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Steal me, I think.Definitely steal me.
But before his lips have the chance to graze mine a ruckus storms through the entryway and I instantly know that we’ve got company – by which I mean: the entire football team, the cheerleading squad, Madden, and-
“He’s been sixteen for less than twenty-four hours and he’salreadygetting his dick wet!” Hudson punches Tate hard on the back but miraculously Tate doesn’t move an inch, otherwise I would have been pancaked underneath his concrete pecs.
Tate twists around, a vein that I’ve never seen before bulging furiously in his neck as he glares down at Hudson. “Watch it man, I could’ve knocked her,” he grits out, and his hands move to compress me into his side.
Hudson cocks an eyebrow at him and then smirks at the guys around us. “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what you’vebeendoing,” he taunts. “Or at least, that’s what you will be doingtonight.” Hudson flicks his slits to me. “I’m sure you know what all guys do on their sixteenth, right?”
I blink up at him, my cheeks burning furiously at the attention, and his words settle uneasily into my brain. Confused, I look from Hudson to Tate, and then back to Hudson.
Today is Tate’s birthday?
There’s a kind of awkward silence as the group around us looks shiftily between Hudson, Tate, and then me, but it’s thankfully almost unnoticeable due to the noise coming from the hall. I’m not sure who needs to be deleted from this scene more to rectify the vibe: Hudson, me, or literally every single one of us. From the look that Madden is shooting him right now, I’m going to say Hudson.
Tate jerks his chin. “So where’syourdate, man?”
Hudson zones in on me like sniper. “Maybe I’m looking right at her.”
I recoil at the same moment that Tate moves me to the side, and then he shoves his palms into the planes of Hudson’s chest. Hudson stumbles and Tate grabs his collar, whispering something inaudible to him as he backs him out of earshot from the rest of the group. He keeps him away from us for about twenty seconds, before giving him another shove and then turning around, stalking back towards us with his hulking shoulders heaving. Funnily enough, the bizarre exchange seems to have sated the crowd of sexy popular sports people, and now they’re looking at me with impressed curiosity. Tate grabs my hand and pulls me to him as he says, “’Scuse me,” to the classmates who are in the crowd in front of us. Magically, everyone disperses to let him through.
Once we get into the hall Tate grabs me a drink and then spins me into the centre of the dance floor.
The past minute has confused me so much that all I can do is drink his offering and look up at him imploringly, the red lights which sheathe the hall making him glow like a dangerous angel.
He clutches my body to his and he murmurs into my hair, “Dance with me first. I’ll explain everything later.”
I tilt my head backwards and I notice that his eyes glint as they linger on my mouth.
“I like that, by the way,” he says, his eyes hooding slightly. I realise that he’s talking about my lip-gloss so I give him a shy sparkly smile.
He smiles in return and then he presses a long, chaste kiss to my lips.
Then we sway.
*
Tate leads me from the hall, down the corridor which homes a lot of the staff offices, and then out of the exit near the science bay. He walks us around the side of the brick exterior until we are almost at the other side of the lot. Madden’s Wrangler is in sight and we head towards it, the keys in Tate’s hand.
Tate opens the passenger door and retrieves his suit jacket from the dash, immediately easing me into it to shield me from the wintry chill. Then he sits me down on the seat, my feet dangling above the blacktop, and he rubs his warm palms back and forth along my shoulders, ready to explain.
“There are… a few things,” he admits quietly and my stomach twists nervously. His hesitance is scaring me. His eyes lock onto mine and he shakes his head, as if he’s reading exactly what I’m thinking. “None of it has anything to do with you, I promise, you’re the… you’re the only good part of any of this.”
He drops his head and takes a few moments to breathe deeply, calming down. I, on the other hand, am so anxious that I’m palpitating.
“It is my sixteenth today,” he starts, “and I know that it’s weird that I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t want you to think for a second about any of that shit that Huddy was insinuating. I don’t want that. I mean, I do – you have to know howmuchI want that, but also how much I want to wait for you, until you’re older.” He pulls a pained expression and looks away briefly. “Idon’t know if this is coming out right,” he says, removing one of his hands so that he can grip at the back of his neck.
I nod up at him encouragingly and he relaxes a little. “I understand, it’s okay, I… I’m sorry that I’m not-”
He shakes his head and uses both of his hands to cup my jaw. “Don’t be sorry, please. I literally just turned sixteen, and Iwantto wait for you. I don’t care how long that is. I want it to be with you, andonlywith you, okay?”
I swallow and make a little nod, hoping that he can’tactuallyread my mind because something about Tate telling me how ardently he wants to wait for me is making me want to rip all my clothes off right here in Madden’s car.
“Is that what was bothering you?” I ask. “Because it’s honestly not a big-”
“I’m moving,” he says.
I stop speaking and I instantly still. My feet are no longer happily waggling over the step beneath the doorframe.
