Chapter Twenty-Seven

Amber

I couldn’t stop smiling.

My cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

Dean glanced my way from behind the wheel, and I tried and failed miserably to act like I hadn’t been staring at him, cheesing like I’d just met Tom Hiddleston at Comic Con.

“You know,” he said, turning down the street that would lead us to Jake’s house—where we’d left my car last night. “You’re dangerous when you look at me like that.”

I feigned shock. “What do you mean?” Everything inside me was giddy and overwhelmed with happiness.

“You could get anything you want from me with that smile.”

“Oh,” I said, rubbing my palms together. “What a useful weapon. I wonder what I should request first?” I tapped on my chin. “Maybe your vintage Super Nintendo?” I laughed when he gaped at me. “Or perhaps your ticket to the TOC?”

He kept one hand on the wheel while the other flew to the center of his chest. “Wicked, Pixie.”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “Never,” I said as he parked behind my car lining Jake’s street.

He hopped out, opening the door for me before I could get a chance.

“You could be that wicked,” he said. “And I’d still love you.”

A warm shudder rippled through me. I fisted his shirt, yanking him down to my level, my lips a millimeter from his.

“It sounds like I’ve managed to ensnare the second-best hacker in the school,” I whispered against his lips. “I believe I’m drunk on the power of it.”

He smiled, maintaining the game, never once breaking and kissing me already.

We could joke all we wanted, but we both knew he had me totally wrapped.

Dean trailed the tip of his nose over mine, before grazing the line of my jaw. My toes curled in my sneakers, the pleasant soreness between my thighs solidifying that last night was real. That he was real. And the way we loved each other…that was more real than anything I’d ever felt before.

Strong.

Consuming.

Brilliant.

The kind of simmering chaos I lived for during hacks, manifested in a boy who was beyond perfect for me.

“Do you have to go?” he asked, kissing the corner of my mouth enough to shoot sparks across my skin.

“I don’t want to,” I admitted. “But I have things I need to do.” I wanted to tell him I had another blog post to schedule. Wanted to tell him he could keep the deadmau5 shirt and simply ask for his help.

But I couldn’t.

Because I would never put him in a position to lose everything. Like I was.

At least I had him. Despite everything else going on…I had Dean.

“Busy, busy,” he said, an easy smile on his lips. “I get it. I have…obligations, too.”

I furrowed my brow, noting the suddenly plagued look in his blue-gray eyes.

“You okay?” I asked. “Need help with anything?”

A muscle in his jaw ticked before he smoothed his features. “No thanks,” he said. “I’m good.” He smoothed his knuckles over my cheek. “I’ll call you tonight?”

I nodded, heading toward my car. “Dean?”

He stopped outside his opened driver’s side door. “Yeah?”

“Thanks…for everything.” It was a pathetic use of the word, but I didn’t know how to convey how much he’d helped me. How much him loving me for me meant to me.

“DC, Pixie.”

“DC.”

I sank behind the wheel, not bothering to spare a second glance at the cars still parked in Jake’s driveway. Last night may have started off bad, but it had ended better than I could’ve ever imagined.