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I’m about to pull away when his big hand wraps around my upper arm, keeping me close. “Why, Summer? You pretty much wanted me to die earlier.”

I give him an exasperated look. “Okay, that’s dramatic. I was pissed off and being very slightly unreasonable.”

Connor strokes his thumb along my biceps. “I really like you, Summer. I like that you’re weirdly obsessed with school and that you smile every time you get near the library. I like how your eyes light up when you open your runes textbook. I like that youand Alice have bonded, though literally no one can understand why you guys are friends. But…”

Hisbutmakes my stomach sink, but there’s something about hearing all the ways he seems to have gotten to know me simply by being observant. He can only have seen those things while he assisted in that one class or maybe glimpses at lunch. How could he have seen so much in such a short time?

“I don’t think you like me that way. And I guess I’m going to have to get used to that,” he continues. His words don’t inspire truth in me. They once again prompt emotions that are completely foreign to me. I think Iwanthim to get to know me, and that is fucking terrifying.

Connor brushes his thumb along the inside of my arm again, and I know that he’s about to pull away from me. I reach up and grasp his shirt, fisting it in my hand and pushing to my tiptoes. I slam my lips to his, kissing him hard. Connor hesitates for just a breath before he kisses me back. He snakes his arms around my waist and fits my body against his, deepening the kiss. I can taste his desperate need, but he pulls back, leaving me breathless and wanting more. He really needs to stop doing that.

“This is,” Connor pants, “very confusing to me.”

It’s confusing to me too, so fucking confusing. This is so much more than I’ve ever done for anyone. Well, almost anyone…

Show me what you can do, Summer.

The memory tugs at me, and the echo of his voice makes me want to run and hide. Everything in me demands that I throw those walls back up and never speak to anyone ever again. Yet, when I look up at Connor and his sad eyes meet mine, the panic constricting my chest seems to ease.

“One date,” I say, watching the darkness ease from his eyes. The words make me uneasy, but something is pushing me to do this. Maybe I’m longing to prove something to myself.

He blinks in surprise, gaping a little. “W-when?” he finally stutters out.

“I suppose you’ll have to text me to set it up.”

Connor wraps me in his massive arms, bending to kiss along my jaw. My eyes droop in pleasure. “I meant what I said. Last night was the best night of my life until… until it turned into the worst,” he says, squeezing me to him.

I moan softly as he moves his lips closer to my ear. “The best?”

Connor nods. “Easily. I’ve never had a girl wear my jersey, either.”

“Unwillingly,” I add, a smile tugging at my lips.

“You knew what you were doing when you wore his jersey.”

“What was I doing?” I ask, quirking a brow.

“Provoking me.” He growls softly, and it’s the most feral sound I’ve heard him make. It sends a wave of heat directly to my core.

“And why did that provoke you, Morningstar?”

Connor nuzzles against my neck, his stubble a delicious rasp against my skin. “Two reasons.”

I reach up, tunneling my fingers in his hair. “I’m listening.”

He presses a kiss to my cheek. “First, Hector is a bad guy.” He kisses my other cheek. “Second, you’re my girlfriend.”

That word is like a bucket of ice water, bringing my fucking pussy back under control. I pull back and glare at him. “I am not your girlfriend.”

“Well, I was planning to ask you that night.”

I boop him on the nose. “Okay, listen up, Morningstar. This one date thing is under the proviso that you know we are, in fact, not boyfriend/girlfriend.”

Connor pouts a little, and it’s so fucking endearing that I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. What is hedoing to me? This behavior would normally irritate the fuck out of me.

“Fine, but we’re also not dating anyone else.”

Oh, here we go with the macho man bullshit.