Page 5

5

Aura

M y fingers flew over the keys of my laptop as I listened to the professor drone on about psychopathy and what separates psychopathy from sociopathy. This portion of the class would be easy for me since both Tye and his mother were sociopaths. I had first hand experience with sociopaths, so passing this portion of this class would be super simple.

My phone vibrated in my lap, and I glanced down, spotting Tye’s name on my screen. My lips twitched with a small smile as I picked the device up and used my thumb to unlock my screen so I could read his message.

Tye:

Meet me at the coffee shop in the student center when your class is over.

Aura:

Demanding, aren’t you?

Tye:

Baby, don’t be a brat. Just show up, yeah?

Aura:

Sure.

I put my phone back down, then went back to typing, trying to catch everything the professor said while also grabbing the notes from the powerpoint. He was a bit of a hardass professor and thought putting his powerpoints and notes on the student portal would give us an excuse to not pay attention in class or to just not show up at all, so if we wanted to get the information we needed, we had to be there and actively present, not just off in la-la-land.

My phone vibrated again, and I glimpsed down at it, seeing another text from Tye. Quickly, I snatched it up and unlocked my phone again, skimming my eyes over his text.

Tye:

I love you. See you in a bit.

There was no containing the smile on my face. Fuck, I couldn’t believe he was mine . After years of pining after him and thinking he’d never want me in this way, he was actually my boyfriend. He’d made me the happiest damn woman alive last night when he’d confessed his feelings to me.

And to think, if we’d just been open and honest with each other years ago, we could’ve always had this. But I knew all things happened on their own time, and for whatever damn reason, we weren’t meant to have this until now.

But at least I finally had it.

I just hoped he realized I was never letting him go.

Tye Jones was stuck with me for eternity.

* * *

Tye was leaning against the wall when I entered the student center. The building was crowded with students and professors grabbing lunches and coffees, but Tye, knowing I hated crowds, already had my coffee and a small food bag in his hand. Almost like he could sense when I entered the building, he lifted his head and turned, his eyes landing directly on me.

My belly swooped.

“Hi,” I breathed when I neared him.

He handed me my coffee—a caramel frappe with extra caramel—and the food bag before wrapping his arm around my neck and pulling me against him. Lowering his head, he slanted his lips across mine, kissing me slowly and thoroughly. I moaned, wishing my hands weren’t full so I could touch him.

A wolf whistle had him pulling back from me, and he nodded once at one of his teammates that was passing us. “Finally!” he cheered, grinning at Tye.

Tye snorted. “Finally is fucking right.” He turned us, heading for the doors on the other side of the building. “Make it known she’s forever off the market.”

My cheeks flushed as Tye led me away. “Forever, huh?” I questioned, trying hard to sound unaffected by his words.

“Yeah,” he said, pulling me closer to press his lips to my temple.

I handed him my coffee. “Hold that.” He took my coffee back, and I peered into the bag, groaning with hunger when I saw he’d bought me an iced lemon loaf. “ Fuck , I love you,” I moaned, reaching inside the bag to break a piece off. I shoved it into my mouth, my eyes rolling back in my head when the sugar exploded on my tongue.

Tye snorted. “Did you eat breakfast?” he asked.

I’d stayed at my dorm the night before because it was closest to my first class of the day, and since my first class began at eight A.M., I didn’t want to have to get up earlier than usual. I hadn’t wanted to be apart from Tye, but he had to be up even earlier than I would’ve had to for his early morning run with a couple of his teammates anyway.

If I played sports and I had to get up early almost every fucking day, I’d have quit long ago.

“No,” I answered. “Got up too late, and I didn’t have enough time between classes.”

He sighed. “You should have told me. I’d have brought you something to class after my run.”

I shrugged. “Are we going to the library?” When he made a noise of affirmation, I smiled up at him. “You can just buy me something else from the cafe there. Better?”

He rolled his eyes. “Not nearly, but it’ll do.”

I laughed softly. “You’re such a grouch.”

He grunted. “And you’re a brat who’s hopeless at taking care of herself.”

I smacked the back of my hand against his chest. “Fucking rude.”

He spun me around to face him, and I stumbled, crashing against his chest. My eyes snapped up to his in alarm, and he lowered his head, bringing our faces mere centimeters apart. “I can be fucking rude , baby. Want me to be?”

Jesus fuck, he could be intense when he wanted to be. He usually hid this side of himself from me, but Christ , it was hot when he let it out to play.

“Maybe,” I breathed.

A husky chuckle slipped from his throat and vibrated through his chest, echoing into my own from how tightly he had us pressed together. Leaning in, he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, then sank his teeth into the flesh hard enough to make it bleed.

I fucking whimpered .

“Go find us a study room,” he growled, abruptly releasing me. “I’m going to get you food. Text me the room number.”

“Fucking tease,” I breathed when he stepped back.

He winked at me, a cocky smirk tilting his lips. “I’ll show you a fucking tease tonight. For now, we both have homework to do.”

“Asshole,” I griped as he began walking away from me, heading back toward the student center.

His deep chuckle floated through the air toward me. I lifted my hand to my bleeding lip, my core clenching when I pulled my hand away to find it dotted red with blood.

Fuck me .