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Waverly shook her head slowly but only needed a few moments to think it over before she drew in a long, bolstering breath and straightened.

“That wasn’t how I would’ve liked for him to find out, but I was going to tell him anyway.

And his learning has only made us closer.

It didn’t scare him off at all like you thought it would.

Which means, I won our deal. So my last condition for you to earn my forgiveness over the way you’ve behaved lately is that you have to accept the fact that Keene and I are together now and make an honest attempt to like him. ”

“Whoa,” I said softly, lifting my hands to intervene. “I think you two have already made enough progress for one night. We don’t need to push anything else that’ll cause her to renege on all that ground you’ve gained.”

Waverly cast me a scowl that reminded me of all those early days of getting to know her at the library when I’d irritate the hell out of her. “I don’t like the idea of her hating you,” she bit out.

“Well, I have a plan for that,” I argued.

“You see, I’m gonna play the long game: show her how much I care about you and how dedicated I am to you and that I would do anything to keep from hurting you.

She’s going to see how much I love you, and she’ll basically be forced to admit we completely belong together.

Trust me.” I shot her a wink. “This’ll work. ”

Waverly rolled her eyes. “Except you are far and away from perfect.”

“Wow,” I deadpanned, blinking at her while Damien and Alec snickered from their respective eavesdropping spots.

Until Waverly added, “Which is what I love most about you.”

And… I melted. Heart in my eyes, I went to her and took her hand. She smiled back lovingly, and I probably would’ve kissed her then and there, but her mother cleared her throat, breaking it up.

When we turned to her, it was me she was watching. But surprisingly, there was no hatred in her gaze.

“I waited all day to receive a call from the school administration and lose my job. But it never came.” Questions filled her eyes, but I didn’t answer them.

So she said, “I’ve never known Parker Ohrley not to make good on a threat.

He acts swiftly and without mercy. And when nothing happened, I…

” Her eyes softened as she watched me. “Did you ask him and Thane not to turn me in?”

I hesitated in answering long enough that Damien finally said, “Yes, he did.”

“He said hurting you would hurt Waverly,” Alec added.

I glanced at my two friends, irritated by their interruption, but Ms. B only reached out a hand toward me. “Thank you,” she said. “I can see now that you’re not the same boy you were in high school.”

I grinned. “Oh, there’s still plenty of that obnoxious kid hanging around. I’m sure he’ll still manage to annoy the hell out of you.” And ignoring her outstretched fingers, I swooped in to give her a huge hug that picked her up off her feet and made her squeak in surprise.

“I’m regretting this already,” she muttered moodily against me but still sent me a respectful nod when I set her on her feet and reversed back to Waverly’s side. “But I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt with Waverly.”

“Sweet,” I answered, looping my arm around Waverly’s waist and hugging her to me. “Does this mean I can call you Mom now?”

Ms. B spilled out a nervous laugh that said not in this lifetime .

But when she glanced at her daughter, her features softened.

“I think I’m going to go home now. Thank you for your forgiveness, Waverly.

I know I don’t deserve it, so this means everything.

You’ll never know how grateful I am that I’ve gotten to have you in my life.

And I’m so glad I get to keep you there. ”

Waverly let go of my hand to hug her mom. More tears spilled down Ms. B’s face as she hugged her back.

“Thank you,” she whispered again before pulling away and bending down to fetch the suitcase.

Except Waverly intervened. “Actually…” Biting her lip, she cringed before saying, “I’ll just keep that here with me tonight if you don’t mind.”

Ms. B straightened in surprise. “Oh.” Her gaze darted from my bare chest to my shirt her daughter was wearing that fell midway down her naked thighs as if she were just then realizing our state of undress.

Cheeks coloring, she swallowed noisily, but to her credit, all she did was nod her compliance. “Okay.”

“I’ll be back tomorrow after classes,” Waverly said, which caused her mother’s face to relax with relief and her shoulders to sag.

“Okay.”

Ms. B glanced at me one last time, and I really must’ve done some of my own growing up in the last few years because I wisely kept my dumbass mouth shut for the first time in my life. I merely nodded at her, and appreciating my silence, she nodded back.

As she turned up the stairs, Damien tapped my elbow once in congratulations over my win and followed her up, while Alec disappeared back into his room.

Left alone in the hall, Waverly and I shared a look before we both broke into similar wide grins and jumped at each other, hugging out our victory.

Leaving her overnight bag in the hall, I swept her up into my arms and carried her back into my room.

Kicking the door shut behind me, I pressed my brow to hers and murmured, “That was awesome. You are so fucking awesome.” As I carried her to the bed, I shook my head in awe.

“You could’ve ruined the rest of her life with a single word, and she would’ve let you.

But you rose above it and stayed poised and compassionate and reasonable.

Dammit.” Kissing my way down her throat as I laid her on the mattress, I said, “I want to be like you when I grow up.”

Gripping my hair, she pulled me on top of her. “That’s funny. I’ve always wanted to be more like you.” And she tugged my mouth to hers to finish what we’d started.