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I glance at him, unsurprised to find him already looking at me. “Me too.”

It is unlike me to seek someone out and risk rejection or even give someone the chance I’ve given Connor.

“I hope you know,” he twirls a lock of my hair around his pinky, “I beat the heaven out of Zach and Zane.”

The memories of last night threaten to overwhelm me. How it had felt to believe that he had used me, betrayed me for his own gain. I can’t go through that again and repress the thought, shoving away the emotions that so eagerly seek to strip the joyfrom tonight. Super healthy of me, I know, but I refuse to return to that place of weakness.

“Please tell me you filmed it. I’d pay to see that.”

Connor snorts. “Not this time, but don’t worry, knowing them, it won’t be the last time I have to do it.”

We walk through the wards and into Camelot. It is the most perfect summer evening. Flowers bloom in large pots along the sidewalk, and the air is still and calm. A bit like Connor, or maybe that’s just the way I feel when I am around him. There is an ease that comes with being with someone who seems to… see me or at least one version of me.

We arrive at the bustling restaurant, and Connor waves at the hostess. She is a student from Avalon and chats animatedly with him as she leads us through the main restaurant and past a curtain to our table. There are fewer booths back here, and soft music wraps around us. Lit candles on each table create a lovely ambiance, casting an air of romance throughout the room completely different from the one next door.

We slide into the booth, and I smile at Connor as she hands us our menus. Connor holds out his hand, waiting for me to take it across the table. I raise an eyebrow and stare at his hand, unused to romance. Some would say I’m allergic to it.

“I won’t bite. Unless you want me to.” He winks at me.

I exhale and place my hand in his with a glare, though there’s no anger in it. Connor absentmindedly runs his thumb over my knuckles as he watches me. “You’ve never done this, have you?”

I tilt my head. “Eaten at a restaurant?”

Connor laughs. “Dated. With the plan of more.”

“More?”

“Of being… committed. Sometime in the future,” Connor says, holding my gaze.

“That’s not the plan.”

He smirks. “Oh, it so is.”

I roll my eyes and try to pull my hand from his, but he catches it and interlocks our fingers. “Nice try.”

I narrow my eyes at him, giving him my most intimidating glare, but he simply lifts my hand to his lips and presses a soft kiss to my knuckles. “We’re going to take it slow. Super slow. Just a kiss after the first date.”

I blink. “Wait, what?”

Connor looks down at the menu. “I’m starved.”

I snatch the menu out of his hand. “What was that about taking it slow? We’re still going to fuck, right?”

Connor blinks, releasing a small, strangled sound. “I thought you wanted to take it slow?”

I do want to take it slow. In fact, I don’t want it to be any more than what it currently is. But withholding sex isn’t taking it slow. I tug my hand from his. “You were knuckle deep in me like seven hours ago.”

The waiter clears his throat as he approaches. Connor blushes deeply as the server fills our wine glasses, but I just watch him, waiting for an answer, undeterred by the intrusion.

When the waiter leaves, a slow smile creeps across Connor’s face. “So you don’t want to take it slow?”

I sit back in my chair. “We’re not taking it anything. We’re on a date and we fuck.” I tilt my head, my smirk filled with challenge. “Are you up for it, big guy?”

His stupidly handsome smile just keeps growing, and he shifts around the booth, pulling me in closer to him.

Connor grasps my chin gently and leans in, his lips a breath away from mine. “You want to fuck, we fuck,” he says, his voice husky and low. Those damned butterflies surge in my stomach, but I don’t pull my gaze from him. “But I have one condition.” I quirk a brow, waiting. Connor brushes his lips over mine. “While we are. I am theonlyone fucking you. And you are theonlyone fucking me.”

I shiver at the small show of possession, at the desire in his voice. Fuck, why does that make me turn to fucking putty? There is something seriously wrong with me.