“Yes,” I hissed. “If you must know, it’s a guy. Now will you tell me why you were looking for me?”

“Is he hot? What’s his name? Is the sex good?” The way she looked was laughable – like a dog begging for a bone. I could indulge her curiosity without giving away too much, right?

“Fine,” I acquiesced. “He’s hotter than Hades, but that’s all you’re getting.”

Her mouth formed a pout. “I need more than that.”

“We’ll talk later okay? Like when he isn’t on the other side of my bedroom door.”

With narrowed eyes, Jade replied, “Okay, but I want details. I wanted to know if you’re free for lunch today. I have a two-hour break between classes, and I don’t want to sit alone.”

I thought about my schedule, and nodded when I remembered that I also had a two-hour break between my only two classes for the day. “I’ll meet you in the cafeteria at say, twelve-ish?”

“Sounds good. Now go shower, you smell like sex, and I’m getting jealous.”

I giggled, and gently shoved her towards the living room before I opened my door. It clicked shut behind me, and I found Dane lying on his side in the middle of my bed with the sheet haphazardly strewn across his waist. But it was his shit-eating grin that got me.

“Hotter than Hades, huh?”

I slapped my hand over my eyes, warmth creeping up my neck. “You heard that?”

The bed creaked, and I felt Dane move in front of me. He lifted my hands from my face, and pinned me against the door.

“Stop blushing,” he snickered. “I’m glad you like my body because I know for a fact that it likes you.”

I met his gaze, and the corners of my mouth turned upwards. “You’re such a charmer, but in case you haven’t already noticed, you’ve been inside my panties for the past week. There’s no need to butter me up with words.”

“I’m not buttering you up,” he replied. “Just stating a fact.”

I stretched onto the balls of my feet, and pressed a soft kiss on the side of his mouth. “My body likes yours too. A lot.”

“Good,” he exhaled. “I have to get going, but I’ll see you later?”

“Maybe.” I shrugged, playing for nonchalance. I didn’t want him to know I was waiting for him.

“That’s cute,” he nipped at my lips. “But there’s no ‘maybe’ about it, Kitten.”

He stepped away, and started getting dressed. When we were sure no one was around, he made his way back next door, leaving me with nothing but a chaste kiss to see me through the day.

JADE, ASHLEY, AND Grady were already seated at our usual table when I walked into the cafeteria. I placed my tray on the table, and sat down. When I looked up they were all regarding me, and the glint in Jade’s eye meant only one thing – trouble.

Well trouble and that she’d already told Grady and Ashley about our run-in this morning.

“Do I have something on my face?” I asked sweetly.

“No,” replied Grady. “But it’s so obvious you’ve been playing mattress gymnastics in the last twenty-four hours.”

Ashley laughed around her mouthful of grilled chicken. “Mattress gymnastics? Really?”

Grady gave her his best ‘yes really’ expression, and turned back to me with blatant curiosity etched across his face. “So, who’s the lucky guy? Do we know him?”

“I’m not telling you anything,” I replied.

“You promised,” whined Jade. “At least give us something. I haven’t had sex in weeks, and I’m pretty sure my cooch has forgotten what a real, live penis looks like.”

I choked on my soda, and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “You’re so crude.”

“Honey,” said Grady. “It’s sex, of course it’s crude. Don’t expect us to be prudish about it just because you are.”

“I’m not a prude,” I said defensively. “I just don’t feel like talking about my sex life at lunch.”

Jade placed her hand over her heart, and pretended to sniffle as she looked at Grady. “Our baby has a sex life,” she wiped a fake tear from under her eye, “I’m so proud.”

“You’re full of shit,” I retorted. I bit into my cheeseburger, and hummed. I was starving.

“Is that what you sound like when you come?” Asked Jade. She eyed me, and I realized she was serious. Typical.

“Oh my God,” I grumbled around the food in my mouth. “Why are you so damn inquisitive?”

“Because you bringing someone home is so out of character for you. I feel like I should be lecturing you about the birds and the bees while shoving the Kama Sutra in your face. This is a proud moment for me as your friend.”

“How come you never grill Ash about her sex life? Surely it has to be far more interesting than mine.”

“Trust me,” said Ashley. “My sex life right now is as interesting as watching paint dry. I don’t think I’ve ever used my vibrator so much in such a short space of time.”

I wanted to crawl into a hole, and stay there until this conversation was over. It was too personal for lunchtime chit-chat. Admittedly, I didn’t want to share any details about me and Dane because then it would it feel like what we had no longer belonged to us.

“Okay, let’s do it this way,” Grady piped up. “We’ll ask you questions, and you can choose whether or not to answer. From what Jade told us you were quiet flustered this morning, and I for one am dying to know who had you so frazzled,” he paused, and then puckered his lips. “Unless it was Chase. Then I’d rather not know because that would weird me out.”

Ashley’s eyes shot up, and looked at Grady dubiously. “Talking about your brother doing the nasty weirds you out, but you can openly talk about Kennedy’s sexcapades?”

“Well duh,” Grady flicked his hand, and rolled his eyes. “As long as Kennedy’s sexcapades don’t include my brother, then we’re good.”

Grady fixed me with his stare. “I’ll begin. Do we know him?”

I took a bite of my burger, and chewed in lieu of answering. That was probably the question I feared the most.

“Obviously she doesn’t want us to know who he is,” Jade huffed. “So we’ll skip that, and move on to the good stuff. Is he hung?”

I lifted my burger to my mouth, but not before she caught my grin. She could interpret it any way she wanted because I wasn’t giving them a straight-laced answer.

“Oh my, you lucky bitch!” Shouted Jade. “He is totally hung!”

I ignored the stares that Jade’s statement garnered, and focused on eating rather than entertaining their stupid game.

“Okay,” Grady spoke up. “Next question. Is he any good?”

Thoughts of just how good Dane was flooded my mind, and I knew my cheeks were reddening because of the images playing out in my head.

Me on top…

Him behind me…

Me beneath him…

Up against the wall in the shower…

Me in his lap…

“She’s totally thinking about it,” smirked Ashley.

Busted.

“It’s official,” added Jade. “I’m jealous.”

“You could have any guy you want,” I replied, opening my mouth for the first time since their stupid little game had started.

“Oh no she can’t,” Grady sing-songed. “The one boy who Jade really wants is playing the ‘our friendship means too much’ card.”

Jade glared at Grady, and Ashley cleared her throat, clearly uncomfortable with the turn our conversation had taken.

I looked at Jade, and gave her a sad smile. She didn’t need to say anything else. I knew exactly who Grady was talking about.

Ashley left and we made plans to have Chinese for dinner when we got home. Grady and Jade continued their silent stare off, and I twisted around to look at the other students just for something to do.

That’s when I spotted him.

A few tables away with his friends.

Staring at me.

We avoided each other at school, and when we happened to cross paths he treated me like he had before, only now it was less defensive. We simply pretended that the other didn’t exist.

His gaze was heated, and the upturn of his mouth made me wonder if he might’ve heard what we’d been talking about. I held his stare a little longer, lingering on the promise in his eyes. My heart stuttered and came to a halt when I realized that I cared about him. A lot. Maybe I always had.