Feeling the end near, she slid her hands up to wrap around the back of his neck, wanting to be even closer.
That inch or two it gave her was worth it. She was able to smell his scent—not strong, barely noticeable. He smelled of fresh clean air. The exact opposite of Dominic, which subconsciously had her deciding which scent she liked more.
Kayne slightly lowered his head, his mouth daringly close to her cheek before he moved it to her ear. “You know I want to, right?”
Another thud of her heart.
The song ending had the gym roaring at the upbeat song that began next.
It wasn’t Kayne that pulled away, breaking their magnetic connection. It was her, smiling up at him as she did so. Then she gave a different ultimatum to a totally different man, praying for a different outcome.
“Prove it.”
Walking away, she expected him to stop her immediately. When he didn’t, it was hard for her not to look back, knowing it would make her look weak if she did.
With each step Maria took, the closer she got to leaving, the more she realized the outcome was going to be the same for both ultimatums.
When her heels clicked in the desolate hallway, anything she felt toward Kayne left, just how it had with Dominic locking her in the freezer.
Men ain’t shit.
Thinking clearly now, she could see that, if she was willing to risk it all, then so would he. Kayne wasn’t the only one with something to fucking lose. She had been willing to risk her family, knowing that, if they had decided to see each other, it could lead to so many different outcomes.
If her family couldn’t accept it, then would she have to emancipate herself from her father for good? And would that cost her, her siblings? Also, could Kayne accept her crown and the truth of her family if and when she would ever trust him enough to tell him?
All those things … no longer mattered.
About to turn the corner down a hallway to get to the front of the school, Maria felt a strong hand finally grab hers, sending her dead heart racing as she was quietly pulled into a dark room.
If she hadn’t been there before, she wouldn’t have known it was Mr. Evans’ classroom, and if she hadn’t known whose hand had a grip on hers, she wouldn’t have known it was Kayne.
The room was so pitch black that she couldn’t see the face that was now placed in front of hers. The only reason she knew there was one was because his hot breath was ragged and heavy as it danced across her skin.
Waiting impatiently for what was to come, her voice was the only thing that gave away her smile. “Is this it, then? Your proof that you like me.”
“No.” Kayne dropped his forehead to rest on hers. “This is.”
When lips touched hers for the first time in her life, she was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t that she didn’t expect him to kiss her, because she knew what was coming the second he closed that door behind them. It was how he did it—the softness with how he carefully captured them and just how tenderly he kept them that had her taken aback.
It was fucking everything a girl would dream of how to be kissed for the first time, and not even a perfect Maria could believe she was living it. The only thing that ruined it was when he stopped.
Placing his forehead on hers, it was obvious he hated to stop just as much as she did.
“How was that?” he asked through a smile of his own.
“Not bad.”
Maria gripped the doorknob, opening the door slightly to let in the light from the hallway. With the slight glow illuminating their faces, she saw his smile that hid the pain he felt from stopping himself from going any further with her.
Slipping out the door, her delighted expression, however, wasn’t faked. “For now.”
Twelve
A Caruso After All
The rest of the dance was spent being a good volunteer. Well, mostly. She might have looked at Kayne more than she watched the students, but that was okay. No one got hurt, got drunk, or did drugs … that they knew of.
She saw Leo standing by Jerry, waiting for her by the front door. They had been one of the last to leave the gym, waiting for all the students to head out first.
“Who is that talking with Leo?”
“That’s Jerry, my … cousin,” she lied through her teeth. “I never learned to drive, so he’s picking us up.” That part, however, wasn’t a lie.
“I thought I saw him sitting there earlier.”
Christ. “Yeah, well, after the wedding, my dad got a little spooked, so he wants someone close by us for a while.”
Kayne didn’t look away from where her brother and Jerry were standing. “Did they catch who did it?”