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“Didn’t doubt you for a second.”

His voice dripped syrupy-thick honey, filling in the cracks of every insecurity I’d patched up and igniting me from the inside. And I couldn’t tell if it was that or the undisguised pride shining in his eyes that scared me more.

The room spun and sounds blurred into one. The neon lights shone on us like spotlights, and the rush in my head made me dizzy.

Or maybe it was him.

The way he looked at me—like I was the most extraordinary thing he’d ever seen—made me never want to let go. Heart slamming against my ribcage, I curled my fingers into his shoulders, as if I’d fall otherwise.

I didn’t realise I was already falling.

When he set me down on my feet, his hands steadied me by the waist, not letting go.

Neither did I.

Face scarlet, pulse rabbiting in my throat, my gaze poured into his for a second that stretched too long. Then, my body arched in, and my lips pressed against his cheek in a warm little peck.

“Thanks for teaching me,” I murmured, the sound almost lost under Pri and Mark’s wolf-whistles that burned the sides of my neck.

His eyes pinged open and his breath caught sharply, as if seeing me anew, and I wasn’t sure what hit him harder—the gratitude, or the kiss.

I wanted to freeze time right there.

Chapter forty-three

Josh

The gentle rumble of the engine cut under the music as we headed back to the Academy, passing a lone figure or two and brightly lit pubs beckoning people in.

Night had fallen and lampposts flickered over the dashboard as the car sliced through the thick winter air.

We’d dropped Pri and Mark off earlier, after she’d nearly scared me half to death with a squeal to pull over.

Apparently, the quirky-looking shop with its lights still on was one of their favourite sweets shops, and she wanted to get him something for the train ride, something to “remember her by.”

I’d rolled my eyes at their antics as they bustled out, but Pri’s knowing wink before she shut the car door made me wonder if she hadn’t engineered it all.

On top of that, we’d won the competition—thanks to Mia’s strike—though she shrugged off any merit with the same stubbornness she’d resisted instruction.

I chuckled at the memory, and my gaze flicked sideways to find her eyes on me before they darted away, like a skittish animal.

“You can look.” I flashed her a half-smile.

She huffed and feigned concentration on the lights blurring past.

“You can even touch.” I smirked, pulling her hand from where it twisted in her lap and placing it on my nape.

A sharp inhale of breath and a tiny squeak told me she was deliciously affected. She stammered something under her palm, before her fingers brushed my scalp tentatively, then curled into my hair. I bit down on a groan and gripped the wheel a little harder.

Mia glued her eyes on the window as Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol played, pulling my chest into a tight pinch.

Though the side of her neck and ear stained a deeper red, she kept stroking through my hair, and I couldn’t quite smother the slow, full smile tugging at my lips.

My hand slid to her knee, pressing and squeezing as I let cruise control do its thing and tipped my head back a fraction, leaning into her touch.

Her fingertips stroked my scalp, and her nails scraped against it, drawing a breath out of me that sounded more like a contented sigh.

Eyes lazily focused ahead, I drove slow—slower than I usually would—stealing glances at her in the mirror.