Very Bad Things (Briarcrest Academy #1)(82)

I want to see you fly, fly, fly.

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First time I saw you I knew,

You took my heart; you stole it, true,

Now, it’s just déjà vue.

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Give me one more moment,

To love you, love you.

I want to see you fly, fly, fly.

Buttercup, I’ll always love you.

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After the last note ebbed away, I wiped my tears with my hands while the crowd went nuts, applauding a shaken Leo. He whipped his guitar off, stepped off the stage and strode over to me. I couldn’t move. His words had transported me, had wiped everything else out of my head. All I could think about was him, always him. Leo.

He touched one of my tears and spoke, his voice husky with emotion. “Nora, I fought you and me together, and it decimates me knowing I messed up, that I didn’t even give us a chance. It was all right there in front of me, plain as day, but I kept pushing and pushing until you gave up. The hardest thing I’ve ever done is pretend I didn’t care for you.”

He closed his eyes briefly as if in pain. “I wanted to forget you so bad that I...I with Tiffany. I used her to hurt you, and I’m sorry. The night you saw us was the last time I ever touched her. She catered the party tonight, nothing else. She was never what I wanted. Only you.”

I bit my lip and nodded.

He swallowed. “I shut you down and tried to forget about you. I’ve never loved a girl before, Nora. I was scared and made up excuses for why we couldn’t be together. But from the moment I saw you, I knew you were special, but I didn’t know what to think about all these feelings I had. But now I know the truth. I know age is nothing and that being scared of hurting you or losing you is taking the coward’s way out. You are everything.” He sighed. “I had to lose you before I figured it out.”

He picked up my hands and held them tight. “It’s going to kill me slowly, but if Drew is what you want . . .”

“There is no Drew. I can’t live without you, Leo. I die a little every day because we’re not together,” I whispered, my eyes roaming over his face, letting him see how much I loved him.

I kissed his hands. “You’re my other half, and I thought I could give up on us and move on, but life is too short and too precious to throw away what we have.”

His eyes burned hot, thrilling me. I knew that look. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” he said, guiding me inside the gym.

“What about the party?” I asked, knowing the grand opening was important to him.

He didn’t stop walking. “The band will play, and the party will go on without us.”

He stopped at the base of the stairs, his face suddenly filled with worry. “I don’t . . . I don’t want to hold you back from anything. I want you to go to college wherever you want, no matter if it’s in another state, and I’ll be right here waiting for you. Always.”

“What about Finn?” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his waist and laying my head on his chest, hiding my face.

He tilted my chin up. “He’s gone, and I’ll always be here to keep you safe. Someday if you want, you can tell me everything, and I’ll listen, but nothing will ever change how much I care about you. If anything, the way you carry your pain, the way you’ve turned into this beautiful girl despite everything that happened to you has made me love you more.”

He rested his forehead against mine. He took my hand and placed it over his heart. “I love you, Nora. Forever.”

“I love you, too,” I said, not caring one bit that people were drifting in and out of the room, some of them staring.

He tightened his arms around me and kissed me deep, his lips angling over mine possessively, his tongue hot and wet. He kissed my jaw and down my neck, sucking and nipping at me as I clutched him tight.

We eased back, breathless. I said, “I’m not perfect. At some point, I’ll probably go to therapy,” I warned him gently.

“I hate perfect girls. They don’t read encyclopedias or think about how I’m a rat man.”

“Tiger, most days.”

He grinned. “I get you. You’re a little neurotic, but it doesn’t scare me. I want all of you. All the wacko things you do. Every last detail. And when I look into your eyes, I can see all the way to your heart, to the strong, beautiful woman you are. I want that for the rest of my life.”

He kissed me hard and fast. “And if you ever leave me, it will break me. Now come on, let’s get moving. I want you alone,” he growled, tugging me up the stairs.

Heat ran straight through my body as he led the way.

We walked into his bedroom, and he suddenly looked unsure. “With everything you’ve been through . . . shit, am I rushing this? We can wait, Nora. Just tell me what you need.”

I pulled the gold crown from my hair and took off the red corset and short cape, showing him my red lace bra. I unsnapped the gold belt and let it fall to the ground. I unzipped the flirty blue skirt with white stars on it and tossed it lightly at his face, giggling at his mesmerized expression.

He groaned loudly and adjusted himself. “Yes, baby, I love it when you strip for me.”

I laughed. “Sex is no problem when it’s consensual, and if you don’t make love to me tonight, I’m going to die from being too horny.” I unsnapped my bra and dropped it on the floor, leaving me standing in my red string panties and red boots.