Page 83 of The Pinkie Pact

Too soon, he pulled back from our kiss, resting his forehead against me, breathing heavily. "What you do to me, every single time. I can't wait to get back to you."

A strange and sudden lump formed in my throat at his words. Weird. I was having an emotional reaction that I never, ever expected. "Same," I said.

His forehead left mine as his eyes commanded my attention, so soft, so sweet, and full of tenderness. "I need to go, but I'll talk to you soon. Okay?"

I nodded, still shocked at how strongly I was feeling for him suddenly.

With one last light kiss, he turned to go. "See you later, beautiful," he said, smiling softly at me as he closed the door behind him.

Good Lord, he had taken half my heart with him, I was stunned to realize as I just stood there staring after him. Our shared intimacy last night had done something to me, maybe more to me than to Kieran.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

Election Night

Sky

The days leading up to the election were intense as Kieran was incredibly busy and I sensed his stress. He somehow always found time to call me or text me, though, sometimes super late at night. I kept my phone under my pillow so it'd wake me up if needed.

Even Kara was stressed, something I didn't know she was capable of. But I did know she really cared about her mom and her family, although she didn't always show it.

Gen was out of town too until the election, thank goodness, so I was able to sleep in my own bed. Hallelujah! Of course, Kieran was more than thrilled to hear about this piece of good news.

Over the weekend, we went out as usual, but there was an ache inside me that was completely new, an ache I was beginning to realize was all about Kieran. Damn, I wasn't ready for that. I'd never experienced anything like it, and if I was being honest, it scared the crap out of me.

But what could I do? At this point, I was already in too deep. There was no way I was going to turn back now. All I could do was hope that Kieran was as into me as I was into him, and so far, he'd given me every indication that he really liked me too.

I'd really know the truth when he was back and when we could spend more time together. There was nothing like actually being together in person.

The day of the election finally arrived along with a whole new set of nerves—about the senator's race, about seeing Kieran, and about our maybe night together afterward. I had no clue what to expect. Kara and Kieran both had insisted I be there at the hotel with their family to watch the returns come in.

Before he left, Kieran had talked about finding us new sleeping arrangements, which I assumed meant his place. But he hadn't mentioned it at all over the phone since he'd been gone, and I didn't want to bring it up.

The best thing to do, I figured, was go along and see what happened, be prepared for any kind of situation. So the afternoon of the election, while Kara was in class, I primped, pampered, shaved, did everything I could think of just in case.

When I finally came out of the bathroom, I had a text from Kieran saying he was back and that he'd send a ride for Kara and me in a little bit. As I started to answer him, something huge dawned on me that none of us had even realized, and I put my phone down.

Their parents had no idea about any sort of relationship, or whatever you wanted to call it, between Kieran and me... not that I knew of anyway. But I would think if they did, Kieran or Kara would have mentioned it at some point. And I didn't think tonight was the night to tell them, for sure. It needed to be all about the election.

After drying my hair, I decided to text Kieran about it, just to make sure we were on the same page. "Do your parents know about us?" I asked, straight to the point.

"What about us?" he wrote back right away.

What about us? What on earth did that mean? Was he joking? I debated a few minutes about how to reply to that and finally typed, "About whatever it is you and I are doing."

How freaking awkward. Nerves exploding in my stomach, I sat on my bed waiting for his response. My phone dinged, and I looked down to see what he said.

"You're my girlfriend."

Holy cow! He had called me his girlfriend! That was kind of forward... and hot. A stupid grin on my face, I wondered again what to text back.

"If that's okay with you," he added.

Still smiling, I wrote, "That's fine with me." And then a second later, I couldn't help writing more. "Boyfriend."

"So we're official," he wrote back, sending my heart in a tailspin. "They don't know yet, and maybe it's best not to bring it up tonight, don't you think?"

"Agreed."

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