, only his time, as he speaks, it’s as if Ican feel him whispering against my lips. “Do you, uh—remember what I said about being unapologetically you?”

Paralyzed in a peaceful place, I hum.

“Well…” He licks his lips before inching them toward mine. “This is me doing that.”

Before I can so much as take a breath Hart takes mine away as I seemingly lose myself within his lips.

With my hair tangled through his fingertips, my heartbeat electrifies with each passing second.

Hart’s a maze—a complete and total maze with no way out. Everywhere I turn, there’s not an exit in sight and I don’t care. The complexity of it all leaves me enticed, so much so that I keep running. I keep searching—exploring new ways around his lips, his touch, and how he feels pressed against my hot skin.

He’s like an endorphin rush that I can’t get enough of.

“Is this okay?” Hart’s request for verbal consent only makes him that much hotter as he pulls back and assesses my face.

In place of a response, I pull him back into me. My actions speak way louder than my words ever could.

Hart gets the message—quickly, as he gently lays me back onto the bed. When he hovers over top, the weight of his body forces me to become one with the mattress and I almost instantly disappear beneath his.

Jesus—I never knew a kiss could be so intoxicating. Kissing Hart is like taking a shot. As if his lips are alcohol, with each kiss, I grow more entranced, and before I know it, I’m in this lull of my mind where everything hums, everything moves slowly and eventually, I can’t even recall how it all began.

I like forgetting the details. Being with Hart makes me see the big picture of it all, and for once, it feels like that’s enough.

GREEN

“Can you please slow down, Green?” Amira trails in tow, strutting with her heels in her hands as I’m paces ahead. “I agreed towalkback to the dorm with you, notrunback! Seriously, I swear I’m getting a blister.”

I slow myself down. I hadn’t realized just how quickly I’d been walking—running.

When Amira insisted that the campus wasn’t too far away, I took her up on the offer to walk. Little did I realize that the speed in which that meant Amira would go—or dare I say, lack thereof.

It’s excruciating.

“Sorry,” I apologize once she catches up with me. “I’m just not used to going slow...” I attempt to mitigate the scowl on her face with a smile, the front of her building coming into view.

Unamused by my charm, she rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I gathered that,” she remarks, strutting ahead and disappearing in through the entryway.

As she does, I take a moment to briefly scan the parking lot. It takes me a second to find exactly what I’m searching for, but eventually, I see it.

Hart’s car.

A white exterior with dark rims and a Spanish token that hangs over his rearview mirror. He never did explain to me who gave it to him, but when I tried to dissect it between my grasp, he practically went to thump me one.

Note to self, don’t touch any of Hart’s shit.

They’re here. I know they are.

“Hello?! Are you coming up or not?” Amira impatiently waits by the front door, holding it open for me to step inside.

“I’m coming!” I jog ahead, accepting the door from her grasp and being sure to open the next one for her.

“I can’t believe I just practically ran back here,” she remarks, clicking for the lift. “Cardio is not my thing.”

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