“Thank you.”

The woman was kind. But, nonetheless, I feel disappointed as we leave.

Zack wraps his arm around me as we snake our way through the maze of hallways. “We’ll keep looking. There has to be something somewhere. There just has to be.” He squeezes me close.

Just as we reach the front door, Zack stops abruptly. A handsome older man in a suit is walking towards us.

“Zack? What are you doing here?” The man asks, friendly but a hint of concern in his voice.

“I’m…helping a friend. But we’re done now. It was good to see you.” Zack’s words are polite, but his action is rude. He slowed, but never stopped, even though the man had clearly stopped to talk.

“Who was that, Zack? Why did you rush us away so quickly?” I ask when we’re out of hearing distance.

“Just a friend of my parents. Nobody important. I didn’t want to explain or answer any questions. Your business isn’t anyone else’s business.” He plants a kiss on my forehead. “Let’s go home.”

I turn back to the front entrance as we reach the door. The man is still standing at the door, watching us.

Chapter 33

Zack

Six weeks have passed since the day Nikki read the poem that bared her broken heart to the class. And I’ve made it my mission to make it up to her everyday. Each day gets better and better. Instead of finding things that I don’t like as we grow even closer, I discover more to love about her. We’ve become practically inseparable the last few weeks. Even at night. The nights her Aunt works at the hospital, I stay till morning. My parents are so delirious I’m happy, they don’t even care that I don’t come home a few nights each week. Plus, I’m eighteen now.

Although my parents may not care, her Aunt Claire would most definitely have something to say about it. I get the odd feeling she doesn’t like me, although Nikki insists she’s just overprotective. Either way, there’s no way I’m getting caught when she gets home in two hours. My alarm goes off at six and I slip out of bed, trying my best not to wake Nikki. Then I realize that she never put her shirt back on last night.

Morning wood and the sight of her bare, beautiful breasts, and I push aside the notion that I have to let her get some rest, even though we were up half the night fooling around. Each time it gets harder and harder to stop ourselves. But at least we both know there’s relief in the not so distant future.

We’ve agreed to wait till Valentines’ Day to be together for the first time. Nikki has no idea it was Emily’s birthday, and at first I was hesitant to think of spending the day making love to someone else. But the night she suggested it, I would have agreed to anything to keep that beautiful smile on her face.

Lowering myself back to the bed, I crawl up her body, positioning myself over her. I kiss her neck first, until she groans, waking from her sleep without complaint. She wraps her arms around my back and her nails dig in as my mouth grazes her collarbone. A quiet moan escapes her lips and the sound makes me crazy. My kisses become more adamant, harsher, faster, more consuming. I kiss her everywhere except the place we’ve deemed off limits for now, taking my time as I make my way from the tops of her toes back to her neck.

She groans as I hover over her, our needy body parts perfectly aligned. Wrapping her legs around my back, she pulls me even closer against her. The sensation is incredible. My hardness pushes deeply into her. I feel the throb of both our bodies, even through two layers of underwear.

“Tell me again why we’re waiting,” I groan as I dip my tongue into her mouth with need. My fingers press into her hips, and I roll us so she’s on top. There’s something so fucking sexy about watching her take control. And she does. She kisses me and then moves down to my neck, nipping at the end of each kiss. It drives me goddamn wild. Then she moves lower. Returning the worship I’ve just extolled up and down her body, she lowers her mouth to my chest, kissing my pectoral muscles. But the position is more than I can tolerate. Her bare breasts are pushed up against my hardness and my body begins to rock into her before I even catch myself.

“Nikki,” I breathe. She looks up at me, her eyes hooded and seductive and I know I can’t possibly last like this. Startling her, I flip her back over to her back and kiss her chastely on the lips before jumping up from the bed.

“Zack,” she gasps, looking as dejected as I feel.

“I have to go.” I search around frantically for my sweat pants.

“Ugghhh…,” she groans and pulls the sheet over her head.

I throw on my sweats, pull my t-shirt over my head and kiss her through the sheet. “I’ll call you later. Get dressed before your Aunt comes home.”

She tosses a pillow at my back as I grab my shoes and practically run out the door.

***

The mall is a place I utterly detest. Correction. The mall is a place I utterly detest…without Keller. Standing on line at the pretzel stand thirty feet away from the men’s room, I hear his voice boom through the bathroom door.

“Corn! When did I eat corn?” he screams, his deep voice impossible not to hear.

Every guy in front of me in line cracks up. Every girl crinkles up her nose and looks totally disgusted. He emerges a minute later, all smiles as he raises his hands above his head to display them to everyone in line. “Clean! I washed ‘em this time,” he exclaims, as if it’s a novel feat.

I shake my head and order.

“Dude, no wonder you don’t have a girlfriend. You’re disturbed.”