He straightens. Lily continues into the kitchen once she’s no longer receiving attention. I hear her lie down with a sigh.

“It’s raining.”

I allow myself to study him a little closer. Note the darker droplets on the red flannel shirt and gray sweatpants he’s wearing.

“Okay,” is my creative response.

Holden saunters over to the sectional couch that takes up most of the living room. Sprawls out on the cushions.

The white t-shirt he’s wearing under the half-buttoned flannel rides up. My eyes are drawn to the strip of skin exposed like a magnet. To the line of hair and glimpse of abs.

Based on the grin that’s spreading across his face, my ogling isn’t all the subtle. Holden tucks one arm behind his head, the damn dimple that rarely appears indenting his left cheek. “Come here.”

I don’t even hesitate. My responses are skewed when it comes to Holden. Always have been. And it’s come into starker contrast these past couple of weeks. I thought I’d gotten over him—thought high school was enough time to move past a childish crush.

If the thundering heartbeat in my chest is any indication, it wasn’t. Heartbeats don’t lie the way heads can.

Holden is taking up most of the couch. There’s nowhere to sit next to him. So, in a move that surprises the both of us, I crawl right on top of him, only stopping when my chin is resting on his chest. His hands slide up my bare legs to cup my butt, pulling me snug against his body.

I bite my bottom lip, excitement and apprehension warring within me. This is him winning our battle of wills left over from the courtyard. Me admitting that last weekend meant something, that it wasn’t a momentary lapse.

“Sydney is asleep?”

“Yeah. She passed out during the movie.”

“Were you waiting up for me, flower?”

The nickname sounds different when I’m lying on top of him. When I can feel his dick against my thigh. Not just familiar or teasing. Intimate.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Not what I asked.” Holden shuffles us, moving me to the side and then rolling over me. We’ve swapped positions, him hovering over me while I lie on the soft cushions.

I open my mouth to ask what he’s doing. Nerves and giddiness swirl inside of me as his hands slide up from my waist and under my shirt. Words exhale on a gasp as his lips lower, teasing the skin just beneath my jaw. His hot tongue licks a stripe along the skin before he sucks it into his mouth.

“Don’t—I can’t—my parents—Maggie—Sydney.”