Fuck, she’s too adorable. I nip at her bottom lip, sucking it into my mouth to soothe the sting I just caused. “That’s what you do with your boyfriend. Morning breath and all.”
Her brows lower in a little frown. “Boyfriend?”
It’s my turn to tense up. “Yeah, boyfriend. That’s the job description for someone you regularly go out on dates with and hopefully have sex with.”
She’s holding her breath, uncertainty marring her face.
I think I know why. “Do you want to be my girlfriend, Zee?”
“Yes.” It’s the first thing that comes out of her mouth. “But…”
I expected that. “But you also have feelings for Chance and Ares.”
She nods.
My possessive nature wars with what I think I should do. In the end, I know it’s the only way I can have a real shot with her, so I say what’s on my mind. “That isn’t a deal breaker. At least, not yet. Remember we said you could see both me and Chance and figure out whom you wanted? That hasn’t changed. The boyfriend label means that I’m going to date just you. And that anyone except Chance and Ares is off-limits.”
“But they?—”
I silence her with a finger on her lips. “The fact that your parents expect you to act like you’re siblings doesn’t change whatthey want. I know them as well as I know myself. They aren’t going to stay away from you, no matter what Scott says. If you choose me, I want it to be because you’re sure. Not because they’re out of the picture. But there’s no reason we shouldn’t be together while you figure things out with them.”
She considers my words. “Ok. Then, yes. I want to be your girlfriend more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
I dip my head to get a taste of her lips and seal the deal. “We should plan our second date, so that we have a bedroom, and the whole night to ourselves.”
“I’m free tomorrow,” she smiles. “And I don’t have classes on Wednesday morning, so we can take our time.”
“How about my house, then? My parents being home tonight is just a fluke. But I’ll double check. We can order takeout, and I don’t have any classes on Wednesday morning either, so I can make you my special waffles for breakfast.”
Her smile widens. “I love waffles.”
“It’s a date, then.” There’s something else I need to know. “So if I hadn’t stopped when you told me it was your first time, would you have gone all the way with me tonight?”
Zara traces my jaw with her fingers. “Yeah.”
The answer to my next question is important. “And am I the one you want to have your first time with? Not Chance? Or Ares?”
“I want you, Lev. So, yes. The thing about my first time is,” she shrugs. “I want it to be with someone I’m attracted to and who makes me feel safe. You fit that description perfectly.”
So do Chance and Ares. She doesn’t say it, but she doesn’t need to. “I’m not the only one, though.”
She pulls me closer. “Please, Lev, don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not as close to Ares as I am to you and Chance; so I don’t think we’d go there just yet. The thing with you and Chance is… I like you both so much. I’m glad you’re both beingso understanding about this, because right now, I wouldn’t be able to choose between you. Our parents might have ruined everything with him, anyway.”
Ok. She likes us both equally.
Maybe not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I didn’t want to take something she was going to give me just because Chance was out of the picture, at least for now.
A plan takes shape in my mind. I’m gonna be the last man standing in the end, but I’m gonna fight for what I want, even if it’s with my two best friends in the world.
I kiss her. It starts slow and sweet, but we’re like kindling next to a flame. Within seconds, our mouths are fused together, and my hand is playing with the little hard point of her nipple through her dress.
Whisper Point is a notorious make out spot in town, and it can get busy in the summer. On a school night, and after the tourists and the seasonal townies have left, we’re the only ones here.
I still don’t want to risk taking Zara’s dress off, just in case that changes.
I slide down the length of her body, kneeling down between the passenger seat and the car’s floor.
My hands feel their way up her thighs, lifting her dress as I pepper open-mouthed kisses on the inside of her thighs.