We come to a stop just outside the lecture hall that’s holding my next class. Bishop turns to face me, taking my face into his hands. “And I promise that I will never allow you to feel that way again.”
My heart thunders in my chest. “I believe you.”
He leans down and, in front of everyone, he kisses me.
“Holy shit. Is that Grant? Who’s he with?” I hear someone saying. When we break apart, I look over to see some of the hockey guys. “Holy shit, it's the coach's daughter.”
A few girls shoot glaring looks at me as they linger around the guys. Puck bunnies. Ones that look like they want to claw my eyes out as they take in Bishop and me together.
Maybe I’m a little petty, but I grin, grabbing at Bishop’s waist as he wraps his arm around me.
“Dude!” a guy named Chris comes over. “Are you two dating?”
“Damn right we are,” Bishop answers proudly. “Lilly is my girlfriend now. I’m no longer a lonely bachelor.”
The one with the long black hair bares her teeth. Shit. That is Kacy, someone I know has had her sights set on Bishop for a long time.
The knowledge that they’ve hooked up in the past doesn’t sit well in my stomach. I shouldn’t be jealous, we weren’t together then. I’ve known he‘s had a past for a while now.
As if she can tell what I’m thinking about, her angry glare turns into a smug grin as if to tell me she’s had my man before me.
She leans in to speak to the blonde next to her and my stomach sinks again. Beth. Another one of Bishop’s old hookups.
Fucking hell. Now that I think about it, he’s hooked up with most of the puck bunnies on campus.
“You okay, babe?” Bishop asks, snapping me out of my own little pity party.
“Yup.” I beam up at him.
His brows furrow as he looks me in the eyes. Then his gaze flicks over to the girls nearby, as the guys he was talking to join them and he growls.
“Don’t,” he warns me. “Don’t you dare for a moment think that any of my past matters. They’re nothing, Lilly. They meant nothing to me. It was before I knew there could be something with you. They never stood a chance.”
“I know,” I whisper, a bit of my insecurities swimming around inside.
“No, you don’t. But I’ll tell you.” He cups my face again, staring deep into my eyes. “Everyone in my past were just people to pass the time. You have been the person my heart has always wanted. I was just trying to feel something when I thought I’dnever get the one thing I needed. But now that I have you? It’s as if all of that never happened. I found my home. You're my home. Mine,” he growls, crashing his lips to mine and leaving me breathless and dizzy before coming back up for more. “I love you. No one else. I want you. No one else. You're it for me. My end game. My forever. I’m sure someone out there thinks they will be the exception, that they can change my mind. But it’s all foolish thinking. Because no one in the world could ever make me stray. Why would I want anyone else when I already have my queen right in front of me?”
“Bishop,” my voice cracks. “You're going to turn me into a crying mess before my next class.”
Tears spill down my cheeks, and I don't even care that people are seeing me cry. They're happy tears.
“No crying,” he reminds me, brushing the tears away.
“I love you.” I pull him down for another much-needed kiss.
He stands and watches me as I head into the building, making sure I’m safe. He doesn’t leave, not even as I head deeper inside.
As I head into my class, I take a seat, grinning like a fool.
I don’t understand a single thing that's spoken about because all I can think about is Bishop and what he said.
Everything's going to be okay. I’m going to be okay. I just know it.
It’s about damn time.
Chapter 8
Bishop