Page 228 of Midnight Curfew

I laugh, coming back up and gripping his jaw as I kiss down his neck.

“Or in my father’s desk chair?” I ask. “Hm?”

“Or on my lawnmower.”

I can’t help it. I break into laughter, burying my face in his neck.

“That would be hot, actually,” I tease. “Just your jeans, no shirt. I always wanted you to take off your shirt.”

We kiss in between smiles.

“Iron did that enough for all of us,” he jokes.

“Yeah, I noticed.” I chuckle.

He jerks my chin up, forcing me to face him. “Oh, did you?”

My heart races, seeing the jealousy in his eyes. “Well, you were the one I was dying to see, though.”

But I can hardly contain my grin. I’ve waited a long time for him to be possessive of me.

“You know, I was worried you’d leave town while I was away at school,” I admit. “You were on my mind for a long time.”

I was dying to get back here to him.

“I might’ve been gone.” His voice falls to a whisper, holding me close. “But I kept finding things to hang on to. Seeing you from time to time over your last year at Marymount. Watching Iron get arrested and waiting for his return. Then your father’s threat to our land…” He holds my eyes. “I kept telling myself that I could go once one problem or another was solved.”

I dart my eyes to the right, to the parentheses drawn on his wall, next to his door. Solve the problem in parentheses first.

“That’s what that means?” I ask, gesturing to the symbol.

He just gives me a small smile. “Every time I hit it, I’d tell myself I was free as soon as I dealt with this or that. If I could find one thing to hang on to—one goal to wait for—then I could make an excuse to stay. Turns out I didn’t really want to go.”

“And now?” I ask. “What’s in the parentheses now?”

“Your happiness.”

No hesitation. No thinking. He just says it.

That’s his goal now, and fuck. I crash down onto his mouth, kissing him.

I didn’t think it was possible to fall for him more, but I’m going to love finding out. I feel like there’s so much more to know about him, and I can’t wait for every minute alone with him.

We hold each other, our lips brushing as we just stay there for a moment. I want to just crawl into bed, but we do have other problems to solve together.

“We don’t have much longer,” I warn him. “We have maybe till Monday to figure out how to get rid of my father.”

He sighs, releasing me and handing me a pair of Army’s clean pants. His waist is more my size. “I know,” he says as he kisses me again.

“He’s planning right now,” I point out as we get dressed. “I wouldn’t put it past him to set all of this on fire. Now that he knows what you have…”

“We have intel on him.” He hands me a T-shirt. “Videos of his affairs, deals with partners of questionable criminality, and white-collar shit.” He combs his hand through his hair. “None of it can put him away.”

He flexes his abs as he walks over to grab his wallet and stick it in his back pocket. I hold back my groan.

“CEOs only go to prison when they lessen shareholder value, Dallas.”

I fan out the sheets and fluff the comforter, even though it’s already dark.