It's been a week and I'm still a little sad about Elias and his straightforward rejection and Dominic's low key rejection. I'm sitting at breakfast, moving around my oatmeal. I don't even know why I got oatmeal. I don't like it. Dominic clears his throat from across the table and I look up at him.

"I was reading online that in order to get over a breakup, you need to allocate a specific time slot for sadness. I think this past week has been that. The next step is to put yourself out there, so I think we should go out tonight," he blurts. I look at him and offer up two slow blinks.

"To where? A party?" I ask.

"Yes," he answers. "And not for my sake but for yours."

"Dominic..." I trail as I drop the spoon into the thick bowl. He looks at me with a serious expression on his face.

"Nova," he starts. "Elias was a jerk. You may feel like he was right about what he was saying but he didn't handle the situation like he should've. He should've had that conversation before you guys did anything. Regardless, you're a prize, Nov. Any guy, and I mean any guy, would be lucky to have you in their life. I can guarantee you that every straight male finds you attractive. You're just that kind of girl. You're too pretty to be moping about some guy that made a really stupid decision. You're too funny to be sad. So you need to go out and grab life by the balls and go after what you want and who you want because you can get anyone without question."

I want you. I stare at him and feel the small amount of inspiration dissipate in my chest. He definitely wasn't talking about himself when he said that. I turn my eyes on the food in front of me as I shrug weakly. "Thank you," I say quietly.

"You're welcome," he replies quickly. I feel his eyes on me as I swirl around my oatmeal.

"But I don't think hooking up with someone else will help." That'd make things ten times worse.

"I didn't research this one but rebounds always helped the guys." He shrugs at me and I shake my head.

"A rebound isn't going to help me. In fact, I'm almost 100% certain that hooking up with a guy will just hurt me more," I explain.

"Okay...then how about we go out? Just the two of us?" he offers, which earns a curious gaze from me. "We can go out and do something to get your mind off of him."

"That sounds better." I want to ask like what but I have a feeling he doesn't know yet.

"Okay then, it's a date," he assures me before pursing his lips. "Now I just have to find something for us to do."

"We could always see a movie." There are a couple of good ones out now that I want to see.

"No, I'll find something better." He waves a dismissive hand and I offer him a nod. I wonder what he's going to choose.

We part ways and I go back to my room to study while he 'plans our date.' I have no idea what we could possibly do. Our hometown may be a city but there's nothing in it. The neighboring towns also have nothing worthwhile. Unless he wants to walk around the mall then I can't possibly think of anything other than the movies. I'll let him figure it out.

At five o'clock, he messages me and tells me that I should dress warm for our date. I look at the weather and see that it's 48 degrees. Before I can text him back, he messages me again and tells me not to bother checking the weather and to be ready by six. I sigh loudly but begin getting dressed.

I start the layering process. My leggings go underneath my jeans as does my tank top beneath my sweater. I set aside my hat, gloves, and scarf and I zip up my coat. As I double up on socks, I groan and nearly keel over from my body heat. I pull on my boots and examine myself in the mirror. Wherever we're going better be fun or else I'm going to be upset.

He calls my phone just as I'm braiding back my hair. He can wait five minutes. I continue to style my curls, taking my sweet time. He knows me, which means he knows to plan ahead. By the time I'm ready, I check my phone to see that it's gone off three times. I grab my purse and phone and leave the building. I see him waiting in his car just like I anticipated. His eyes fall on me and he lays on his horn, which definitely speeds me up. I jog over and get in the vehicle, shooting him a dirty look as I do.

"Stop before we get in trouble," I hiss.

"By who? This is college." He gives me a playful grin and I roll my eyes in response.

"It's still annoying." He shrugs off my comment and starts driving.

"What's that?" he inquires as he looks at my purse.

"...a purse." I look from my bag to him with a confused look on my face.

"I know. I mean why do you have it?" We stop at a red light and he gives me his full attention now.

"Well, it has my wallet, my charger, my chapstick-," I list and before I can finish, he grabs it and throws it into the backseat. "What the hell, Dominic?!"

"We won't be needing any of that," he insists with a grin. "All we need is our bodies."

I would yell at him for throwing my bag but the tenseness of my stomach stops me. "What are we even doing?" I know what I want to do.

"It's a surprise," he answers with a smile so large that I feel it transferring onto my face.

"I'm hot already." Two meanings to that and both interpretations are correct.

"Being around me does that to girls." He beams, which earns an entertained glare from me.

"So are we going to eat or..?" I trail, ignoring his response, which sent goosebumps down my spine.

"Yeah, where do you want to go?"

"I'm craving Taco Bell," I answer and he knits his eyebrows together.

"You don't want to go to a restaurant?" he questions.

"No?" I wasn't even aware that was an option. Why would we go to a restaurant?

"I thought you don't do fast food on dates," he comments, seeking clarification from me, a person who has been practically no dates.

"Date?" I ask, slightly confused. He really meant that?

"Yes." He bobs his head quickly.

"Like a date, date?" I repeat and he nods once more.

"A date, date, date," he answers. "I'm going to show you how a guy should treat you."

"Okay," I exhale. "Well, I'm pretty low maintenance and simultaneously a big fan of parking and eating."

"Hm, I wonder why," he responds in an amused tone. I immediately catch on and swat his chest, which earns a loud laugh from him. "Well if you want Taco Bell then we can get Taco Bell."

"Thank you," I offer up a satisfied smile.

"But first...the main event," he leads. We drive for a few more minutes before he pulls into a semi-full parking lot. I look at the building before us and furrow my eyebrows. The building is essentially a window- it has glass panels all over. I squint and see people sliding around inside, bundled up in hats and scarves.

"Oh, no..." Ice skating.

"Oh, yes." He practically leaps from the car. I sigh and reach into the backseat for my wallet.

I hear my door opening. "What are you doing?" he asks.

"Getting my wallet," I answer in a slightly muffled tone. I'm being suffocated by my coat as I pat around the dark floor.

"You don't need that. I've got it," he replies. "I asked you on the date. I'm not going to make you pay."

"I got it, it's fine." I continue the manhunt. When he threw my purse, all the contents spilled onto the floor, including my tampons and pads. Those are going to be fun for him to clean up because I'm surely not doing it.

"Come on," he insists and lightly touches my hips. I jerk back immediately, hitting my head on the ceiling as I lodge myself in the gap between the seat and the dashboard. He howls in laughter as I try to pull myself out, emulating a flipped turtle.

"Dominic!" He stifles his laughter as he pulls me out of the tight spot. His hand caresses my back as he closes my door.

"Are you okay?" he asks as he bites his lip to fight off laughter.

I glare at him. "I'm fine," I snap. Staring at him causes me to start laughing and we stand beside his car, cracking up for a couple minutes.

"You jumped like the cats who see cucumbers," he compares and I narrow my eyes at him. "It's an older meme...I'll show you later."

"Just put on your gloves, Dominic," I insist as I pull my accessories out of my pockets. He follows suit.

"Let's go," he says once we're all bundled up.

Like he said he would, he pays for us and hands me my skates. He takes a seat across from me and laces himself up. He notices my trouble doing so and assists me. I feel my anxiety rising as I gaze at the ice. In a matter of minutes, we're walking from the lobby to the rink and I am going slower than a turtle. Gee, I'm really resembling that shelled creature today. Meanwhile, he's zooming ahead, all but doing flips.

"Is this what heels feels like?" he jokes. "Do they make my butt look nice?"

"You're a baseball player, Dominic, your butt is already nice," I hiss as I struggle to walk. I stare longingly at the wall a few feet away. Just a few more feet.

"You've looked?" He turns around and sees me struggling to keep my balance. He struts over and I clutch his arm.

"Shut up," I grumble as I struggle alongside him. "How are you so good at this?"

"I played hockey for five years." I groan noisily. So I'm going to be alone in the fight for my life on this ice.

"Why are you so good at everything?" I complain as I hold onto his bicep for dear life. He grins at me as if I'm not on the verge of death.

"Because I'm Dominic," he smirks as we reach the entrance to the rink. I glare at the girls flying around as if they don't have blades attached to their feet. It must be nice. "It's a lot easier on ice. Believe me."

"Oh, I bet it is, former hockey player. The ice is only extremely slippery," I sass back.

"Ouch." He winks at me and I let go of him. I step foot on the ice and only two seconds later, I am falling into a split, staring wide eyed at Dominic for help. He joins me in the rink and grabs underneath my arms, tugging me up.

"Why did you think this was a good idea?" I whine as I look up at him.

"I told you to try new things. That doesn't only pertain to hooking up with guys." His tone is teasing but I roll my eyes regardless.

"You're infuriating," I huff as I grip him, struggling to stay upright.

"Also maybe because of this," he says as he looks down at my hands, which are clutching him in a desperate attempt to stay upright.

"I don't need you," I announce grumpily as I push him away from me. It would've been entertaining if he was the one that went gliding. I stare at him helplessly as I continue to go backwards to the center of the rink. I try not to flail my arms too much but I reach out for Dominic, who watches me with a look of pure amusement on his face. The more I reach out, the further back I go.

"You were saying?" He places a hand behind his ear and I clench my fists.

"Dominic," I say sternly. Now my arms are crossed as I glare at him. We have a stare off and he sighs and gives in. Effortlessly, he skates over and comes to a halt a foot away from me. He extends one hand and I hesitantly take it.

"It's all in your mind. Pretend you're sliding on a patch of ice outside," he instructs me. Eventually, I kind of get the hang of it and can glide alongside Dominic at a speed that I dictate.

We skate like that for a while. I only fall twice and it's because Dominic would accidentally speed up as he was talking and I'd get stuck trying to keep up and I'd hit the wall. "Do you think you can go faster?" Obviously, I nod. The girls that were skating circles around the rink before are now in the center, doing tricks and jumps and whatnot. "Same concept, just a bit quicker. Imagine you're pacing now. I'm going to let go of your hand so we don't bump into each other."

He glides a few feet away from me, spinning and twirling as I struggle to gain speed. I glare at him and he gets in front of me. He's skating backwards better than I am forwards. I exhale in exasperation as I try to get around him but he only mocks me from a few feet away. I let out a squeak as I lose my balance and land on my butt once again. I glare up at him as he towers over me.

"I hate you so much," I jeer and he reaches his hands down for me to take.

"No you don't," he teases once he pulls me up. Using his finger, he flicks my forehead and skates away. I immediately go after him and squeal in shock when I see how fast I'm skating. He turns around and watches me fly towards him, moving out of the way to avoid a collision. "I didn't teach you how to stop, did I?" he supposes as I soar past him. I yelp as I slam into the wall of the rink and crumble onto the floor.

I'm fully laid out on the ice, wallowing in self pity and also pain when Dominic appears above me looking slightly sheepish. "Are you okay?" he asks quietly.

"My butt...is so bruised," I whimper as I slowly sit up. I cling to him as I struggle to stand and practically collapse onto him when I get on my feet. "And my ankle is throbbing."

"Oh no." He practically carries me to the exit with a nervous frown on his face. We sit at a bench at the halfway point between the lobby and the rink. He slowly removes my skates as I grimace in pain. "Does it feel better now?" I roll my ankles around and sigh.

"Yeah, I can walk." I limp alongside him. He tries to help me but I shake my head. "I'm okay, Dominic."

He returns our skates and gives me my shoes. I put them on quickly and watch him do the same. "Can you walk?" He has a guilty expression on his face as if he personally went out of his way to hurt me. I want to wipe it off and tell him that I'm perfectly okay.

"It's more of my butt than my ankle." I make it a point to stand up to show him that I'm okay. "But I'm good. I can walk."

I get up and lead the way outside. As soon as we exit the ice rink, he comes up behind me and scoops me up into his arms. I gasp at the swiftness at which he did it. Effortlessly, he walks in the direction of the car. "You'd be good at kidnapping people," I blurt like an idiot.

"I think if I was kidnapping someone, they'd scream just a little bit," he comments. I wouldn't, unless you made me. My face reddens suddenly, which earns a confused look from him. "Sometimes I wonder what goes on in your brain."

"You don't want to know," I mumble with a slow shake of my head.

"I do," he answers. "I really do."

We reach the car and he slowly sets me down, watching my every move to ensure I'm not in too much pain. He opens the door for me and I ease myself down, sighing in relief as I do. Once he's in the car, he stares at me with concerned eyes. "Are you okay?" he repeats for the fortieth time tonight.

"I'm fine, Dominic. I'm just wet and sore." I rest my head against the headrest.

"I wish you meant that in a different way," he comments and my mouth drops into an 'O.' "Was that too vulgar? I usually say the second thought that comes to mind but that was too good to pass up."

"Just take me to Taco Bell," I demand as I try to think about anything other than jumping on top of him right now.

"Yes, ma'am." We head in the direction of the fast food place and I feel him glancing at me every few seconds. "Do you want what you usually get?" I nod and, luckily enough, he remembers.

"Thank you," I say once he hands me the bag. He parks and I distribute the food.

"I'm sorry," he blurts after I take a few bites of my taco. I look up at him.

"For what?" I ask in confusion as lettuce falls down my chin.

"You got hurt. I'm not good at planning dates. I've never done it and this was my first one. I thought it would be more fun."

"It was fun." I give him a bouncy nod in hopes that it convinces him. "I had a lot of fun. I just got hurt, too."

"Are you sure?" The frown on his face doesn't falter too much.

"Yes it was fun. You're my best friend and any time spent with you is fun. In fact, I want to go ice skating again so I can get better at it and beat your ass in a race."

"Maybe next time you won't crash," he snickers. I roll my eyes at him with a playful smile.

"Did I hear you correctly?" I prompt with a wide smirk on my lips. He bites his hard shell taco and nods at me to continue. "This was your first date?"

"Yes," he says after some chewing.

"Really?" For some reason, I don't believe that.

"I never dated girls, Nova. I just slept with them." Blunt. "None of them required me to take them on out three dates before they gave it up."

"So what you're telling me is that I did something before you did?" I don't bother hiding the full fledged grin on my face. He analyzes my expression before nodding with a weak shrug.

"Yeah, I guess you did."

"So I'm the pro here." I motion to myself and he laughs quietly.

"Now I wouldn't go as far as to say that," he answers me and I chuckle devilishly. "I have a question."

"Hm?" I finish my first soft taco.

"How did you guys do anything in the car?" he asks as he looks around his seat. "There's not a lot of wiggle room in the front seat."

"Well for one, Elias is much smaller than you." I contemplate telling him that I can show him. "So there was more than enough room for me to be on the seat with him."

"He is really lanky, isn't he?" I give a slow nod as I assess Dominic's stature. Beautiful, truly.

"You've never done anything in a car?" I ask in surprise.

"Yeah but I'm more of a backseat bitch," he replies with a wide grin. I nearly choke on my food with laughter. "One, it's more spacious back there, and two, I have the chance to be in control." He wiggles his eyebrows and I swallow deeply. "But I didn't do it often- only if I was in a pinch."

I laugh yet again before a question drifts into my mind. "So where would you...do stuff?" He purses his lips.

"Never at my house," he replies with a slow nod as he gets lost in thought. "Usually at their house; sometimes, but rarely, at parties; and once or twice in a car." When I raise my eyebrows, he shrugs. "According to Adrian, always go to their house so you can leave when you're done. If they come to your house, you have to kick them out and that's awkward."

"That's rude." Adrian was a rude guy anyway.

"Yeah, it is," he answers honestly. "I never did that. I typically stuck around a little while after so it didn't feel so...prostitute-y but I never spent the night."

"And how many girls..." I trail before biting my lip. Do I really want to know? "...have you, you know?"

"How many do you think?" He stops eating and takes a long sip of his drink. This must be a hard question if he's going to pause his meal.

"I'm not going to answer that." I avert my gaze as I try to do some math in my head. I'm not going to say the number aloud; I just want to have an estimate so that when he says it, I can do some comparing.

"Why not? I want to know how many girls you think I've been with. I know you have a number in mind." He's not going to say it until I guess so I quickly do some calculations before coming to a conclusion.

We stare at each other for a minute and I open and close my mouth a few times. "30?" I guess after some thought. He looks at me with wide eyes and laughs for a minute. That minute turns to two and then three and soon enough, he's choking on air. "Dominic."

Laughter.

"Dominic." I try again.

Seal noises and clapping.

"Dominic." I'm starting to get annoyed now.

Silent laughter.

He finally stops laughing and wipes away his tears. An occasional chuckle sounds throughout the car and he looks at me. "That was a good one." 

"So how many?" I stare at him expectantly. I gave my answer now it's time to give his.

"No, wait, first I want you to explain why you thought it was that high," he pleads. What am I supposed to say in response to that? You're hot so it only makes sense.

"I don't know... You told me you kissed 34 girls, give or take, right? And you don't really strike me as the type who enjoys kissing and does it for fun, especially not with random girls. So I assume each time you kissed a girl, it led to something else. But I know you started kissing girls before you started sleeping with them. So I put four aside for kissing experience and the rest, I just figured you went all the way with." It doesn't sound so bad when I put it like that.

"Okay, first, I do like kissing sometimes. A lot of the kisses that I've had were very sloppy because it was dark and we couldn't be bothered with it. That being said, I've never really had a proper kiss but I do like the intentions behind it. Second, the answer is not 30. It is nowhere near that high. Don't get me wrong; it's kind of high but it's not 30."

"Is it in double digits?"

"Yes." Okay, I was right in that aspect.

"In the twenties?"

"No." Seriously?

"Teens?" My eyebrows shoot up. He nods slowly as he assesses my face for a reaction. "How many?"

"Guess," he insists. I sigh noisily and start from the top.

"19?" No.

"18?" No.

"17?" No.

"16?" No.

"15?" No.

"14?" No.

"13?"

"Yes." I stare at him in confusion. "The majority of the girls that would complain about me hurting them didn't get much farther than a kiss. I probably kissed them but I definitely didn't sleep with them. I think it was just because I would never text them back afterwards."

A name rolls around my mouth and I repress the urge to ask it. Raven Hapner. She always flirted with Dominic and would pretend like I wasn't around. I don't even think she knew we were friends. Matter of fact, I don't even think she knew I existed. "Do you remember that girl Raven?"

"No I didn't do anything with her." He doesn't even give me a chance to ask. I open my mouth to question why not and he answers that, too. "She actually had a crush on me. If I would've slept with her, knowing that I didn't like her, she would've gotten hurt. I never outright wanted to hurt anyone."

I almost audibly sigh in relief. Call me petty. She wanted him so bad but he didn't even bat an eye in her direction. That's what she gets for being so mean. "Okay..." I suddenly absorb what he just said. He wouldn't do anything with a girl he knew liked him. I bite my lip as I think about how that'd put a damper on any extremely unlikely, but desirable, future moments with him.

"I actually feel honored that you think I have enough game to get 30 girls." He gives me a cheeky grin and I roll my eyes in response.

"You just look like you have game," I decide to compliment him.

"I look like I have game? What does that mean?" Still, the comment sits well with him because his happy smile doesn't fall.

I turn my attention to him and give him a once over. He allows me to without making comments. I scrutinize his features as if I've never done it before. Little does he know I have deeply examined every picture he's posted on social media since I followed him. "It means you're good looking," I concur after a moment of assessment.

"Do you think that? Or is it general knowledge?" His eyes are sprinkled with curiosity as he searches my gaze eagerly.

"Both." I fight the blush that rises to my cheeks.

"So you're telling me you think I'm good looking?" Didn't I just say that?

"This isn't new information," I inform him with a sigh. "I've called you cute before."

"Cute and good looking are two very different compliments. You call puppies cute; you don't call them good looking," he analogizes. "Good looking is synonymous to attractive, so does that mean you find me attractive?"

"Dominic." I maintain the flat look on my red face. "It's clear to anyone with eyes that you're attractive. It isn't until you open your mouth that they reevaluate."

His mouth drops open in an entertained gape. "You're so mean to me!" He pretends to have his feelings hurt so I roll my eyes.

"I'm joking. If your personality was that bad, you wouldn't be my best friend." He gives a slow nod before something clicks in his head.

"So what you're saying is I'm attractive and I have a good personality?" I stare at him for a few more seconds before letting out a noisy sigh.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," I give in. "What can I say? You're a catch."

"And I can conclude that, because of those two factors, you're in love with me," he figures like a scientist. I turn to him and fall into fits of laughter. Little does he know. "Maybe not now but someday soon you will be."

"Sure." I let my chuckles fill the car and he takes another sip of his drink.

"Just for you, I'm going to try to get to 30 girls before we enter the new year." That'd be heartbreaking. Instead of showing the sharp pain that travels through my chest at the thought, I pretend to be preoccupied with doing some math in my head.

"There's a month left. That's, like, one girl every other day." I stare at him with wide eyes and he offers me a strong smile.

"You want to be number fourteen?" he proposes with a wriggle of his brows. I wonder what he'd do if I nod. I contemplate it before shaking my head.

"Nope," I respond and he shrugs.

"Suit yourself."

"Oh, I will." This earns a smirk from him.

"Is there anything else you want to do tonight?" He puts his seatbelt on and I offer him a quiet no so we head back in the direction of the school. "Back to hell it is."

We pull up to my dorm building and I look at him, not yet ready to say goodbye. "Do you want to hang out in my room?" He better say yes.

"Campbell's is gone?" he checks as he parks the car. With a humored laugh, I offer him a nod as I recall her text from earlier. He turns to me abruptly and gives me a dry look. "Are you just asking because you want me to carry you?"

It hadn't even occurred to me that he would. I forgot about my pain altogether until he mentioned it. "No but now I am." I watch him get out of the car and wait the usual ten seconds it takes for him to come around. When he doesn't appear, I look to see what's taking him so long when I see him opening the back door and cleaning up the mess he made of my purse. He comes around my side, opens the door for me, and helps me out.

"Do you want a piggyback ride or bridal style?" He hands me my purse.

"Bridal style." He bends down and scoops me up with ease. He begins walking me to the entrance.

"You know, I think we'd be a great married couple." I stare at him in slight alarm. "We'd make beautiful babies. And I'm not the first person to say that."

"They'd be so mixed," I acknowledge with a laugh.

"I hope they have your hair," he mumbles without thought. I look at him and smile happily.

Luckily for us, a guy is exiting our building and holds open the door. We both thank him and head inside. We reach my room and I have my key ready to unlock the door. I reach down from his arms to open it only to find that Marissa didn't bother to lock it. With a shake of his head, he comments: "how irresponsible of Campbell's." He walks into my dark room and lays me on my bed, where I sigh contently and tuck my arms beneath my head. I leave my feet hanging off the edge.

He closes the door and turns on the light. "You can't talk. You never lock your door." I always notice it because I always imagine us doing stuff and being walked in on. That'd be horrifying, for sure.

"You're right about that." I note that he doesn't bother locking mine either.

"I get scared sometimes," I mutter absentmindedly. "You know, that someone's going to walk in."

He approaches my bed and remove my shoes for me. "What do you do in here that you don't want to get caught doing?" He smirks at me and climbs into bed alongside me. His hand extends and he playfully shoves me over to make room for him, which I giggle about. I nudge him in the stomach and decide to check my neglected social media platforms.

I take my phone from my pocket and open Snapchat. At the sight of the camera, he nearly slams his head against mine. I turn to tease him about being too eager for some camera time only to have his lips quickly pressed against mine. It takes him a second to realize what just happened because he pulls away and stares at me with an equally shocked look.

"Did I just-?" he starts nervously.

"Kiss me? Yeah, you did," I retort as my face burns like a fire. My stomach isn't helping the situation either.

"I didn't mean to do that. I was going to kiss your cheek but you moved. I'm sorry." His eyes are wide and he looks extremely apologetic.

I stare at him as he panics. I decide to make a joke out of it to calm him down. "You know, for some reason, I expected our first kiss to be a lot better than that." As if I flipped a switch, his eyebrows shoot upward as a flirtatious grin makes a home on his face.

"Can I redeem myself?" he inquires and I playfully shove my hand in his face.

"Massage my legs, you pervert," I retort. He heaves himself into a sitting position and crawls around my bed so that his back is against the wall. He yanks my legs so that I slide down the bed and my head is no longer on my pillows. I glare at him, muttering about how childish he is. I adjust the pillows and he cackles in a satisfied manner. He starts rubbing my feet and I close my eyes, letting him work his magic. My thoughts travel to our speedy kiss. I wish I would've been more attentive during it to see how his lips felt against mine. I shove my thoughts to the back of my mind, knowing I'd get frustrated with myself for not taking advantage of the opportunity.

He slowly makes his way up my legs, switching between each calf to evenly massage them. When he reaches my knee, I expect him to work his way back down per usual but instead, he continues moving up. His thin fingers rub circles on my outer thigh. His hand makes its way to my inner thigh and I feel my body heat up. I jump slightly and open my eyes, watching as he snatches his hands away from me.

"Sorry, I got carried away." His expression is sheepish and startled, as if he hadn't even realized he was getting a little too close.

"Sure you did," I mutter, suddenly wishing I hadn't stopped him. "First you kiss me, then you try to feel me up. Pervert."

"Shut up," he mumbles with a sigh. He continues rubbing my legs and I exhale contentedly. I imagine how good it'd feel if I didn't have both leggings and jeans on...and if his hands went up a little more. Well, one of those things I can fix. Without warning, I unbutton my pants and Dominic moves his hands yet again. "Uh, Nova?" he asks in pure confusion. I pull my jeans down a bit and reveal my leggings. "Oh...okay. I was going to say: that was easy."

I shoot a playful glare at him as I hoist myself up to completely remove my jeans. I don't get very far because, in a swift motion, he tugs them off of me and tosses them to the floor. I feel a rush of emotions in my stomach as my mind travels to the gutter. I quickly return to my previous position as I repress the influx of sexual thoughts. I shut my eyes and wait for his hands but they don't come. "Ahem, get to massaging," I insist and he sighs noisily.

"When do I get a massage?"

"You don't get one because you're a pervert," I tease him with a smirk. In actuality, I'm the pervert here. It's me.

"Well, since I'm already being accused, I figured I'd put the offer on the table. You said your ass was sore. I can massage it if you'd like," he proposes and I open my eyes and glare at him, earning a smile in response. "I'm joking, Nova...unless of course you want to take me up on the offer."

I chuckle quietly and cross my arms over my face to hide the redness that ensues. "Shut up, Dominic."