Until Harry(43)

Kale’s lip twitched. “You try drinking Bud and downing some Jack Daniels, and we’ll see how long you’re on your feet for.”

I smirked. “Ten quid says I’d be up longer than you.”

Kale licked his lips and dropped his eyes to my mouth. “I’d take that bet.”

I grinned. “Stop looking at me like you want to eat me.”

“I do want to eat you.”

My playfulness disappeared. “And how would that go exactly?”

Kale growled. “Aren’t we bold tonight?”

I smiled teasingly. “I’ve dreamt of conversations like this with you. Let’s just say I’m ready to play them out in real life.”

He bit down on his lower lip, looked down at my body and took a small step backwards. “Let me see you.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “You can see me.”

He smirked as he lifted his hand, stuck up his index finger and rotated it in a circular motion. He wanted me to twirl. I playfully shook my head, smiling as I slowly twirled in a circle, swaying my hips from side to side as I moved.

“Damn, Laney Baby,” Kale whispered in a low, husky voice.

I blinked with surprise as I watched his eyes slowly scale their way down from my face to my chest, which had finally decided to develop over the last year and a half. He licked his lips as he read the word across the front of my crop top and snorted to himself before lowering his gaze further.

“You got your belly button pierced,” he murmured, more to himself than to me, then flicked his eyes up to me and asked, “What else do you have pierced?”

I licked my lips, and heat flooded my core. “No more piercings, but . . .”

“But?” Kale prompted.

“I have a tattoo on my inner thigh,” I said in a rushed breath. “I got it a couple of months ago with Lavender, like a pre-birthday present to myself for my eighteenth next month.”

Only Lavender, and now Kale, knew about my tattoo. If it got back to my parents or brothers, they’d kick my arse, never mind what they would do if they knew what kind of tattoo I got.

Kale’s features hardened. “What did you get?”

He looked in pain.

“Just two words,” I whispered.

He moved close. “What words?”

“Taste me.”

Kale’s sharp intake of breath caused my legs to shake. “You. Are. Perfect.”

My heart thudded against my chest so hard it almost hurt. “Such a sweet talker,” I murmured.

Kale lifted his hand to my face and cupped my cheek, rubbing his thumb under my left eye. “Where’s my girl gone?” he mumbled.

I frowned. “I’m right here.”

He lightly shook his head. “No, my girl wears glasses and is terrified of other people seeing her with hardly any clothes on.”

Was terrified.

Lavender helped build my self-esteem up when she realised how shot it was. She had observed me a lot during our first few weeks of friendship, and she held off in calling me out on what she termed “hiding behind my books”. At first she thought I was just quiet, but when I let about to how Anna and Ally had made me feel about myself, she hit the roof. She blew a fuse and vowed then to always be completely honest with me, and she told me I was beautiful and that I shouldn’t hide behind the books I love so dearly because the real world was much better than fiction.

She started off by giving me small compliments every day. She repeatedly told me I had lovely penmanship and that she wished her ears and lips were like mine. Silly things that most people would overlook. Her compliments were only the beginning; she brought me on new adventures too. She was a daredevil and believed most things should be tried once, and she took me along for the wild ride. She broadened my perception of the world and myself, and eventually I became content with who I was. I wasn’t freaky or a nerd because I loved reading, and I wasn’t fat or ugly because I didn’t measure up to society’s version of beauty. Lavender made me appreciate my own beauty.

I didn’t understand what Lavender saw in me because I felt I didn’t offer anything great to our friendship, but she told me the way I cared for her was enough. She said that she noticed when I cared about someone; I treated them like one of my favourite books. I treasured and loved them. She said that was what was special about me.

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m growing up.”

“This is you growing up?” Kale asked as he continued to stroke his thumb under my eye, his eyes getting more bloodshot by the minute.

I nodded. “This is me having some fun, Kale. I wanted to come to a party and see what the fuss was all about; I’m tired of just reading about them in my books. I wanted to experience what one was really like.”

He growled, and the sound caused me to jump and lick my own lips as a thunderbolt of excitement shot up my spine.

“Dressed like that you wanted to experience a party?” he asked, maddened.

I stood my ground. “I’m eighteen next month, I can dress like this – and be with lads if I want to be.”

Kale’s breath hitched and he dropped his hand from my face. “You haven’t been with someone . . . have you?”

I felt heat spread across my cheeks. “Why do you care?”

I gasped when my back was suddenly pressed against the wall behind me, and Kale was up against me, moulding his hard body to the front of mine.