Page 28 of Our Hearts to Break

This isn’t just a kiss.

He’s claiming me.

“Tu es à moi,” River says between kisses, breathless as he mutters, “Je suis à vous.”

I love it when he speaks French to me. The words sound sexier when he says them, but I have no idea what they mean.

This time, I need to know.

I steal my lips from his and smile, a real one that activates every muscle in my face. “Say it again, this time in English.”

“You aremine,” he says in that deep, primal tone that fills my veins with fire, his green eyes laser-focused on me. I amyours.”

A flush of heat spreads from my cheeks to my toes, filling me from the inside out. River is not just mine—he’s everything. He’s the reason I open my eyes in the morning, the reason I kept going during my darkest days. River breathed life back into me when I had nothing.

My cheeks hurt from the grin tugging at my mouth. I kiss his right cheek, then his left, and press another to his nose. “Fuck, you’re hot. How did I not notice it sooner?”

He smiles. “Because you had your head up your ass.”

“Give me your keys. I’ll drive us home.”

River stuffs the keys into my palm.

I steer him around to the passenger side and open the door, tapping his ass. “Get in. I’m taking you to dinner.”

River’s eyes light up. “Like a date?”

I roll my shoulders. “Sure, if you wanna call it that. We’ve eaten thousands of meals together.”

“Yeah, but this is different.” He sucks my bottom lip into his mouth and sighs. “We’re notjustfriends anymore.”

After last night, we’re far from it. There’s no returning to what we had before crossing the line.

“Which is good for me.” I palm his sweet ass in my hands. “I don’t fuck my friends.”

River laughs, and I love seeing his face illuminate after seeing him so damn miserable. “I’m your only friend, Nate. You’ve never had anyone else.”

“Didn’t need them. I had you.”

“You will always have me.” He moans as our lips collide. “I’m unsure about a lot of things, but not you. Never you.”

I give him a quick kiss. “Ditto.”

River gets comfortable in the passenger seat as I start the engine. He watches me the way he always does. Even as a boy, he stared at me as if I had all the answers.

“I have one more secret,” I confess as we exit the parking garage. “Samantha lied about her name. Her real name is Sofia Daly. The author of the book.”

River gasps. “Are you… what the fuck? Are you kidding me?”

I shake my head. “My dad sent me her picture earlier.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I was mad at you.”

“Well, I deserved to know. We were… Fuck, we trusted her. We just walked out of her dorm, thinking we were okay because… Wait, is the NDA still valid?”

“Technically, it’s not illegal to sign an NDA using an alias. But in this case, I think the contract might be void. My dad and his lawyers are handling it.”

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