Page 141 of Bitter When He Begs

He laughs. “Nah, you melted, dude.”

“I did not.”

“You totally did.”

Nate is grinning so hard that I want to throw my phone at him, but I launch a napkin at his face instead.

He cackles.

But despite my embarrassment, despite the way Nate is going to hold this over my head forever, I can’t stop smiling.

I pick up my phone again and go back to Instagram, staring at the picture one more time. I hesitate for half a second before double-tapping the screen and watching as the little heart icon pops up.

Then, before I can talk myself out of it, I tap into the comment section and type:

@sageblackwell: Mine too.

I hit send before I can chicken out.

For a second, nothing happens.

Then my notifications explode.

Comments start rolling in under my reply, coming in so fast I can’t even keep up.

@blackthornewolves: THIS IS TOO CUTE WTF

@killian.king: Holy shit, Sage actually admitted it? Is this real life?

@damien.moore: Oh, he’s got it BAD. Devereaux really got you in a chokehold, huh?

@eli.matthews: YOU GUYS ARE SO GROSS I’M GONNA PUKE.

@thornknight: Can’t believe we’re witnessing Blackthorne’s biggest menace become soft.

I groan, already regretting everything, but before I can even think about deleting it, my phone buzzes again.

A message from Luca.

Luca: So you do like me.

I roll my eyes, but my lips twitch as I type back.

Me: Shut up.

Luca: No.

Luca: You just told the whole world I’m yours. Let me enjoy this.

I shake my head, biting back a smile as another message pops up.

Luca: Wanna see what I’m doing rn?

Before I can answer, he sends a picture. It’s him lying on his stomach in bed, shirtless, textbook open in front of him, pen between his teeth. His hair’s still damp like he showered not long ago, and the look he gives the camera is part smirk, part trouble, all him.

Luca: Trying to study. Failing. Thinking about you instead. It’s a problem.

Me: Not sorry.

---