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Eloise dramatically flops against the couch and sighs like she’s dying. “Oh my God, the kids were hyped up this week. I’m exhausted,” she groans, stretching and pointing to her bedroom. “I’m gonna hit the sack a little early.”

I smirk. She’s not being subtle about leaving me and Sage alone. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the red blush flashing across Sage’s gorgeous face. Her fingers tremble slightly when she presses play on the movie we’re about to watch. She sits as far from me as the cushions allow, pretending we’re going to do anything but forget all about the movie.

Winnie bounces after Eloise, but not before throwing a disapproving glance our way. “I’ll see you two lovebirds in the morning,” Eloise chirps, her grin wicked and knowing. “Or whenever you show up, Ian.” I rub my chin, not hiding my smile. I’m damn glad Sage’s roommate is on board with what I’m about to make happen. Her blessing isn’t strictly necessary, but it sure doesn’t hurt. I watch Sage, waiting for her to react, to protest, to insist this movie marathon isn’t some elaborate set-up.

“Uh, I thought she’d never leave,” Sage says, voice shaking a little as she keeps her eyes on the screen. Her face is flushed, a bright crimson hue that spreads across her cheeks while her fingers tremble slightly, betraying her nervousness.

She sits on the far end of the couch as if trying to keep some distance between us, but her eyes keep flickering toward me. She scrolls through movie titles quickly like her nerves are getting the best of her.

“What do you want to watch?” I ask, leaning in and closing the distance between us, swallowing her with my presence, feeling the way she reacts when I get too close. The way she gulps and then catches herself before she actually squeaks.

She flicks her eyes at me, too fast. “Do you like scary movies?” she blurts, as sexual tension swirls heavily in the air.

“I love them.” Usually. But right now, all I want to concentrate on is her. I reach for Sage’s hand, pulling her into the warmth of my side, feeling the way she molds against me. She turns on the movie I’ve been dying to see. Too bad I won’t see it tonight either.

The movie starts, but my eyes don’t leave her face. I wonder if she can tell just how fast my heart is thundering. If she notices my pulse in the movement of my arm across her shoulders. Her huge eyes blink at me, and suddenly it’s like she can’t get close enough. She burrows closer like I’m everything she wants and needs.

I let my fingers drift slowly, hesitantly over her arm, feeling her softness. Her closeness. I could not give two shits what happens on the screen. As far as I’m concerned, it’s an empty gray blur. It might as well be a snowstorm. This right here is all that matters, the way she breathes in and out, in and out, and the way I breathe along with her, getting a little wilder every second. Her hand is so close to my thigh, and if she can’t feel what she’s doing to me, she’s got less teacher sense than I thought.

Her breath hitches, and she nuzzles closer. I move my hand up to her shoulder, waiting for her to stop me, to pause, to say anything other than what she says next.

“Oh,” she gasps, so soft it’s not even a word, so soft I could imagine it.

“Sage,” I say, voice raw and unfamiliar. “Do you want me to stop?”

She tilts her head back, inviting me to capture her mouth with mine. Inviting me to take more and more, everything I’m desperate for. “I want you,” she says, or maybe I just fucking hear it, maybe it’s just what I need her to say. She melts and dissolves and evaporates against me, filling the air and then my lungs with the scent and taste and feel of Sage. Her name is all I can manage as I find her lips, capture them, and cover them as I move her up and over me.

I grip her hips and yank her into my lap, feeling like the goddamn luckiest man alive. She lets out the smallest, prettiest sigh, the sweetest moan, and when I catch her eye, she doesn’t blink or turn away. Doesn’t pretend this is anything other than what it is. Fire. Flames. She’s too goddamn hot for me but I’m ready to feel the burn.

“You are the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen,” I say, words getting lost between kisses, getting lost as her lips move against my neck, my chin, my earlobe. “The best fucking thing that ever happened to me.”

She makes this sound, low and rough and incredible like she is letting herself believe it. Like she is losing control and maybe doesn’t care.

“Sage,” I say again. “Come home with me. I want to spend the entire night with you in my bed.”

It’s just us, breathing hard and fast, the universe shrinking down to this moment in time. I know I’m coming on like a tidal wave, but there is no slowing down now. There is no putting the lid on this.

Sage pulls back, panting, a hint of hesitation flickering in those impossibly big eyes. I see it. I read it. I see her desire for me flashing bright and clear.

Her hands find the sides of my face. Her mouth finds mine. “Yes,” she whispers. “Yes, Ian.” Her lips find my skin, and she says it again and again, every way I’ve ever needed to hear it.

My heart goes absolutely wild, sprinting away from my body like it can’t handle the rest of me. I’m grinning and hoisting her up, off the couch, into my arms. “Holy shit,” I laugh. “I’ve been dying for this since the first moment I saw you.”

“Me too,” she admits, grinning right back, helpless and flustered, already pulling me toward the door.

I kiss her hard, turning the knob and my whole fucking life. “I’m never letting you go.”

I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her forever.

The steering wheel is slick from my sweaty palms. If I grip it any tighter, I’m liable to break the damn thing in half. That’s what she does to me, makes me this weird mix of amped-up Superman and wet spaghetti. Her fingers tremble in mine, and I ease up but not by much. “Is this moving too fast for you?” I say, giving her a look that says I’ll die if she puts a halt to things now.

“Yep,” she admits, shy but grinning like crazy. “And I kind of love it.”

Relief flows through me. I press down on the gas pedal harder, needing to get to my house before I pull over and fuck her on the side of the road.

I’m nearly out of control and I don’t care. Not with her right there, smelling like cherry blossom lotion over Sage’s underlying sweet scent. Her lips look kiss-swollen, her hair’s a little mussed, and the way she’s staring at me makes me lose my whole fucking mind.

“This is insane,” she says. “This is all I can think about.”