3 Book High School Romance Bundle: A Kiss at Midnight & Prom King & Under My Skin

by Zara Rivas

  "God, Casey, please," I replied. He was trying to be a gentleman, but he was only serving to drive me crazy. Thankfully, he didn't need anymore reassurance.

  He grazed my bottom lip with his teeth, nibbling and sucking in such a slow, sensual pattern that I couldn't stop the sharp intake of breath. I could feel him smile as he trailed his lips to my neck. Off put by the cloth in the way, he unbuttoned the top three buttons of my shirt and slid it off my shoulder before returning to the exact place he had found in the park those days ago.

  My nails were digging so deeply in his back I was sure they would leave marks, but I wasn't the least bit concerned. He had only reacted pleasurably as they sunk deeper.

  Finally, after what had felt like days, his lips finally met mine, so softly that I thought I was going to lose it. I didn't speed him up though—I loved how he took his time with me. I felt like he was unwrapping a precious gift—like it was so important to him that even the wrapping paper had to be taken off slowly and carefully.

  I was always—always—in control. Now that I finally wasn't, I wondered why I hadn't let go before.

  I let myself drown in him.

  Chapter Nine

  Oh God.

  Waking up next to Casey's shirtless and very muscular body was a pleasant surprise. When the previous night's events came flooding back, I shot straight up.

  Had I really spent most of the night—and, er, most of the morning—making out with Casey Fitzgerald?

  I slipped out of Brian's bed and into the bathroom, where my suspicions were confirmed. The three visible hickeys made me shudder both with disgust and pleasure, causing me to recall those that were hidden. I tried to button my shirt back up so they weren't so obvious, but it was impossible.

  "I think I have it worse," Casey said from behind me, yawning. When I looked at him, I giggled. His torso was covered with randomly placed purple bruises. I gasped when I saw his back, however. I had dug my nails so deep into him that I had drawn blood. I touched them gently and he winced.

  "Maybe I should clean those up?" I asked, grabbing a washcloth from the towel rack. I gently dabbed the cuts, trying not to notice how intimate the action felt. He didn't say anything, but his breath was coming just a little quicker than normal. When the dried blood was gone, I pulled away reluctantly, and he let out a breath of air I hadn't realized he was holding.

  I hadn't even put the rag down before he backed me into a wall, his hands resting at my hips. "Are you going to give me that chance I asked for?"

  I shrugged, "I don't know if you deserve it." His eyes clouded over momentarily and I grinned mischievously. "I think you might have to work for it."

  He laughed, "I think I can do that." He pulled me close to him and kissed me fiercely, as if he was afraid I was going to realize what was going on, and he wanted to get as much of me as he could before that happened. Truthfully, I hadn't fully faced what was happening yet, but I didn't want to. For once in my life, I just wanted to feel, regardless of the consequences.

  He was guiding me back to Brian's bed again, his fingers expertly undoing half the buttons on my shirt as we fell back onto it. He pulled back just slightly and traced one of the purple marks he left just above the lining of my bra. He grinned before going to work on the other side, attempting to make the bruises symmetrical.

  "Casey," I said breathlessly.

  "Hmm?" he replied, still working his magic on my chest.

  "I—mmm," I moaned as he nibbled lightly, forgetting my train of thought. "I'm not goin—God…" I was already beginning to see that it was pointless to have a conversation with the man when he was on a mission.

  He twisted a hand in my hair and trailed kisses up to my neck, teasing me. He had complete control over me—I couldn't even form coherent sentences!—and I was loving every second of it.

  "What were you saying?" he asked, again placing feather light kisses on my neck.

  "I was sayin—mm," I moaned again as his lips overtook mine. I indulged in the kisses for longer than I intended, before pushing him off and looking at him pointedly. He looked innocently concerned, as if he was totally unaware of his crime. "How am I supposed to talk to you if you keep distracting me?" I asked.

  He broke into a grin, lying back on the bed. This time I straddled him, pinning his arms above his head. "I never pegged you as the dominant type, Katie," he teased, his usual arrogance absent. When I released his arms, he began fiddling again with the buttons on my shirt, unbuttoning them all and sliding the shirt off my shoulders.

  "I'm not. I can't be with you," I admitted, letting him reverse our positions. He stared at me for a long time, weaving his fingers in and out of my hair. "What?" I finally said. His stare wasn't making me uncomfortable; in fact, I liked it, but curiosity had gotten the best of me. I wanted to know what had him so entranced.

  "You are so beautiful," he said softly, his eyes never leaving mine. I could feel myself blushing. I had never been complimented so straightforwardly before.

  "Casey?" I said after a few minutes. He had been tracing his name on my stomach with his index finger. "What I was trying to say before is… well, I'm not going anywhere. I mean, at least until I literally have to go somewhere. And it is inevitable. You have to be completely clear on that," I was babbling and I knew it, but he was still distracting me, just by sitting there and looking at me. "But I mean that I'm not going to just decide that this was a mistake. It was probably the best thing I've done in a long time."

  He grinned. "You're not going to lose me. It's going to be a lot harder to get rid of me than you think."

  I pulled him down and kissed him roughly, loving the way he made me feel. When we finally separated, he sat back up, running his fingers up and down my arms. "You know, no one's held out as long as you when I've wanted them."

  I rolled my eyes, "Here we go," I teased. Honestly, I was happy he was still going to be his arrogant self. If he got all cheesy with me, I would probably have to punch him. It just wasn't who he was.

  "No, seriously… I normally don't even have to work for it. But those occasional times that I do… a week, tops. You made it almost a month!"

  I smiled, but couldn't believe that I had been in Wisconsin for nearly a month. I realized that it shortened the time I had with Casey by quite a bit. It was almost April, which meant that prom was just over a month away. Even if we stayed in Wisconsin until then, chances were that we'd leave soon after. "It might have been a waste of a month," I admitted and he beamed.

  "Of course it was, but I'm glad you resisted. It gave you time to figure out how you really feel."

  I laughed, "And how's that?"

  "You know you're desperately in love with me."

  I shook my head and pushed him playfully, "You wish."

  "Just wait," he grinned, "You will be." He leaned in for another kiss and I obliged happily. I would have stayed with him all day if not for Erin, who decided to show her face at such an inopportune time.

  The door burst open and there stood a very windswept Erin. She looked as if she ran all the way to the house Brian shared with his roommates. As soon as she saw what had kept me away, her eyes narrowed, but I could see the amused sparkle in them.

  "Kathryn Fuller!" Erin screeched, causing Casey to snicker. "What the hell are you doing?"

  I couldn't help but laugh as Casey tossed me my shirt, which I buttoned up quickly. Casey just smirked at me before unbuttoning and rebuttoning it for me. I had apparently missed a hole or two. I found the gesture incredibly endearing. Maybe this really could be more than a lot of really good kissing, which, by the way, I didn't mind that much.

  Erin took a glance at his back and her eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Katie… you didn't let him deflower you!"

  I sat up and burst out laughing at the horrified expression on her face. Sometimes I think she valued my virginity more than I did—perhaps a result of giving hers away too soon.

  "Nope, her flower's still perfectly intact," Casey told her. "Scout's honor."r />
  "Katie, you bad, bad girl," Erin sounded much more amused now. "What about Casey?"

  Casey perked up at the sound of his name, raising his eyebrows at me. I elbowed him in the ribcage as she continued. "I mean, I know you said that you don't like him and all that bullshit, but you so obviously do, and you just hook up with some random…" she looked into his eyes for the first time and trailed off sheepishly. "This is Casey, isn't it?"

  He nodded, grinning. "Talking about me, eh, Katie? All bad, I'm sure." I smiled, but shrugged. I certainly hadn't said anything good.

  "There is such a thing as protesting too much," Erin pointed out. "Whether she liked you or hated you, she sure talked about you constantly. And got a couple things wrong."

  "Such as…?" Casey inquired, his blue eyes twinkling.

  "Well, she kinda—"

  "Shut up, Erin," I cut her off.

  "No," Casey smiled, "Please continue, Erin."

  "She kinda left out how gorgeous you are," Erin admitted. "In fact, she insisted you were ugly."

  Casey's eyes widened. He was amused, but I could tell that he was also a little offended. "You did not!"

  I laughed, "I kinda did." I continued quickly when I noticed that he seemed a little hurt. "Because I didn't see what difference it made if you were hot or not. The problem was that you were—still are, actually—infuriating. Your…" I trailed off, unable to find the word I was searching for.

  "Beauty? Gorgeousness?" he supplied.

  "That's so not a word," I retorted.

  "Is too," he said defiantly.

  "Fine, your 'gorgeousness' wasn't the problem. It was your… personality."

  He grabbed his heart dramatically, "You know how to hit me where it hurts."

  "Well, I didn't make out with your gorgeousness."

  "You didn't make out with my personality. It has no physical form," he countered.

  Erin giggled, causing both of us to snap out of our tangents. "This is great."

  "Shut up," we both said. I turned to him and couldn't help but smile. "We're ridiculous, aren't we?"

  "Wouldn't have it any other way," he grinned.

  "You do realize how absolutely romantic it is that he came all the way here for you, right?" Erin pointed out.

  Casey actually blushed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, well, I was worried," he said, his blush deepening, before he began searching around for his shirt.

  It was Erin who found it. She threw it at him. "Good. You look like you've been mauled."

  He smirked, losing the blush, before staring pointedly at me. "Yeah, well, blame Katie here. She's a bit more aggressive than I would've thought."

  "You weren't complaining last night," I countered.

  "I'm not complaining now," he smiled. He stood and pulled me off the bed. He wrapped his arms around me and pressed a kiss to my hair. I realized how easily I could get used to this, and as much as it scared me, the butterflies fluttering around in my stomach told me I was feeling something else as well.

  Casey stayed in Chicago until Friday. I spent quite a bit of time with him and felt a little bad that I had been ignoring Erin. She was most of the reason I had been there, after all.

  "Don't worry about it, Kate," she said after I apologized for the millionth time. It was Thursday night and I told Casey that I was spending it with my best friend. He hadn't minded much—we'd barely separated since he showed up Tuesday night.

  "I'm a horrible best friend."

  "And cousin," she reminded me as she paged through a magazine on her bed.

  I groaned, spinning around in her desk chair, "I'm a horrible person. All over a stupid guy."

  "Stupid?"

  "In theory," I replied. "Please forgive me. I feel like the worst person ever."

  "Katie!" she exclaimed, "It's not a big deal. I forgive you. Will you please shut up?"

  "Fine," I crossed my arms over my chest.

  "You better be coming here next year," she said a few minutes later, looking up from her magazine. "You owe me after ditching me all week."

  "Erin!"

  "I'm kidding!" she grinned. "Seriously though. You know this is pretty much the best sociology school in the country."

  "I know," I smiled. I wanted to study sociology since my freshman year of high school, in which one of the many schools I had been to had an introduction course. I found the effect society had on people absolutely fascinating. The University of Chicago wasn't "pretty much" the best school in the country, it was the best school in the country, maybe the world.

  "So sign up for orientation! Come on."

  I stared at her innocently before breaking out in a smile. "I did. I'm already signed up for classes."

  She looked at me for a second, completely dumbfounded, before launching herself at me. "Are you serious?" she shrieked, hugging me tightly. "You're gonna be here next year?"

  I nodded, grinning, "Yeah, of course."

  "Of course? You had me thinking you would be in college in China or something! Why didn't you just tell me you were coming here?"

  "Where's the fun in that?" I teased and she punched me in the arm. I hadn't really considered going anywhere else. I wanted some stability and I would get it with Erin around. The school was great, I'd still have family, and Casey wouldn't be that far away. Of course, that wasn't a reason that I'd ever say out loud, and it didn't have an affect on my choice, but it was a nice side effect.

  "Oh, thank God, Katie," she shrieked again, "I can't wait for next year. When you get housing applications, make sure to say you want me as a roommate! We'll actually be able to hang out for longer than a week! I'm so freakin' excited!"

  I laughed. I was excited too. College was only a few months away. There was something assuring about knowing where I'd be in a couple of months. I never had that before.

  I was starting to wonder what that meant for me and Casey. Did we have to define what we were? Did we even want to? I wasn't sure, but with school just a few days away, I knew I was going to find out.

  Chapter Ten

  We decided against a relationship.

  For some reason, that really bothered me. Not because I was desperately in love with him—I wasn't—or because I thought we would make a good couple—we wouldn't—but because I found it harder to enjoy our time together if in the end, it meant nothing.

  We didn't want a label, but we were just friends with benefits, which was something I never wanted to be. It bothered me, but I didn't tell him. I wasn't even sure how to bring it up. And he certainly didn't seem to be having any issues with it. He was carefree and worry-free and it drove me crazy.

  But I didn't tell him and maybe that made it my fault.

  We decided to not tell anyone about it either. Sitting around a lunch table with the closest friends I had in years and basically lying to them wasn't something I wanted to do. In the span of a week, Casey had completely changed me.

  I wasn't sure I liked it.

  Lunch on Wednesday nearly pushed me over the edge. We were sitting next to each other because we always did and if I thought I was hyper aware of his movements before, that was nothing compared to now. His knee was pressed against mine and he occasionally dropped his hand on my leg, but I was getting to the point where I was about to break his fingers.

  Remember Gabrielle, the bitchy girl from my calculus class that had a major thing for Casey? She had apparently gotten past her inability to speak in full sentences around him. She had been hovering behind his shoulder since the beginning of lunch, giving him a nice view down her tank top. She kept sending glares my way and if Casey noticed, he didn't acknowledge them. I just knew that if he kept stroking my hand while flirting with her, I was going to bash someone's skull in.

  Sure, we had decided together that we didn't want a relationship, but that certainly didn't mean I wanted to watch him ogle every girl in sight. Whether or not we were serious, I wasn't going to be the girl on the side. This whole situation was making me feel like a whore.


  I wasn't jealous. Really. It didn't stop me, however, from dropping my hand on his leg and trailing it up dangerously far. I heard his breathing pattern change. Satisfied, I turned to Stephanie, Kari and Erica, deciding to put Casey out of my mind, at least for the time being.

  They had a great time recapping their trip to Florida. Plenty of boys, beaches, and bonfires—it seemed that Kari and Erica had a better time than Stephanie. She certainly hadn't opened up the way that the others had.

  I felt bad around Stephanie, like I was breaking some sacred rule of friendship by seeing Casey behind her back. I didn't know what to do with that. I knew that the right thing would be to stop, but I didn't want to. I was being selfish, but I felt like I was finally allowed the right to be.