“Are you sure?” His breathing is shallow, and his whole body shivers as I kiss him to steady his lips.

I pivot so my body faces his, and I reach under the band of his shorts. His hair is coarse and untamed. I hesitate at the base—once I grab it, there’s no turning back.

Jack reaches down and quickly shucks his shorts then nestles back beside me. My breath snags as I stare at it, so long and girthy. It dances as his chest rises and falls. It’s soft and strong, a strained muscle that throbs in my loose grip. I grab the lotion on his bedside dresser and warm it up in my other hand before I continue. His body bucks as I bring him closer and closer to the edge. His toes curl, and he presses the back of his head into his pillow before clawing at my chest. As his moaning increases, his lips find their way to mine, and he’s kissing me, his tongue lapping at mine, which sends him over the edge, and he explodes on his chest.

Panting, he looks down at me, hooks his finger into the elastic band of the shorts he gave me to wear, and commands, “Take off my shorts.”

I love the forcefulness of his voice, and I don’t hesitate to obey.

He reaches for me and starts, slow at first, appreciating its form the way a sculptor might a marble statue. I let out a moan so loud, he laughs.

He lulls me to ecstasy, staring into my eyes.

On the brink, I hear a faint whisper: “I love you.”

Chapter 14

14

“So, Chase, what happens next with our short?” Chloe asks as Professor McPherson makes the rounds to each group in class.

“Huh?” My mind is elsewhere. I’m across campus, in Jack’s bed, shuddering as he holds me and tells me he loves me.

It’s been nearly four days since he uttered those words, and though we’ve spent nearly every day together since, he hasn’t said them again, not once, and I haven’t said them back because he caught me off guard. We’ve fallen into a rhythm of dining hall meals, library study sessions that are actually for studying, and making out when we’re alone, which has become extremely difficult because I live with three other guys and, all of a sudden, Rhett never wants to leave Jack’s dorm; Jack and I think he’s afraid of running into Benny. I get it.

Chloe clears her throat, and I blink to find her borderline enraged.

“Sorry, I’m—”