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“Exactly.” Giving my hand a small squeeze, Johnny pulled me up the last two steps to join him. “And Shannon’s never watched it.”

“Why don’t you bring the DVD down and we can all watch it in the living room together?” his mother called after us.

“What?” Johnny gaped. “Ma,no!”

They stared hard at each other for a long beat before Mrs. Kavanagh released a heavy sigh and nodded. “Fine, go ahead and watch your film, but keep your door open,” she said in a low, warning tone of voice. “Wide open, Jonathan.”

Without another word, we strode off down the hallway toward his room. Slipping inside, Johnny closed the door behind us and deftly turned the lock before leaning against it. “I am so sorry about her,” he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “She’s…”

“Only looking out for you,” I whispered. “It’s okay.”

“She’s smothering me,” he corrected, shoulders sagging in defeat. “I can’t move anymore and she’s watching me like a hawk.”

“I don’t think she wants me here, Johnny,” I confessed, chewing on my lip nervously. “Maybe I should go.”

“What?” He shook his head and stifled a groan. “No, Shan, that’s not it.” Striding toward me, he captured my hand and walked us over to his bed. “My mother really likes you. I promise. She’s just…” Sinking down on his bed, Johnny released a heavy sigh. “It has nothing to do with you being here and everything to do with you being up here alone with me.” Shrugging, he looked up at me and said, “She’s just afraid of something happening between us.”

I sat down beside him. “Happening?”

“Sex,” he replied gruffly, shifting his body to face me.

My breath hitched. “Oh.” Swallowing, I nodded. “Okay.”

“But that’s not what’s happening here,” he hurried to say, even though he leaned closer.

“Okay,” I breathed, heart hammering in my chest.

“We don’t have to do anything,” he added, voice thick and gruff, eyes locked on mine. “We can watch a film, if you want?”

“No.” I shuffled closer. “I don’t want to do that.”

“Are you sure?” His eyes darkened. “We could play PlayStation?”

“Johnny?”

“Yeah, Shan?”

I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, pulling back slowly to gauge his reaction.

“Shan.” He was watching me with a dark expression. “Shan…”

Feeling brave, I did it again.

A beat passed.

His pupils grew darker.

My heart hammered harder.

“Ah, fuck it,” he growled and smashed his lips to mine.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I scrambled up the bed, taking him with me. I fell onto my back, Johnny’s lips never leaving mine as his weight came down hard on me, pressing my body deep into his luxurious mattress. Unwilling to detach my body from his, I wrapped my legs around his waist.

“We shouldn’t do this,” he whispered over and over against my lips, but he wasn’t stopping and I knew I never would, as I attacked his lips with a desperate hunger of my own. The way he kissed me, as if my lips were the only thing that mattered to him in that moment, was addictive and intoxicating.

Sliding my hands from his neck to his chest, I ripped at the buttons of his black shirt, desperate to feel the heat of his bare skin pressed against me.

“Shan,” he groaned into my mouth, hips thrusting against me. “What are you doing, baby?”

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