“I’d rather snack on you,” he murmurs.
I roll my eyes. “We can’t go back to your place again.”
“Why not? No one is ever there.” He grabs my hand and we resume walking. “I can call Peter. He’d be here in ten.”
I’m hesitant, not because I don’t want to get him alone, but more that I’m worried that’s all he wants from me.
Sex.
His actions don’t say that, but I also need the words.
Desperately.
Crew lets go of my hand so he can tap away on his phone. Sending a text to Peter, I’m sure. Completely oblivious to the war that’s currently raging inside my head.
The doubt pops up every other day or so, when I wonder what exactly Crew is doing with me, and how serious his intentions are. I should be playing the cool girl. The one who doesn’t have a care in the world, who knows how to keep it casual and never be too demanding when it comes to a boy.
But I’m not that girl, and Crew knows it.
By the time we’re in the back seat of the car and Crew is trying to kiss me, I push him away, earning yet another scowl for my efforts.
“What’s wrong?”
I chance a look in Peter’s direction before I return my gaze to Crew’s. “Is this all we’re going to be? Each other’s hook-up partner?”
“Is that all you want it to be?” he asks carefully.
I don’t want it all put on me. I need input from him. I need to know how he feels about me. I can’t make this decision on my own. This is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this, and I’m completely clueless on how to handle it.
“I—”
He cuts me off. “Because it’s not what I want. You really think I want you to be a casual hookup when I’m sending you Chanel lipsticks every day?”
“I don’t know how any of this works.” I feel helpless. Worse?
I feel dumb.
“I’ll tell you how it works. At least with me.” He slips his arm around my shoulders, tucking me close to his side, so he can whisper in my ear. “There’s this girl, you see. She’s sweet. Beautiful. I don’t know how she tolerates an ass like me, but she seems to like me all right. And I really, really like her.”
Warmth spreads through my veins and my heart swells.
“This is the first time I’ve ever wanted to spend all of my time with a girl, and it’s leaving me feeling…consumed. I can’t stop thinking about her. All I want to do is make her smile. Make her laugh. Make her like me,” he continues.
I angle my head toward his and whisper, “I do like you.”
Crew kisses me, his lips clinging to mine. “I like you too. And I definitely don’t want you to be a casual hookup.”
Another kiss. This one deeper, with tongue.
“I want you to be mine. And no one else’s,” he whispers against my lips.
I reach for the neck of his sweater, tugging out the chain with my ring on it. I slip my finger into the ring and gently pull, staring up at him. “No one else has this.”
“I know. It means you belong to me. I already told you that.”
“I just feel…unsure sometimes,” I admit.
He gathers me closer, until I’m practically in his lap. I never did put on my seatbelt. “I never want you to feel unsure again.”
“You don’t?” I tilt my head back when he presses his mouth to my throat.
“No,” he murmurs against my skin. “You belong to me.”
He licks the length of my neck, making me shiver.
“And don’t ever forget it.”