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  He flopped backward on the bed. Instead of looking me in the eye, he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I just spent the evening hoping you could recover your appreciation for the male species. So it seems wrong to pounce on you the minute you’re feeling okay again.”

  I leaned onto one elbow, looking down on him at close range. “The male gender. You are not a different species,” I teased him. “Even if you all act like it sometimes.”

  But he did not smile. “Sorry,” he murmured. “Not thinking too straight right now. I just don’t want you to hate me tomorrow. Because it wouldn’t be worth it.” He reached for one of my hands, taking it between his two, kissing my palm.

  I admired his long fingers. There was affection in his touch. I’d been basking in it all evening, whether I’d realized it or not. “I’m never hating you tomorrow,” I told him.

  In answer, he pulled me closer, until my head came to rest on his chest. His long fingers skimmed my hair. I had only an oblique view of his face, and he seemed to be thinking hard. Maybe too hard.

  “You said something tonight about receiving a gift,” I prompted him. “That there was something a little magic about receiving something from another person. That it was bigger than the thing itself.”

  He chuckled. “Sounds like something I might say to a pretty girl I was trying to impress.”

  I picked my head up. “I think it worked. And if I tell you one more time that you’re thinking too much, will you believe me?” I hiked myself up farther onto his chest, looking down into his face. And then I waited to hear his answer.

  Chapter 12

  Andy

  I opened my eyes and looked up into Katie’s stunning face. Her smile wasn’t naughty like it had been before. It was happy. Somehow, on this bonkers night, I’d made her happy. And no matter what happened next, that felt like a big victory. I tugged her head back down on my chest. Her silky hair brushed my chin, and her sweet, fruity scent was doing a number on my self-control. “I’ve been told that before,” I said.

  “What?”

  “That I think too much.”

  “There are worse complaints.”

  “Mmm,” I said, kissing the top of her head. We were basically living out part of my fantasy life right now. Katie Vickery was lying on my bed. My desk lamp cast a yellow glow onto the wood paneling. From where I lay, it felt as if we were the only two people in the world. Seriously, Katie lying in my bed didn’t make sense under any other construction of reality.

  She sat up a little bit and finished unbuttoning my shirt. Then she kissed my neck, just below my ear. “You know better than to argue with a girl who’s undressing you, right?”

  “Yep,” I said immediately. Because I am not an idiot. Ask anyone. I was going to let this happen. Because if I didn’t, I’d regret it for the rest of my life. And everyone in this bed was there willingly, and nobody was drunk. Check and check.

  “This dark blue is a great color for you, by the way.”

  “Thanks.” And thank you, Delia. I grinned, wondering what I would find to say when she called tomorrow to ask how my date went.

  “…And your smile is hot,” Katie said, finishing the buttons.

  “Your everything is hot,” I said, sitting up. I ditched the shirt. And what the hell. I ditched the t-shirt beneath it, too.

  Katie’s eyes flared. And then she lowered her head, and began kissing all the recently exposed skin that she could reach.

  “Arrraaahhhrrrgh,” I gasped. Because I’m sexy like that. And because she’d begun working open my belt. And just the proximity of her hands to my groin had me throbbing.

  I reached for her, finally allowing myself to run my fingers down the sides of her satiny dress, past her waist, which fit entirely into my two hands. I stopped when her hips slid into my grip. Yesss. She felt amazing. And then she yanked on my pants, and my boxers, too. I lifted my hips and let it all fall away.

  Oh hell, pinch me. I was naked with Katie Vickery. Except for my dress socks. Because dress socks looked great on a naked guy.

  Fail.

  Quickly, I ditched my socks, and then wrapped Katie into a kiss that was probably going to last until New Year’s. And then she wrapped her hand… Oh, God. Okay. Nothing was going to last until New Year’s. Or even five minutes, unless I got a hold of myself.

  So I shifted away from her ambitious fingers and carefully lifted her dress over her head. But that only made me hotter. Because now I had a full-on view of the sexiest bra that had ever made an appearance in my (real) life. It was lacy and black, and my eyes were probably bugging out just looking at it.

  Katie wiggled out of a pair of stockings, revealing the smallest lace panties ever manufactured. Seriously, the physics lab up on Science Hill could attempt to split them like an atom in the particle accelerator.

  I think I stopped breathing.

  My brain took a sabbatical to Tahiti.

  Chapter 13

  Katie

  Okay, who knew I’d become a basketball fan tonight?

  After his big hands scooped my dress up over my head, Andy stretched, elongating that powerful torso as he reached over his head. I was almost too busy drooling over his tight chest to notice that he’d taken care to lay my dress over the chair.

  I reclined on the bed, and Andy propped himself up on his elbows over my body. Dropping his head, he began to trace the outline of my strapless it-fits-under-every-dress bra with his tongue.

  My modest cleavage had never been my best attribute. But as he kissed me, Andy made the kind of low, happy noise of a man who had just been given exactly what he craved. And as if that wasn’t sexy enough, he raised his eyes to mine, his expression burning hot. I didn’t know if he was asking for permission or merely trying to torture me. But I’d never felt quite like the center of someone’s universe before. The slow slide of his lips coupled with that heated gaze had me tingling. Everywhere.

  His lips skimmed lower, and then lower still. He began dropping soft, open-mouthed kisses just at the top of my panties. He lifted those eyes again, and the coal-dark stare was back, its intensity redoubled. I began to practically squirm with desire. In a second, I was probably going to start begging. At last, he dropped his mouth onto the lace between my legs and kissed me gently. All without breaking eye contact.

  I was almost too turned on to care that there was only enough friction to make promises, not to deliver. The sight of his lean, muscular shoulders and biceps framing my legs was something I won’t soon forget. I panted while he teased me with the barest touch. And when he pressed his lips against my body and groaned, I thought I would die.

  Okay, enough with the teasing.

  I plunged my fingers into his hair, then gave his head a little tug. He came willingly, all that firm skin and muscle covering me like I wanted it to. And then we were kissing again, so deeply that I tasted more of Andy than of myself.

  The heavy beat of a dance tune began to pulse on the other side of Andy’s wall. For a second I was under the illusion that the sound was my own heartbeat, amplified. Because I was throbbing. Everywhere. And then — hallelujah — he hooked the bikini strap of my panties with one thumb and dragged them down.

  We made out with incredible urgency, as if a meteor were about to obliterate the earth. Our two bodies moved together, the hot beat of his neighbor’s music urging us on.

  “Katie,” Andy breathed between kisses. “Should I find a…”

  I gave him one more hard kiss, and then a shove on the shoulder to encourage him. “Go. Hurry.”

  He was up like a shot and rifling through his top dresser drawer. But after ten seconds of fervent scraping around, I began to get nervous. It was all well and good to be with the sweet sort of guy who didn’t expect you to put out. But when push was ready to come to shove, having the necessary equipment was awfully important.

  Luckily, he found what he was looking for.

  A half second later, Andy was back on the bed and sheathing himself with hands so eager tha
t they shook. I saw him take a deep breath and gather himself together. Instead of climbing on top of me, though, he gave me a little nudge and lay down beside me, pulling me into his arms. He inhaled deeply again and let it out slowly.

  I trailed my hand down his chest. “Second thoughts?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t say yes.

  He shook his head. “No way. You?”

  “Not a chance.” But even as I said it, I had the first quiver of uncertainty I’d ever experienced just before sex. A little voice in my head said: Really, Katie? Shouldn’t you feel shame for this? Other girls would.

  This stopped me for perhaps two seconds.

  Oh, shut up! I ordered that voice. Those other girls didn’t know what they were missing. I was not going to let The Football Player Who Shall Not Be Named ruin this moment for me.

  Andy shifted into position over me again. But he didn’t make it happen yet. Instead, he lifted his long hand to cup my face, and he kissed my forehead tenderly. “I’ve had a thing for you since the first art history lecture,” he said.

  “What?” With all his warm skin over me, it was hard to track any conversation.

  “You sat in front of me with a friend,” he whispered, kissing my nose. “You told her you’d always wanted to visit the Louvre and the Prado. But you were happy to take the course first. You were wearing a pink t-shirt and a denim skirt. Your friend was looking at Facebook for the whole lecture. But not you. You took notes. Your hair was held back in a pink scrunchie, and I wanted to pull that out and let your hair fall down loose.”

  Somewhere in the middle of that little speech I’d stopped breathing. “Wow,” I gasped. I was blown away. Gone.

  Above me, Andy just smiled. “But no pressure, right?”

  Looking up at him, I giggled suddenly. And all the tensions of the evening fizzed up, shaking my stomach with laughter. For a second I thought that I was going to totally lose it, the way that laughter sometimes grabs a hold of you and won’t let go. It was entirely possible that I was about to become hysterical.

  But Andy just smiled wider. Then he lowered his grin to my jaw and kissed me there. And then he kissed the sensitive spot under my ear. And my neck. And my collarbone.

  The laughter died in my throat, and I relaxed onto the bed.

  “Is this okay?” he whispered, bringing his body close to mine.

  “Yesss…” I breathed.

  As he fitted us together, Andy groaned like a man in pain. But he moved like a man in love.

  I wrapped my arms around him, drinking in his kisses.

  “Katie…” he whispered, his breath catching. And the sound of it was the same sound you’d make if you’d just unwrapped an unexpected gift and found just what you’d wanted inside.

  Chapter 14

  Andy

  Oh Jesus. Pinch me. Seriously.

  This couldn’t really be happening. Not to me. In fact, any minute now I was going to wake up in some library somewhere, face down in a puddle of my own drool. With my physics notes pasted to my face. And when they peeled off, I’d have equations tattooed all over my cheek in blue ink.

  A good dream was the only plausible explanation for this moment.

  And why the fuck was I thinking about physics notes right now? I needed to memorize this moment. Because if it was really happening, then the world was probably ending. Maybe there was a rip in the space-time continuum. Which meant that the polarity of the earth was in jeopardy. And… um…

  Ohhh…

  Wow.

  Ohhh…

  Wow.

  Jeez…

  Wow.

  This.

  This is…

  So much wow.

  Chapter 15

  Katie

  Beautiful creature

  A single bead of sweat at your neck

  Your agonized huff of breath

  As you try to hold yourself back

  * * *

  We have brought each other here

  To this place of slicked skin against skin

  Torturing each other so perfectly

  * * *

  “More,” I beg you, because I can’t help myself

  And you close your eyes with gratitude

  For this pretty moment

  Chapter 16

  Andy

  Oh.

  Oh yeah. Oh boy.

  Yesyesyesyesyes.

  More? Rawr…

  Wow. Good. Too good. Red zone, here.

  DANGER.

  Quick! Picture Mrs. Dunlop’s neck. Warty 5th grade teacher to the rescue!

  Okay. I’ve got this. Except… Oh my God. Oh… wow. Just… so sexy. So sexy. I’ve never made anyone moan before. Oh, that sound. Oh, hell. It’s coming, and it’s going to be good.

  But is she going to…? I need her to…

  Oh God, please let her just…

  Time for a Hail Mary maneuver. Maybe if I reach down and touch her there. Wait… how do guys do this? My arm is stuck. I can’t get out of my own way. Wait. Okay. Right there.

  Winning! Yeah!

  Almost.

  C’mon, Seabiscuit!

  But… ahhhgghhmmm. Feels incredible for me, too.

  Mayday! This train is pulling out of the station.

  Can’t. Hold. Out. Much. Longer.

  Chapter 17

  Katie

  The look on your face

  Sweet and intense

  Shreds my heart

  Now I’m tilting fast

  And spinning hard

  All of me

  Is lost to you

  Chapter 18

  Andy

  COMPLETE LOSS OF BRAIN FUNCTION

  Please stand by…

  Chapter 19

  Katie

  For a few minutes we just lay there, breathing hard, while dance music continued to vibrate the bedroom wall. Andy’s face was stuffed half into the pillow, half into my hair. I could feel the rapid rise and fall of his chest against mine.

  But eventually the music stopped, and the silence seemed to bring the two of us back into focus. It was quiet enough to talk now, only I didn’t know what I wanted to say.

  Even for someone like me, who really liked sex, the part afterward was a little awkward. There was always that uncomfortable moment when your brain came back online and reminded you that you should probably untangle yourself from this sweaty boy and go on with your life.

  The realization that special moments didn’t last was always a disappointment. And the more special they were, the bigger the letdown.

  This one was kind of a doozy.

  Andy had gotten his breathing back under control, and was now playing with a lock of my hair. “Can I ask you something?” His voice was muffled.

  “Yeah.” Or yes. (Sorry, Mother. Though, come to think of it, after what I’d just done — stripping this boy naked and practically leaping on him — the use of “yes” versus “yeah” was a moot point. Right, Mom?)

  “What I need to know is…” he hesitated. “Do you feel a sudden compulsion to begin dating women?”

  What?

  “Oh!” I began to laugh.

  “Be honest,” he said, turning his head to show me his smiling eyes. “Do you have an urgent desire to run out for a copy of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition?”

  Laughing, I realized that this boy was just going to keep on surprising me. “Well, now that you mention it… I do find myself wondering whether I should date someone who shares my taste in lipstick.”

  First, he gave my ass a pinch. Then he pulled me close, and I snuggled into his neck. For a few minutes, his hands gently skimmed my back. But eventually, he smoothed my hair down and sighed. “I really don’t want to move. But I have to get up and get rid of this, um…”

  Condom. Right. I released him, though I didn’t want to.

  Rolling off the bed, he grabbed a tissue from the box on his desk, then stood in front of the wastepaper basket, his back to me. I used the moment to marvel at how long his legs were. And the fact t
hat he had a really nice butt for someone so slim. Go figure.

  “I should really go,” I said.

  When Andy turned around, he was frowning. “Oh, no you don’t,” he said, giving his head a little shake. “Not so fast.” He came back toward me, and I tried not to stare at his nakedness. There was something really sexy about that long, lean body. He was built as if only the best, most essential parts had been added to his frame. As if any extra would just be a distraction.

  On his way over, he snagged his boxers off the floor and stepped into them.

  I’d pulled the sheet up to cover myself, and now he gave me a little nudge to move over for him. Dorm beds were pretty narrow. But I scooted toward the wall, and he slid into the bed, rolling onto his side to face me. “Hi,” he said.

  “Hi.” I clutched the sheet against my chest. I was feeling very naked all of a sudden.

  “I thought if I trapped you in here, you wouldn’t go.”

  “You’ll want me to, eventually,” I pointed out. “If I’m still here a week from now, that would just be weird.”

  “Well,” he cleared his throat. “If you say so. But we could probably compromise on tomorrow morning, no?” Beneath the sheets, his toes wandered over to be with mine. He trapped the arch of my foot between both of his and gave it a squeeze.

  I didn’t know what to say. My football player boyfriends had always complained that they couldn’t possibly spend eight hours crammed into a tiny bed with me. “You won’t sleep well. And there are exams to study for.”