Page 51 of The Casualty of Us
The reminder of how he did exactly that gives me the resolve I need to continue, turning my head quickly between Marley and Holden. “Did you two finally find out who that girl ends up with on the vampire show you’re watching?”
“No,” Marley groans. “We’re still on season three, but I have high hopes for my man in the next one.”
“It’s never going to happen,” Holden scoffs. “You’re delusional if you think she’s picking him.”
“He’s literally her first love,” Marley snaps with far more heat than I expect, considering this is a fictional show. “Of course she’s picking him.”
“Yeah, but he’s the nice one.” Holden shakes his head. “They never pick the nice one.”
“I would!”
Ollie perks up next to me at that. “You would?”
“Maybe.” Marley spares him a confused glance. “I don’t know, whatever.”
“You don’t have practice on Wednesday, right?” Holden pushes his glasses up his nose while Marley shakes her head. “Want to start season four then?”
“Eek!” Marley’s screech is emphasized by the clap she gives. “I’ll get us snacks!”
Ollie shakes his head, grumbling. “You two are ridiculous.”
Holden pauses for a beat before smirking. “You’re just jealous you’re not invited, Oliver.”
“Ha!” I snort a laugh and beam at him like a proud mama duck. “Holden, you really are coming along nicely. Shots and snark. I wonder what—”
“O.”
I choke on the rest of the words in my throat at that damn sound again, blinking into space once before turning his way. Steadfastly staring at that same spot over his ear while tossing out innocently, “Yeah?”
“O.”
“Um…” I let a quiet laugh escape, cocking my head like I don’t know what the problem is. “Yeah?”
“O.” He leans in across the now silent table, voice lowering to something gravelly. “O, please just look—”
“Ophelia Fitzroy!”
The sound of Graham’s shout has relieved oxygen invading my lungs as it echoes round the mess hall a bit. Hayes’s eyes widen as I look away to scan the space, quickly finding where he’s standing a few rows away with his fingers hooked underneath the straps of his backpack and a smile on his face like this is the actual Christmas morning.
He lifts his brows at me. “You beckoned me, darling?”
“What the fuck?”
I ignore Ollie’s confused mumble, scooting out of my seat instead with a quick grin. “Sorry, my ride is here.” Somehow I manage to escape without making any kind of eye contact while tossing out behind me, “See you later!”
Then I add a little extra pep to my step, practically skipping over to where Graham is waiting for me with his bottom lip trapped by his teeth.
I come to a slow stop in front of him while cocking my head playfully. “Darling, huh?”
A quick chuckle has him releasing his lip and moving closer to me, raising a hand to the side of my face with his brown eyes probing mine. “You sure about this?”
“Yeah,” I breathe, reminding myself of all my carefully reasoned arguments over it and lifting up onto my tiptoes. “Absolutely.”
He doesn’t even hesitate then, bringing his lips down on mine with a light kiss that has me closing my eyes as a new smell invades my nose. Something ocean-like and rich with a clean edge. He lingers for a second before his tongue swipes across my bottom lip, and my mouth opens instinctually. Allowing him to deepen the kiss just enough that our tongues brush against each other before he pulls back.
“Well?” His eyes are nothing but amusement. “Did I make it look good?”
I manage to keep my lips up through the sudden drop of my stomach, but it still has me falling back onto my feet. “Carry my backpack for me to my next class, and you just might.”
