“You’re the most perfect goddamn girl on the planet, sweetheart. I’m going insane for you and I don’t give a damn.” He leans his forehead against mine. “Keep it up and I’m going to keep you forever.”

“Promise?”

He kisses me hard, letting me feel the promise in his unspoken word. Callum Park wants me. Really, really wants me. Not for some quick fuck, but forever.

“I have to tell you something,” I murmur. “It’s probably stupid, but I don’t have anyone else to share these things with.”

“Oh no, did you get a B in one of your classes?”

His teasing is so youthful and sweet, I nearly give in and ignore what I wanted to tell him in order to preserve his good mood.

“It’s about Levi,” I admit.

This sobers him up. He transforms from playfully smiling to glaring. “Did he hurt you?”

“Not exactly, no. He just scared me.”

Callum’s teeth grind together noisily. If he keeps it up, he’s going to crack them. “Go on.”

So, I tell him the story of him waiting in my room after my shower, his hunting me down at the library, and then the manhandling. By the time I finish, Callum is seething.

“I’m going to fucking kill that piece of shit.”

I grab hold of his tie, pulling him closer to me. “You can’t. He’s seventeen. You’re his teacher. I can handle him for now.”

“For now,” he growls. “But what happens when you no longer can?”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask if I can come live with him and then I wouldn’t have to worry about Levi anymore. But then I think about Mom. All alone with those two freaks.

“I’ll let you know if he does it again,” I promise. “We can decide what to do then.”

“You’ll tell me if he so much as looks at you wrong?”

“Yes. No secrets between us. You’re my…”

The fury fades and he smirks. “Your what?”

“Boyfriend.” My face blazes with heat, a sudden unsureness settling in my bones. “Right?”

He kisses me sweetly on the lips. “Yeah, sweetheart, I’m your boyfriend if you want to get technical. And you? You’re my everything.”

His everything.

When he puts it that way, I don’t feel so alone in this world. I have a partner. Someone to count on and spend time with. Someone to sneak kisses with and trade orgasms in dark closets.

You’re my everything too, Callum Park.

Chapter Nineteen

Callum