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She spins, her eyes finding mine as her tiny palms slam down on my chest, the shock of the move forcing me to take a step back.

“Shut up. Just shut up,” she growls. “I’m sick of you telling me what I should do, what I should think. When you pull this ‘I don’t deserve you’ shit and pull away, you’re no better than them out there trying to control my life.

“Don’t you think I’m able to make my own fucking decisions? To come to my own conclusions about who is and isn’t worthy of my time? Of my love?”

All the air rushes from my lungs as she says those final words.

“I’m in l-love with you, Calli,” I blurt. “I-I have been f-for a long fucking t-time. Y-you’re it f-for m-me. The only one I’ve ever s-seen. The only one I’ve e-ever wanted.”

She melts before me. All her anger from before washes away the second my words hit her ears.

“So trust me to know what I want too,” she whispers. “Stop putting up the walls, thinking you know better than me. Only I know what I want, what I feel.”

I nod as she just continues to stare at me, my words still floating around us as I damn near bleed out all over the floor for her.

“S-s-so.” I pause, trying to pull myself together. Her hands slide up my chest until she’s cupping my jaw, giving me the strength I need. “What do you want?”

“You, Nikolas. I want you. I want the scary soldier and the vulnerable little boy who lives inside you and everything in between. I want your fear, your anxiety, and I want to shatter it with you and prove to you that it’s all in your head, because you’re fucking extraordinary.”

Her breath comes out in a rush and her bag lands on the floor as I slam her back against the wall behind her and crash my lips to hers.

“Fuck, you’re perfect,” I growl into our kiss before plunging my tongue past her red lips to find hers.

A groan that’s full of lust and primal need erupts from my throat as she eagerly falls into the kiss right alongside me.

Reaching down, I hook my hand under her knee and drag her leg up to wrap around my hip, but I still when my fingers brush something.

“What the—” I pull back from her addictive kiss and stare down at her thigh. “Fuck me. You just got even hotter.”

“Nikolas,” she moans, grinding herself against me.

“Fuck, Angel. I’m fucking aching for you. Spend the night with me. I want you in my flat again. I want you in my bed.”

“Yes,” she moans as I kiss down her neck. “Yes, I want it all.”

“Good,” I breathe, my lips hitting her pulse point and a smile curling up as I feel just how much I’m affecting her. “And then you can tell me what’s really bothering you tonight.”

She tenses, and instantly, it’s like those few words from me sucked all the air out of the room.

“W-what do you mean?”

I pull back, take her face in my hands and stare deep into her eyes.

“I know you, Calli. I see you. And I know this hangover excuse is bullshit. Something else is bothering you.”

Her lips part to respond, but a rattling at the bathroom door cuts through the room.

“Hello? Is anyone in there,” someone calls.

“Shit,” Calli hisses. “You can’t be caught in here.”

“It’s okay,” I assure her. “I’ll hide in one of the cubicles. You do what you need to do, then walk out as if nothing happened.”

“What do I say about the lock?”

“Accident? That you were on autopilot?” I shrug.

“And what about you?”