Page 13 of Reign
“Didn’t you go on a campus tour before you arrived?” Nina asked, and he shrugged.
“Just a virtual tour. I’m here for the semester on an exchange program.” Before she could ask what school he’d come from, James flashed that roguish grin. “Come on, pass along some of your wisdom. What’s the best place to eat off-campus?”
Her reply was automatic. “Mulberry’s, butneverat happy hour. It’s way too crowded. You want to go late-night for their cheese tots.”
“Cheese tots,” James repeated slowly.
“Tater Tots covered in cheese.”
“Yes, I’m familiar with the concept,” he agreed, amused. “I just didn’t take you for someone who would recommend cheese tots.”
“Try them and you’ll see,” she promised.
“Fair enough. Should we go tonight?”
Behind them, the gate to the backyard creaked open, and Nina blinked. What was she doing out here, making vaguely flirtatious plans with a boy she didn’t particularly like?
Yet she didn’tdislike him, not the way she’d expected to. At the very least she’d become curious about him. And some unnamed force—the beer, or loneliness, or perhaps the way he smiled at her—seemed to have pinned her in place, right here on the concrete step, in spite of the fact that she was still angry about that kiss during the audition.
Nina hadn’t been kissed by anyone but Jeff in so long. He had wound his way into her life, taken up residence in herthoughts and dreams, and she wasn’t sure how to shake him loose. For years she had adored him and resented him, back and forth from one extreme to the other, and whether it was love or hate, her heart had alwaysbelongedto him.
Maybe she should kiss another boy, if only to banish the specter of Jeff that haunted her.
James shifted, and for a wild moment Nina wondered if she’d said that last thought aloud.
She sat back quickly, tucking her hair behind her ears.
“Nina.” James’s voice dipped low. She sensed that he was watching her very carefully, guessing the thoughts that whirled frantically through her head. “I’m not going to kiss you unless you ask me to.”
“You certainly have a high opinion of yourself,” Nina replied, though it lacked the sarcasm she’d intended.
She wanted to feel his mouth on hers again, and in the enchanted haze that had woven itself around them, it made sense. Before she could second-guess herself, Nina lifted her mouth to his.
James kissed her back eagerly. He seemed to crackle with heat, his palms singeing her through the fabric of her shirt. He tugged her forward and Nina found herself on his lap, her weight balanced easily on his thighs.
Nina had never expected to feel this again—the white-hot rush that used to blaze through her whenever she kissed Jeff. She’d thought that feeling was extinguished when they broke up. Yet here it was, and with a boy she barely knew. Who would have thought.
Dimly, she heard a buzzing from the purse at her feet. She ignored it, focusing on the feeling of James’s hands skimming over her arms, down the sides of her torso to settle around her waist. He knew how to kiss a girl, that much was certain.
Nina wasn’t sure how far things would have gone if her phone hadn’t immediately started buzzing again. Whoever was calling, they were insistent.
She broke away from the kiss and grabbed her bag, ready to silence her phone—but when she saw the name on caller ID, she went utterly still.
It was Sam.
She stood, heart racing. “Sorry, but I have to take this. My best friend is—” Nina broke off before revealing too much. “She needs me.”
James looked like he wanted to say something, then thought better of it. “Of course. I’ll catch up with you later,” he told her, as casually as if she hadn’t been wrapped around him just seconds ago.
Nina waited until his steps had retreated before she accepted the call, lowering her voice. “Sam?”
“Thank god, Nina! I was worried you wouldn’t answer!” Her friend sounded close to tears.
“Where are you?”
“Currently somewhere over Orange. I’m in a plane. Wi-Fi calling,” she explained distractedly. “I should land in about five hours.”
“Are you okay? Is Marshall with you? Where have you been?” The questions tumbled out of Nina rapidly, like gunfire. Before Sam could even answer she kept talking. “Sam, we’ve missed you so much. Everything is a mess. Beatrice is—”
