Page 74 of Elusion

“God, yes,” she cries.

She locks her legs around me. I grasp the back of her thigh and drive into her until her body quivers beneath me and tightens around me. The combination sends me over the edge with her, all coherent thought gone. A strangled version of her name escapes my lips, and my muscles tense. I bury into her as deep as I can, not sure I ever want to leave.

I collapse next to her and lay my head on her chest. It rises fast, her heart pounding away against my cheek. She trails her fingers over my skin, sending chills through me, and I kiss whatever part of her my lips reach, unwilling to move. The longer we stay here, the better. Just her and me.

My girlfriend. My partner. My significant other. My home skillet. I couldn’t care less what she goes by so long as she’s my here, my now, and my Callie. And, damn it, she’s my beautiful meaning in an absurd universe.

Our uninterrupted week together ends with Callie leaving for Graham’s. All the time with her spoiled me, making me forget what I did on the weekends for the previous twenty-one years. Boredom only lasts a few hours though. A stream of texts and a few wildly inappropriate—and essential—phone calls occupy my time until she comes back.

After that, we return to our regularly scheduled program for school, but classes aren’t the only activity to resume. Every morning, I bring her a coffee, and every morning, she rolls her eyes. The ideal start to my day—caffeine and sass. Each day ends just as excellent—with her in my arms.

But before that can happen on Thursday, I need to survive Date Night. And not under the circumstances I envisioned.

Armed with a mirror, I engage in an epic battle with a particularly stubborn section of my hair that refuses to blend in with the rest. I rake my hands through the entire thing one last time and go with the results. Seriously, no one will ever notice.

A knock sounds as I walk down the stairs. Callie smiles from the other side of the threshold. I drag her inside, my lips on hers before the door latches. Eventually, I regain control of myself, and I lock my arms around her waist.

“Sorry, beautiful. You can’t just show up, looking like that, and think I’m not going to kiss you.”

“You saw me wearing the exact same thing a few hours ago.”

“I kissed you then, too, if you remember.”

The way her lips twitch says she does. “So, what do you have planned for tonight?” she asks.

I graze the tip of her nose with mine, affecting myself more than her. “A movie, followed by coffee.”

“What movie?”

My mouth latches on to her neck, and she hums out a sexy sound. To stop myself from throwing her to the ground—poor form and all—I pull back. “Something foreign and terrible with subtitles. The perfect movie to not pay attention to.” I grin when her eyes narrow. “What’s your plan?”

“Dinner and open mic night.”

Damn, her evening sounds much more entertaining than mine.

I lose her attention, her gaze traveling to the table.

“Did you buy flowers?”

“Of course I did. It’s Date Night, Callie.” I retrieve the bouquet of random flowers someone at the shop recommended for her inspection.

She sniffs them. “For future reference, don’t buy me flowers.”

I set them back on the table. “Coffee and jewelry only, I promise.”

She giggles as I dip her, kissing her much longer than necessary before bringing her up.

“Get your hands off my date, man,” Benji says, coming from the living room. “You have a little redhead waiting for you.”

Ah, yes. Felicia. She insisted on calling the two of us hanging out together Date Night and sounded so damn excited that I went with it. The annoying part came when Benji and Callie picked up on the name. Not only did they give me shit about it, but they also decided to enjoy one themselves. My best friend going on a date with her before I do, not unnoticed.

Hell, I still don’t even know if she thinks of me as her boyfriend. My revelation that I don’t care lasted all of five minutes. Since then, I refer to her as my girlfriend in my head and panic anytime I almost say it out loud. Lame.

Staking my claim while I can, I make a show of running my hands all over her. “See you later, beautiful.”

I kiss her with far too much tongue, and she smiles.

“Don’t get any ideas,” I say to Benji.

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