Page 120 of Learning Curve

And when I start to climb back onto the bed, she drags my T-shirt over my head so that we’re skin-to-skin.

“I love you, Scottie,” I tell her again just before I press my mouth to hers. “I love you,” I say between kisses down her neck. “I love you,” I say as my lips make a path across her breasts. “I love you,” I keep saying as I kiss every single inch of her body.

I don’t know how many times I say it, but I know that I could say it a million more times and it would still not feel like enough.

By the time I’m rolling a condom over my hard cock and kneeling between her thighs, we’re both breathing hard, needy and desperate for each other.

And when I finally slide inside her, when my cock is filling her up and the warmth of her breasts is pressed against my chest and a little moan slips from her mouth and into mine, my truth is absolute.

Sometimes when history repeats itself, it’s because it’s supposed to.

Thursday March 20th

Scottie

“Happy birthday to me!” Ace cheers loudly when he steps into Zip’s Diner, owning his role of birthday boy arrival pretty much exactly how I expected him to and entering a superhero stance as his eyes find us.

He wears a sash that reads Birthday Boy strung over his tuxedo—yes, a tuxedo—and a fake gold crown on his head. “Nineteen, baby! Let the good times roll!”

Julia smiles and rolls her eyes as she heads toward the table we reserved for the big night, where a few of us are already seated. The location, the vibe, and the decorations were all chosen by Julia, and the rest of us chipped in to help where we could. There are gold and black balloons everywhere and confetti on the tables, and still, Ace is the fanciest thing in the place. I’d say it’s precisely how it should be.

Ace strides over with a big-ass smile on his face and stops at the only filled table in the entire diner. His eyes move over the streamers, the balloons that have his face plastered on the front of them, and the Happy Birthday, Asshole banner we have hanging from the ceiling.

He laughs his ass off at the matching T-shirts—with his face on them—that we’re all wearing.

“Jules, you’ve really outdone yourself,” he says and wraps his arm around her shoulders to tuck her closer to his side. He presses a kiss to her forehead. “Thank you.”

Their affection combined with their just-friends status is either the biggest prank Ace has ever played on everyone or the biggest prank he’s ever played on himself. The fact that he believes the two of them are just friends when he looks at her like he does might as well be the ninth wonder of the world. According to Finn, though, Ace had been on-and-off dating some chick named Scarlett for months now.

I wonder where she is tonight.

Blake and Finn stand up to give Ace a hug and a manly back-pat, and Kayla and I follow their lead, though our hug for the birthday boy is a little less macho.

When Julia told me her plans for throwing Ace a small, low-key birthday party like this, I questioned the whole thing. I mean, Ace is the social king. He loves parties and crowds and being surrounded by people. But with the way he’s smiling and laughing and looking so damn happy, I guess Julia knows him better than anyone else.

Plus, it probably helps that his parents have some kind of mystery trip planned that has him and Julia and both of their parents flying out tomorrow. They have no idea where they’re going or what they’re doing, and knowing Ace’s parents, I don’t know if I’d be excited or terrified.

I can’t wait to hear about all of it when they get back.

“You want a slice of cake?” Finn asks, his hand pressed gently against my back.

I nod, and he touches a kiss to my lips.

“I swear, the two of you are so adorable, it kind of makes me want to puke,” Kayla teases and Julia giggles.

“I think I’m with Kay. No one should be allowed to be so damn cute together.”

Finn doesn’t balk at their words, instead, pressing one more kiss to my lips. This time, he adds enough tongue to make it nearly NSFW or public consumption.

I try to be strong, try to keep the kiss PG, but damn, I swear, whenever this man’s lips are on mine, I kind of forget anything else exists.

I could kiss Finn for hours—days, weeks, months—and never get tired of it. Last Saturday night, after we got back from a Double C event at Dragon Stadium, we lay in my bed and kissed for I don’t even know how long. Seriously. I woke up the next morning with my lips half pressed to his.

It’s insane. Indescribable. And shouldn’t be legal. But hell’s bells, I’m so glad it is.

Kayla fakes a gagging sound, and Finn stops kissing me on a chuckle, heading over to where Ace and Blake stand near the cake.

“I just want you to know,” Julia says, a soft whisper into my ear. “I’m so happy for you, Scottie. This is the kind of love you deserve.” She gives me a gentle hug and then spins on her heel to stop Ace from shoving his entire face into the cake. “Ace! If you mess up that cake, I will stab you with this knife.”

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