Page 53 of The Romance Rivalry

“You smell so good,” I say, not letting myself overthink the things I share in this moment.

“And you fucking taste amazing,” he says just before he goes in for more.

I’m swimming in a lust-filled haze and I don’t want to think about anything except Aiden’s mouth, his tongue, his body all invading my space. And how much I love it.

I pull back just a bit to get some air.

Aiden’s forehead comes back to meet mine. Like it’s his safe place.

Our breaths even out and we’re in sync, just like we were with our footsteps.

“You’re not as bad as I thought, Aiden Jeon,” I tease.

He smiles against my mouth.

“And you’re ten times better than I ever let myself dream, Irene Park.”

Now those are words I’m going to play over and over in my head for a very long time.

Epigraph

Dramione and Reylo fans, don’t come for me, but I’m a Merthur girl for life. They’re my ult OTP. And ifSwordInStonehas no fans, it means I’m dead. Thank you for the journey and finally giving us the last chapter. This fic was EVERYTHING. My heart has exploded. Please collect the pieces of me off the ground.

—@irene.loves.love.books

I’ve never read fan fiction before. I know, I know, what’s wrong with me? But since @irene.loves.loves.books raved about this one, I had to check it out. Merlin and Arthur? Never even saw it coming. It hit me like a Mack truck. Where can I find more of this stuff? I NEED MORE.

—@aidentheguyreadsromance

Twelve

otp—one true pairing

I stand frozen in front of my roommate as I watch her wriggle and writhe back and forth, stomping her feet in some kind of marching-band procession on her bed all while singsonging “It’s about time, it’s about time.” This has been going for the past, oh, four minutes, ever since I spilled the beans that Aiden and I kissed. I’m sure it’ll end eventually, right? She can’t go on like this forever, can she?

“And now Charles owes me twenty bucks because I told him it would happen before Parents Day. Hey—” She sits up and stares at me as if only just now realizing I’m standing in the room with her. “Do you think you can have your dad tousle Aiden’s hair and pat him on the back a few times and say ‘good man, good man’ to him? That’s our side bet, and Charles will have to cough up fifty more.”

“Great, my roommate and her boyfriend are making betson my love life,” I groan. I collapse onto my own bed.

“Well, the initial bet was to see who would win the trope competition. But when it became clear to both me and Charles that you two were on a collision course to falling in love with each other and the competition would obviously end in a tie, we had to come up with other things to bet on,” she admits.

“You two have an odd relationship,” I tease.

“No kidding. But it works for us.” Jeannette shrugs.

“I’d love to win you some extra cash, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to introduce Aiden to my parents, to be honest.”

“Why not? He’s great. They’ll love him.”

Will they? Yeah, I’m pretty sure they will. My mom would be gaga over his dimples and how cute he is. And the fact that he’s a readeranda writer? Done deal. My dad would be impressed by his height and stature. And that he’s a “Brighton man.” Win-win. But I’m not sure how Aiden would feel about meeting them, what with his strained relationship with his own parents. Maybe it would be too raw.

And what if he doesn’t think we’re that serious? Are we serious enough? We’ve shared one kiss. And absolutely have not defined the relationship. Without a DTR discussion, I don’t want to make any assumptions.

He could still think this is all fake.

While I’m here under the assumption that it’s turned very real.

“Isn’t it too soon?” I ask. “What if I try and introduce them and he thinks I’m totally overstepping and says, ‘It’s not like we’re getting married,’ and storms off??”

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