Page 9

“It’s okay. Give me a minute. I’ll get everything printed out for you, Connor. Take a seat,” she says, nodding to the row of single chairs by the glass wall.

“Thank you,” I reply before walking over. The moment I sit down, the door opens. I don’t bother looking up. I don’t know anyone but my cousin. But then I hear a voice. Her voice, and that has my head snapping up straight.

My eyes travel from her feet, up the back of her legs. The hem of her skirt stopping mid-thigh. I don’t need to see what’s underneath it, though. I already know. That’s a picture I won’t be forgetting in a hurry.

“Miss Valentino, I can’t change your class. I’m sorry. There just aren’t any others with vacancies,” the lady says to Aurora. Idon’t need to see her face to know it’s her, but I do need to check my hearing.

Did she just say Valentino? As in, the Valentinos? The ones I’m supposed to be staying away from?

Fuck me. Another streak of bad luck and it’s not even lunchtime yet, seeing as the one good thing I’ve found in this city is the very definition of forbidden fruit.

I stand from my chair and walk over to the desk, stopping right behind her. Close enough that I know she’s aware of my presence. She’s just doing her best to ignore it. I can see it, though. Her chest rising and falling hard. Her cheeks flushed.

“There has to be something. Do I need to call my lawyer?” Aurora says, which has me laughing. Who the fuck calls their lawyer over a class schedule?

“Miss Valentino, I’m sorry, but there really is nothing I can do. But please, have your father call me if you must,” the receptionist says.

“Fine. I’ll have to suffer through it.” Aurora huffs and spins around. Her brows go up, and her palms land on my chest, pushing me backwards. “Have you ever heard of personal space? Jeez,” she growls—yes, she fucking growls at me.

My hand reaches out, locking around her wrist before she can get away. “Hold up. I could use a friendly face to show me where my first class is.” I smile at her, even though she’s glaring at me.

“What about this?” She waves a finger around her perfectly made-up face. “Says friendly?”

“Here you go, Connor. Welcome to New York Prep. I can have someone come and help you out for the day if you’d like,” the receptionist asks while handing over a pile of papers.

“Oh, no, that won’t be necessary, ma’am. Aurora and I are old friends, aren’t we,mo mhuirnín?” I grin.

“I don’t know you,” Aurora spits out. Looking over my shoulder at the receptionist, she smiles. “I’ll show him to class, Miss.” She twists her arm until I have no choice but to let go and then proceeds to storm out of the student services office.

I catch up to her in the hallway. “I didn’t take you for a scaredy cat, kitten.”

Aurora stops dead in her tracks. She turns on her heels with her hands firmly on her hips. Her head tips back and those red fucking lips, the same red as on the soles of her shoes, pout. “I. Am. Not. Scared. Of. You,” she says, annunciating each word slowly.

“Then why are you running away? Again?”

“Ever thought maybe I just don’t like you?” she asks.

“Nope, you like me plenty. More than you should actually,” I tell her.

“You’re a cocky asshole. I don’t like you,” she says.

“You liked me the other night. Need a little reminder of just how much you liked me, sweetheart?” I look past her and spot a closet.That’ll do.

“Don’t even think about it. I don’t know what kind of girl you think I am, but I am not the kind you drag into a janitor’s closet. What’s your first class? I’d like to be done with this encounter now.” Aurora extends a hand towards me.

“First, I wasn’t going to drag you into a dirty janitor’s closet. Second, my first class is AP Math. And third, we are far from done with this conversation,” I tell her, leaning in until my lips press against her ear. “I can still taste your innocence on my tongue and I want more.”

Aurora’s breath hitches. She takes a step back and shakes her head. “I didn’t take you for being smart, but whatever. It’s over there,” she says, pointing to a door to our left. “Oh, and my cousin Dante is in that class. You should tell him everything you did to me the other night. He’d love to hear it.”

“You think I won’t?”

“Oh, I want you to.” She smiles sweetly. “Nothing like having someone else do your dirty work for you.”

I laugh. “See you round,mo mhuirnín!”

“Connor, if you see me in these halls, and there are actual people around, you do not know me. We’ve never met. And if you go around suggesting otherwise, I’ll make sure every girl here knows exactly how… disappointing you were in the sack.”

My lips tip up. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I don’t kiss and tell.” I lift one shoulder. “I don’t need to.”