I come up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist, resting my chin on her shoulder. “This is perfect. Thank you.”
She angles her head over her shoulder and then plants her lips on mine. “You’re welcome.”
The pancakes are pretty good, minus a few crunchy edges and their irregular shape.
“You can probably make Mickey Mouse pancakes, huh?” she jokes.
“I’ve never made Mickey Mouse pancakes, but I have made chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes.”
She chuckles. “Of course.”
“These are good,” I tell her, kissing her temple. “I really do appreciate it. I haven’t had anybody cook for me in a while. It’s nice.”
She grins. “Well, I can’t promise I’ll be able to make a whole lot more, but we’ll see.”
After we finish eating, I put the dishes in the dishwasher, then we move back to the living room to watch some TV, but mostly we talk. Nova makes me laugh constantly. She’s unapologetically herself—a little goofy, completely honest, carefree, witty, and a breath of fresh air.
“Okay, so what’s your day-to-day like?” she asks. “What does Elijah do for fun?”
She rests her feet in my lap as she leans back into the corner of the couch.
“I wake up early, have coffee and breakfast, go for a run, come back and shower, read the paper, grade homework, watch the news. That’s the weekend. During the week I spend a lot of time on campus, obviously. When my workday is over, I come home and take Sugarfoot for a walk, shower, have dinner, grade homework, watch the news, go to bed.”
She fake yawns. “Come on, seriously? That’s it? I don’t even want to say what I’m thinking, but I’m gonna anyway. You sound like an old man.” She raises her hand when my eyebrows shoot up. “Don’t even say it. I know you’re older, but you are not old.”
“I’m a creature of habit,” I say with a shrug.
“But where is the fun in your day? You’re existing, but are you living?”
“What’s your day like?” I ask, taking the attention off me.
“Well, like you, during the week I spend the day at school, and then at work. But on the weekends I go out with my friends. We have parties or go out to eat. I talk to my sister on the phone, or go out and explore this little town. I’ve been thinking of traveling to a nearby city one of these weekends, just to see something new. I like to read and blast music while I dance around my apartment. I also like to hike, but I don’t know where to do that around here. Me and my sister tried a new restaurant every other week. We tend to get stuck going to our favorite places, but you may find a new favorite if you try something new. And back home me and my best friend would try different dance classes. We spent most of the time laughing, but it was a lot of fun.”
“Sounds like you know how to have a good time.”
Nova leans forward and crawls into my lap. “Sounds like I’m gonna have to teach you how to get out of your comfort zone.”
“This whole thing is out of my comfort zone,” I admit.
“Yeah, but there’s so much more out there than forbidden relationships.”
“Hmm.”
She smirks. “Mm.” Her lips cover mine. “I’ll show you. Don’t worry.”
“I want to show you something.”
“Oh, Professor Kingston,” she teasingly sings. “So naughty.”
With a growl, I shift and pin her to the couch cushions. When she parts her legs for me, I say, “You’re not wearing underwear.”
She shakes her head with her bottom lip pinned between her teeth. “I was hoping you’d find that out earlier.”
“I want to taste you.”
Her body shivers as she releases a soft moan. “Yes, please.”
I smirk before diving between her thighs.
32
After Elijah did deliciously dirty things to me with his mouth, we went upstairs where he continued to wear me out in the best possible way. Even now, hours later, my legs still feel weak, and parts of me ache with a soreness that reminds me of every second spent with him.
I knew Elijah had his brothers going over tonight, so I made sure not to stay too long in case they decided they wanted to show up early.
When I got home, I took another shower, threw on some sweatpants and a T-shirt, and tackled a lot of homework I neglected the past two days.
It isn’t until nearly nine-thirty that I come up for a breather, and that’s only because my sister is calling.
“Hey,” I sing into the receiver, still feeling giddy from my sleepover with Elijah. “I know I haven’t called you this weekend, but I’ve been busy. Both with homework, which I’m doing now, but also fun stuff.”
“Nova.” She cuts me off, and her serious tone yanks me off cloud nine.
“What’s going on?” I ask quickly.
“It’s Mario. He knows where you are.”
My voice has been ripped from me. I sit completely stock-still, blinking over and over, hoping this is a dream.
“Are you there? Did you hear me?”
I swallow thickly. “Yeah. How?” is all I manage to get out. My heart beats a loud and heavy cadence, growing faster and faster as the fear sets in.
“Instagram.”
“What? I don’t even use Instagram anymore.”
“I know, but someone tagged you. The location was right there, along with the name of the bar you were at. It won’t take him long to get there if he hops on a plane.”
I instantly put my sister on speaker phone, re-download the Instagram app and log back into the profile that I’d forgotten about for months. I should’ve deactivated the account, but I didn’t think about it. I deleted the app and knew I’d never post on there again.
When I get to my tagged photos, I see four from Halloween. Two are pictures posted by Ayanna, and the other two are from Lorenzo.
I should’ve told them. I should’ve made it known that I couldn’t have an online presence, but who wants to
