“Nick,” I say, and my voice comes out so low that it doesn’t even sound like me. “I want you to kiss me right now.”

I barely have the words out before Nick’s mouth is on mine, his hands pulling me into him. This isn’t anything like our kiss in the shop; this isn’t the kiss of two people who are confused and under the influence of a power outage. This is the kiss of two people who know exactly what they’re doing and have all night to do it.

Nick grabs my ass, moving me in closer, and I slide my hands up under his shirt, then change my mind and reverse course, sliding my hand into his pants because, let’s be real, that’s what I’ve been daydreaming about for the better part of the year.

He takes in a sharp breath and I try to unbutton his pants to get better access. “This is why street clothes are a bad idea,” I pant. “This is far too much clothing.”

Nick moves his mouth to my neck and I groan; the groan only deepens when he slides his hand up my shirt—his shirt—and cups my breast, then rolls one nipple between his fingers.

“Are you trying to kill me?” I ask hoarsely, attempting to get his pants off. “Because if you don’t take these off now I am going to expire, Nick.”

He shifts on top of me, still kissing my neck. His persistent stubble tickles my ear as he says, “We don’t have to rush, Chloe. We’ve got all night.”

And suddenly, all thoughts of everything else—my family, the movie, my fight with Annie, my aimless life—float out of my brain, because there’s only room for one name in there on repeat like a stuck record. Nick Velez Nick Velez Nick Velez.

I use all the strength I have to flip him over and get on top of him, because one night doesn’t seem like so much time anymore, doesn’t seem like it’s enough time to do everything I want to do to him.

But Nick stops, puts his hands on my shoulders to stop me, too. “Hey,” he says. “Are you sure? Do you want this? Because we can stop right now if you don’t.”

This might be a bad idea. It might be the worst idea in the history of the entire universe, but right now I don’t care about a single thing except that Nick Velez is underneath me and I plan on staying in this bed all night.

“I want this,” I say, and before the words are even out of my mouth, Nick rips off my shirt so hard that buttons ricochet across the room.

Chapter Twenty-Five

I open my eyes to darkness. Nick stirs, pulling me closer, and I let him, allowing myself a moment to feel comfortable and safe and held.

“Good morning,” he mumbles, his breath warm in my ear and his voice gravelly. I am instantly turned on. Everything about Nick is a turn-on, like someone took all the individual things I find attractive and distilled them into one lethal person.