I pulled Harry's lips down to mine desperately and kissed him hard, ready to be thrown off any moment.

But instead, I found Harry catching my lips and cupping the back of my head gently, kissing me back as deeply as I kissed him.

Oh my God, it was happening again.

Moaning softly, frustratedly, I pulled at his hair and drew him closer, Harry obliging and leaning down, angling his head to kiss me deeper. His own hand swept into my hair and brushed my cheek in the process, before kissing me hard on the mouth.

I couldn't believe this. My heart was beating out of control as Harry and I stayed cinched together, our lips fused like the past few months hadn't happened. My lungs refused to take air, but instead seemed only to breathe Harry in, his earthy cologne and the scent of his clothes, smelling like fresh laundry. He tasted like chamomile, most likely after the tea he had just been sipping. I couldn't get enough, and I didn't want this to end.

– But then my heart and head betrayed me once more.

Why was he doing this? Kissing me back when he had tried so hard to push me away these last few months? Why wasn't he stopping this? Oh, was this another one of his games?

Letting out a frustrated sound, I reluctantly broke away from Harry, who immediately let me go when I pushed off of his body. His breath was heavy like mine, but he watched me quietly and calmly as I began pacing, rubbing my temples. His calm demeanor only proved my suspicions.

"I don't get this," I stated, shaking my head with frustration and confusion. "You kissed me back. After months and months, you kissed me back. Why?"

"It's my understanding that's the general idea when someone kisses you," Harry replied.

"Don't do that," I snapped at him, not wanting his sarcastic answers now. "And don't tell me you kissed me back just because you felt pity for me on my birthday either."

"I didn't," Harry responded.

"Then why!" I cried, turning to him furiously. I was actually raging mad, but I tried to temper my emotions to make heads and tails of this. "You've been acting distant with me for months, lying, pushing me away... sending me mixed signals, and now this?"

I paced some more when all Harry did was sigh deeply. "Cassandra..."

"I can't take this anymore," I confessed, feeling my eyes burn with tears of frustration. Throughout these past months, he had lied to me, been cold with me, played with my emotions, only to... kiss me back, after all this time. If he had wanted this, why hadn't he just... done something?

"Cassandra—"

"You were the one who told me to go," I whipped towards him and glared at him. "You were the one who ended this... thing between us. So why are you kissing me back now?"

Harry looked at me silently, pressing his lips into a flat line. When I realized he wasn't going to reply, I let out an angry cry.

"God!" I almost screamed, clutching my hair in frustration and anger. "I don't get you, Harry! You say one thing, but do another. You withheld truths from me, and for what?" I asked, referring to the time I found out about his virginity. "You never show your emotions! You never let anyone know what you're feeling, and it pisses me off!" I yelled, pacing back and forth in front of him. Harry remained standing where he was, watching me with that calm look.

"What do you want from me, Cassandra?" He finally asked, and that pissed me off even more.

"I want you to show that you care!" I shouted, but then let out another frustrated sound. "Or at least just stick to being an asshole! This back and forth... I can't do this anymore. I'm so fucking pissed and frustrated, I could just—God I could just—"

My hand vibrated with the need to slap him. I remembered all those times last summer where I'd fought against the same urge. Now, though, watching him stare at me so calmly and collectedly after having just kissed me, while I was having a mental breakdown, somehow that was the last straw for me.

I fired my palm against his cheek. I didn't even think twice before I realized I had done it, but the second I felt it happening, I regretted it. My eyes widened and I cupped my mouth, seeing Harry's head whip softly to the side.

It wasn't even a hard slap. Just enough to get my point across, but it still made me feel guilty and ashamed of my actions. I stared at Harry's red cheek, remorse and regret filling me up so hard it hurt.

But to my surprise, Harry hardly responded much to the slap. If anything, he looked mildly... okay with it. He simply turned his head back and looked at me, not with hatred or discontent as he should have, but with patience.

"I..." I opened my mouth to apologize, but before I could, Harry turned on his foot and calmly walked towards the winding staircase.

Gaping, still in shock at what I had done, I watched him silently disappear below for a moment. I continued to shake and stare mortified at the floor, not believing I had truly just snapped like that.

God, I had officially lost my mind.

A minute later, Harry surprised me by returning, looking exactly as he did before. Only, instead of coming back empty-handed, he seemed to be carrying two small bags of something.

Frozen peas.

Handing one to me, I stared at him speechlessly as he pressed it against the stinging hand I just used to slap him. Then, taking the second bag for himself, he pressed it against his cheek and sat down in the arm chair, looking calmly up at me with nothing but tranquility.

The man had just been slapped, and all he did was sit down calmly and ice his cheek?

Un-fucking-believable.

"I'm so sorry," I finally voiced, my throat thick with regret. "God, I don't know what possessed me to do it. Please, I'm so sorry, Harry. I promise I won't do that again. I feel awful."

"It's fine, Cassandra." He assured with a patient voice.

"No it's not," I argued, clenching the bag in my hand out of pure reflex. "Don't try and justify what I just did. Nothing will. I let my anger get the better of me and I... God, I'm a regular abuser," I whispered, mortified.

"There's no need for that," Harry sharply objected.

"You need to slap me back," I insisted, looking at him seriously. "Or something like that. Make it even or... Christ I don't know! Just slap me back so we can call it even!"

"I'm not going to slap you back, Cassandra." Harry calmly drawled, looking up at me. "You were angry and I saw it coming. It's fine."

Fine? Fine? My anger flamed up again, hearing him act so rational after being slapped. Once again, he was putting a lid on his emotions, not allowing himself for once to just... snap.

– So I guess I was going to do it enough for the both of us.

"God!" I yelled again, throwing the bag of peas down on his cluttered desk. "This is exactly what I'm talking about! You don't even care that I just slapped you! You're too calm! Christ, I don't even think I've ever heard you curse before!" I screamed.

"Fuck," He calmly volunteered.

I gave him a flat glare. "You know that's not what I mean."

Harry finally sighed and put his ice bag down as well. Then, standing up he slowly walked towards me where I was leaning against his desk. "I ask you again, Cassandra; What do you want from me?"

"I want you to just... be one person!" I finally admitted and relinquished a sob. Tears burned in my eyes as I stared up at Harry's deep, piercing gaze. His brows lightly furrowed. "Either be an asshole or be... actually, forget it. Just be an asshole," I growled, trying to hold back my tears. "At least that way, I know you won't break my heart again."

"You want me to be an asshole to you?" Harry slowly repeated, taking a step closer and caging me against the desk. I nodded firmly, still battling my tears.

"Yes," I whispered, seeing the crease between his brows grow deeper. "Rather that than... kiss me like you did just now. Rather that than hold me the way you did last summer."

His eyes flickered with brief confusion. "Hold you?"

I looked up at him, pain etched onto my features. I was done concealing the heartache he had put me through this summer.

"A man shouldn't hold a woman like that unless he plans to keep her," I told him, plain and simple. "He doesn't kiss her, hold or touch her the way you did with me. Not unless... not unless he wants her to stay," I whispered, surrendering to a single tear. It slid down my cheek and I saw Harry's eyes soften and follow it down to my chin. "But you told me to go. And then you go and come here. You lie to me and you... you break my heart all over again," I cried silently, angrily wiping at my cheek when another tear fell. "So yes. I'd rather you'd treated me like an asshole. I'd rather you'd fucked me like one this past summer."

Harry's eyes now flickered with something else. It was gone too quick to tell, but the next moment I didn't have to decipher.

Stepping closer, eliminating the final space between us, he stared down at me with that look on his face.

"Is that what you want?" He finally asked in a surprisingly soft voice. "You'd rather if I had done that to you? Treated you badly?"

"Yes," I sobbed out, brokenly.

He watched me closely. The tears shimmered in my eyes as I stared back up at him harshly, waiting for him to do something—say something. Instead, all he did was lift his hand towards my cheek.

"Don't," I warned him, moving away from his touch. "I swear to God if you touch me right now, I'm going to s-slap you again."

I couldn't handle anymore sweet nothings. Empty promises and feelings left unreciprocated. If he tried to comfort me now, to touch me and melt my heart again, I was going to break, but so help me God, I was going to take him down with me.

Harry's brow furrowed slightly, his lips pressing into a thin line. Then, moving even closer, ignoring my words, he now stepped so close, I was forced to back up against his desk. "Harry—"

My hand automatically lifted, but before I could slap him again, his hand caught my wrist. He didn't even as much as look away from me as I let go of another sob. Only moved closer, now cupping my face and forcing me to meet his eyes.

"Harry, I swear to God—"

He pulled me to him before I could finish, and in one single move, his mouth was on mine.

Kissing me deeply, brushing the tear tracks away from my cheeks, Harry moved his lips over mine with an earnestness I couldn't remember—had dreamed about, but never actually experienced. He didn't pull away, not even when I started panting, gripping his suit for leverage. Instead, he kissed me deeper, his tongue coercing me into submission as he slid it against my own and melted me wholly.

My knees gave out and I fell back against his desk, Harry lifting me up and setting me atop it. Now standing between my legs, lips desperately fused together, my head started to cloud over as his mouth kissed me harder. What had started out sweet and delicate was slowly turning into a hot mess. My own hands were clinging to his suit for dear life, while Harry's roamed into my hair and steered my lips harder against his own.

I couldn't fight this. God, I didn't want to, but I needed this so badly.

Kissing him back with fervor, I therefore began to tear at his tie and shirt, moaning hotly when his lips traveled down my throat. His hands came to my side, running down to my hips and finally my thighs. I locked my legs around his hips and let my head fall back as his mouth kissed a hot trail down my cleavage, his tongue making goosebumps dot all over my skin as heat spread inside me. Fuck, I was going to come apart.

"Harry," I panted, my hand tangling in his dark hair while the other fought to keep me level on his table. "Please..."

I yanked on his hair, and his mouth instantly returned to mine. I moaned hard again, and then surrendered as he cupped my face in his hands and kissed me so deeply, so passionately, I thought I was going to burst right then and there.

My hands finally found the loops of his belt, tugging madly at it while I somehow sensed in the back of my mind how Harry's right hand had disappeared. I soon heard a funny whirring sound and realized he was tugging on the blinds, closing the curtain right behind me which offered a view to the street—shielding us off to prying eyes.

No sooner had the curtain been closed before his hand came to my thigh again, pulling me closer. I whimpered impatiently and struggled to undo the button on his pants, before it finally came loose. I tucked at his pants and pulled his shirt free, practically ripping it open as Harry kissed my lips swollen.

"Please," I begged desperately against his mouth, reaching into his pants to find him hard and ready. "Harry, please—"

"Come here," He whispered, tucking me closer, before reaching up under my skirt to find my panties. With some joined help, we managed to get both skirt and panties off, Harry quickly stepping back, before coming between my legs again, now nothing but air separating us. That space was quickly eliminated as I cinched my legs tightly around his hips and wrapped my arms around his waist.

Harry found my mouth again, turning my chin up with a simple firm knuckle. I kissed him back desperately and then nearly cried from joy when I felt him where I needed him—pressing against my most sensitive place.

He paused only a second at my opening, before pressing forward; entering me in one, upwards go that had me trembling and expelling a hard cry against his mouth, one he returned with a deep groan.

He was inside me. Between my legs and cupping my face, I was left breathless as we paused there, panting against each other's mouths. Harry's thumb slid across my cheek, causing my eyes to flutter open and meet his.

His pupils were dark and expanded, those amber rises almost gone. But there was such a tender look inside his gaze as he looked down at me.

"H-Harry—"

"How could I ever have fucked you when all I did was love you?"

My breath froze.

Staring up into his eyes slowly, I saw Harry looking down at me, boring into my eyes and soul. His gaze was completely melted and there was a softness to his voice as he gently stroked my flush cheek, all the way down to my swollen lips, coercing them to pull in breaths again.

What did he just say?

I blinked confused and felt a tear slick down my cheek, Harry's thumb catching it and rubbing it away. His gaze deepened and he leaned closer towards my lips as they struggled to work. "W-what?"

"I love you," He repeated, declaring the words to me like a soft life-sentence. "I have loved you, and I don't know how to stop, Cassandra. I'm sorry."

My brows furrowed more, confused by his statement, and my mind filled with so many questions. It was right then I felt him still pulsing inside me, still between my legs, paused at my deepest end. I closed my eyes and swallowed hard, trying to focus my mind.

This couldn't wait. I needed to know, even if it was like this. The man just told me he had loved me all this time, he could drop a bomb like that and not expect me to have questions.

"Why?" I therefore whispered, feeling more tears rim my eyes as I looked up into his for answers. "If you've loved me all this time... why did you send me away?" Why didn't he fight for me? Why did he tell me to go?

"Because I knew..." He breathed against my lips, closing his eyes solemnly. "As well as you did... I shouldn't love you. You shouldn't want that."

"What I want," I breathed hard, gulping again when he slowly opened his eyes and met my wet gaze again, "what I've always wanted... is to be with you, Harry. Goddamn it, you knew. You knew all I wanted was to stay with you—to be with you, to—"

"To throw away any future you might've had before me," He finished, shaking his head with sad expression. "Cassandra... I know what I am. I know what being with me means. I could never ask you stay for that. I could never take your future from you like that."

I gripped his chin harshly and made his deep amber eyes meet mine. He allowed me to pull him down, to burn him with my gaze to know I was dead serious. "The only future I want is with you. Just you."

"Cassandra..." Harry's voice deepened in that way I knew it did when he was about to argue me on my own point, so I stopped him. I clenched my legs tighter around him and forced him to slip deeper inside me. Harry's mouth snapped shut, and his eyes shut briefly as he felt my inner walls rub around him, taking him to my deepest end.

"No, you listen to me now, Harry Xavier Devon," I whispered strongly into his ear, sliding my hand back to grip the bottom wisps of his hair, tangling in those brown locks until I could practically see the hairs rise on his skin. Harry slowly opened his eyes, giving me two pools of melted honey, hanging by a thread. "I know exactly what it means to be with you. I know you're impossible. I know you're older, grumpy and set in your ways. I know all that, I promise," I assured, seeing him clench his jaw, but stay silent for once as I continued.

"I know everything you are, and I know why. But what's more important," I breathed, brushing my hand through his hair and licking my lips, "I don't want you to change. I'm not Catarina; I don't want fame and fortune or a life in the limelight. All I've ever wanted is to be loved," I told, swallowing hard. "And if you say you do that, then that's enough for me."

Harry smiled softly, taking in all my words with a moment of silence. He slid his own hand across my cheek, brushing my warm skin with his thumb. But I could still see a hint of that sadness lingering in his eyes.

"It might be enough now," He finally whispered, caressing my cheek gently. He regarded me with a deep look, before the smile fell from his lips. "But what if years from now, it won't be? I don't want you to have any regrets."

"My only regret would be to leave again," I whispered back against his mouth. "To leave you, to not spend every day bothering you, frustrating you, teasing you... loving you," I saw Harry's eyes soften. "Because I do, Harry. I love you so much, I'll fucking slap you again if you even try to tell me I don't."

Harry's lips twitched, and he released a breath, pressing his forehead to mine, staring down at me. "I still say you deserve better."

"Oh, you say so many things," I breathed, before silencing him with my lips.

Kissing me back deeply, I pressed myself closer against him and moaned as Harry's hips began to move again. The delicious friction between us made both of us pant against each other's lips, my hands ripping at what was left of his shirt. Harry's mouth didn't leave mine as we managed to tear it off, casting it aside and leaving my hands to explore the broad, muscular plains of his chest. Every inch of skin was as I remembered it, all the way down to the fine dusting of hair on his chest, to the prominent V leading down to where we were currently connected.

"Harry," I mewled, biting my lip as his mouth veered down my throat, his hands coming to my blouse.

"Can I?" He whispered, ever the gentleman.

"Tear it to pieces," I begged, but despite that, I felt Harry merely smile against my skin, before he pulled back and helped lift the blouse up and over my head.

He could never be that aggressive, not even to my cheap clothes that was barely hanging together anyway.

"You really are impossible," I whispered against his lips as his mouth found mine again.

"Impossible?" Harry questioned, his hands traveling up my sides.

I quickly unhooked my bra and threw that away as well. "Utterly so."

His lips quirked against my neck, now once again moving down as his hands slowly came to my now exposed breasts. He pulled back an inch to meet my gaze, a challenging look in his eyes. "Tell me what you want from me, Cassandra."

Wetness flooded to my core at his words, and on instinct my inner muscles clenched around him. Harry grunted and clenched his teeth, shutting his eyes for a moment.

"With your words," He then specified, causing a wry smile to lift on my lips.

"Kiss me," I therefore whispered, running my hand up through his now tousled hair. "Make me breathless. Take me however you want, Harry."

His mouth lifted, and with a sweet kiss to my lips, he then gripped my chin and forced my lips to part. I gave way for him submissively and allowed him to dip his tongue inside and taste me. I met him with equal fervor, moaning strangled when he kissed me deeper, until my head began swimming—until I wasn't even sure if I was dreaming or not.

Then, I suddenly felt as Harry lifted me up into his arms. I looped my arms around his neck and let him carry us to his bed behind him, tilting me down gently without breaking our connection. I splayed out on his sheets and watched him pull back, breathing hard as he looked down at me, at my flush body, his for the taking.

"Do whatever you want," I whispered again.

Harry's gaze darkened, and with a clench of his jaw, he then pulled back, standing up. I watched him then discard what was left of his clothes. Dragging off his pants and taking off his boxers, he then climbed in on the bed with me, scooting me up to the pillows.

"I want to taste you," He told, his lips hovering over my mouth, before moving down to my throat, taking a long moment to douse my neck in hot, toe-curlingly sweet kisses.

"Do it," My own voice came out a shaking mess, my body so strung up with need, I was surprised I hadn't combusted yet somehow. "Please... please, Harry."

Harry took my permission and began his slow, unhurried journey down my body. Pausing at my breasts, he gently cupped them. His mouth peppered small, yet warm pecks around my nipples, watching them pebble and harden as I writhed in need beneath him.

"Beautiful," He murmured, just before gently teasing one stiff nipple into his mouth, sliding his tongue across the sensitive areola.

"Oh God, please..." I arched and my eyes rolled back in pleasure as Harry took his sweet time torturing me, tasting me as he wanted. I was positive my inner thighs were a mess by now, completely drenched and aching to the touch. "Please... Harry... I need—"

Harry's mouth silenced me as I felt his teeth softly graze my nipple, causing my toes to curl and my voice to crumble into a needy whimper. I writhed impossibly, trying to find some kind of friction, when Harry then finally moved, sliding further down.

He circled my stomach, kissed around my belly button, before pausing at my pelvis. He kissed my bikini area, his tongue guiding a lavish path down to the drenched dip of my hips, where, at last, I felt his breath strike me.

"Please," I cried desperately, all but pushing my hips to him, needing to feel him, to have any kind of release. "Harry, I can't take it any longer—"

His mouth came down on my mound and I nearly sobbed in pleasure as his tongue instinctively sought out my aching clit. He sucked gently, before pressing his hands against my thighs, baring me wider. I opened up willingly and had to bit into my own palm not to scream when I finally felt a finger circle my opening. God, I was going to come—

Harry's mouth closed around my clit the same time he gently plunged a finger inside my wet center. I cried loudly and arched, gripping the sheets as pleasure tugged violently in my lower belly. "Harry!"

He pressed his mouth to me harder, now beginning to move his finger inside me as well, feeling me clamp around him earnestly, so close, I was already on the brink.

"Oh God, please," I moaned, feeling myself begin to dissolve. "Harry!"

My orgasm overpowered me and hand me clamping my legs around him, writhing under him. Harry did nothing but grind my clit harder with his tongue, bending his finger inside me when my inner muscles pulsed and spasmed. It only drew more pleasure and sounds from me, until all I could do was collapse in bliss.

"Harry, please," I panted the moment I had air. "Please, I need you inside me. Right now."

Harry kissed my mound a few more times, before slowly extracting himself from me. His finger came out glistening with my release, and he watched it for a moment, as if fascinated with how wet he had gotten me. Then, his eyes turned back to me, seeing the desperate look in my eyes.

"Come here," I whispered, urging him towards me.

Harry slowly moved, his eyes darkening as he lowered his body onto mine. Placing one palm next to my head, he slowly leaned down to my mouth, hovering just above me.

"Take what you want from me, Cassandra."

His request made my pussy clench and my eyes widen. He looked down at me, that firm, authoritative look in his eyes. His amber irises were fully dilated, but as he looked down at me, telling me to take what I needed, I could do nothing but comply.

Reaching between us, I wrapped my hand around his hard length, marveling at the smoothness that met my palm. Harry grunted quietly, but didn't take his eyes off me as I slowly pumped him once, twice, before slowly bringing him down to my dripping center.

Rubbing him against my folds, I saw a muscle in Harry's jaw work as I pushed his limit, gathering my own juices along his cock. His hips rocked along with my movements, sliding back and forth slowly until I could practically feel the veins pulsing up his shaft.

I couldn't wait another moment.

Gripping him in my palm again, I finally brought him down to my opening. I was still dripping wet from my orgasm, and as I pushed his tip against my slit, there was hardly any resistance as Harry now slowly pushed forward.

Holding my gaze firmly, I couldn't hold back a strangled moan as I felt him slide into me fully, taking me to the very hilt. I whimpered, but then had to shut my eyes when the fullness was too much, spreading warmth throughout my whole lower abdomen.

God, I had completely forgotten how perfect he felt.

Rearing back, I then felt as Harry slowly began moving, sliding back and pushing inside me again in a measured thrust, causing all my toes to curl and my eyes to roll back into my head. "F-fuck..."

"The sounds you make," Harry murmured against my lips, before pushing deeply inside me again.

He liked my moans.

"Don't stop," I moaned, running my fingertips down his back. I felt the rhythmic movement of his muscles contracting with each thrust, slowly increasing the pace as he felt me grow closer and closer. "Oh, God, don't stop..."

Harry groaned quietly against my throat, before kissing me up to my mouth again, claiming it with a demanding kiss. I cupped the back of his head and clung to him as his hips took over, driving into me with sweet abandon.

Friction was driving me mad, Harry's lips against my own drowning me with too little air. The bed springs beneath us squeaked as need took over, leaving Harry groaning against my mouth. From the way he pulsed inside me, I knew he was close as well.

But I wasn't finished yet.

Gripping his hips, I brought them to halt as I locked my legs around him. Harry stopped, pulling back to meet my heated gaze, when I chose that moment to push him over.

Catching my drift, Harry let himself hit the mattress, letting me climb up on top of him. I didn't waste a moment to reach between us and slide him back inside me, not wanting to lose momentum. I sat down on him and felt as he reached new depths inside me. I let out a wrangled moan, digging my fingertips into the pecs of his chest. "Oh God..."

"Don't hurt yourself," Harry admonished softly, mistaking my pleasure for pain.

I shook my head, but then leaned down and met his lips, just as my hips took over by themselves.

Rocking back and forth, curling my hips and feeling him slip in and out of me, I quickly felt Harry's breath grow heavy and strained as I quickened my pace, chasing my own orgasm as well. His palms fell to my thighs, brushing up and around to my ass, clenching the flesh with every thrust I came down on him. Neither of us would last long like this, but I was determined to make the most of it anyway.

Clinging to his chest, I moaned and whimpered against his mouth as we both felt our release chasing us. Harry's stomach tightened, and I saw the way his teeth gritted, holding back. He grunted into our kiss, and as he stroked a soft hand down my spine, I shuddered and felt myself get pushed over the edge.

Coming hard, my hips grew sloppier as I succumbed to the overwhelming pleasure. I whimpered and moaned hard, but then felt as Harry began thrusting up from below me, using the last few strokes to absolutely turn me into mush.

"Harry," I trembled and shook, spasming hard around him. My fingers burrowed into his chest, and with a grunt, I then felt as Harry clenched me, his hand coming to my hair.

In a short few thrusts, I then felt it happen; As Harry's mouth locked over mine, kissing me deeply, I felt him let go. His movements halted and with a burning warmth, I felt as he filled me up, grunting against my lips in labored pants.

For what felt like minutes, we laid there, each caught in our own climax, caught in each other. Our mouths never broke apart, but our lips grew sloppy and finally stilled as no more air was left to have. Instead, we stayed panting against each other, eyes closed, completely drunk on pleasure.

Holy fucking shit. That had been the most intense sex of my life.

My head finally collapsed on his chest, my mouth open and still panting hard. I could feel Harry's breath against the top of my head as well, breathing just as heavily.

And all this coming from a man who was a virgin before I met him.

My body was still thrumming in the aftermaths of an explosive orgasm when I faintly sensed something move below me. Harry stirred slightly, and I didn't think anything of it, at least not until I suddenly felt—

A gasp ripped from my lips and my whole body made a small jump. Something sharp had snapped against my butt, leaving a stinging sensation.

– It took my frazzled brain another full second to realize...

Harry fucking Devon just spanked me.

"There," His raspy voice spoke, just as he rubbed the sore spot on my butt where my skin still zinged. He pecked the top of my head, making me look up with that dumbfound expression. A little crooked smile was playing along his lips. "Now we're even."

• • •

– In his defense, she never specified where to slap back.