Page 145 of We Can't Be Friends

So unfortunately ticklish. Especially on my feet.

Cal goes for my other foot, capturing it as I squirm away. “Stop,” I say playfully, leaning up to swat at him.

“No,” he jokes back, tickling both of my feet.

“Cal. Oh my gosh,” I laugh. “Cal, seriously.” I can’t stop laughing.

My body contorts. Cal drops my feet, his hands finding my waist, and in one breath, I’m on his lap. My thighs straddling his.

“You are such a Slytherin,” he teases.

“Aren’t they blondes?”

“Not Bellatrix. She has dark hair. Just. Like. Yours.” He runs his hand through my hair, tugging it to bring my gaze to his.

I bite my bottom lip, debating if I should tell him I have her wand tucked away in a box upstairs. Aaron and I went to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios during the summer break following my freshman year. We each bought a wand for each other.

He, too, thought I was like Bellatrix. I opened the wand box he presented me with, and inside was hers. The curved plastic wood handle lends to a smaller tip.

I picked Harry Potter for him. I’d probably choose the same for Cal—blond hair and lack of scar aside.

“And what are you? Gryffindor?” I mock.

“Yeah.”

“So brave and bold and noble?” I tap his nose.

“Don’t forget passionate,” he says with a wink. His hands run down my shoulders to my arms, landing at the top of my waist.

“Wouldn’t know,” I quip back.

His grip tightens just slightly on my hips. My hips shift forward over him. I can feel the sheer size as he hardens. His irises become an electric-blue flame that I think might consume me if I let it.

And I think I want it to. . .

Simultaneously, our gazes drop to each other’s mouths.

It wouldn’t take much to kiss him.

Our faces are level; all I need to do is lean forward.

I don’t move, but I think he does.

But it could also be a hesitation.

“Cal.”

His eyelids close. “Dais.”

Breathes and minutes pass between us, the next episode starting up behind me.

Cal tugs at the hem of my shirt on my right hip. “What’s this tattoo?” He touches my skin, fingers trailing over my underwear.

“T-the ‘S?” I somehow say over my racing heart, beating like a galloping horse. Goosebumps flare where his skin is on mine.

“I saw it earlier.”

“Thought it was funny.”

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