even though I purposefully avoided cuddling the first two times we had sex, going so far as to nearly sprint the other way, I’ve decided to give up the struggle against it.
After all, I should be capable of having casual, incredibly hot sex with a guy and cuddling with him afterward without falling in love with him, right?
Right?
I ignore the fact that my mind can’t seem to give a satisfactory answer to that question, wriggling closer to Roman as he wraps his arms around me. We lapse into a contented silence, both still catching our breath.
Fuck, I missed this over winter break.
Maddy and I spent the time off relaxing at her campus. There’s an option at Neptune Academy—where she’s a first-year water elemental student—for people to stay in the dorms over the holidays if they want to. I think Griffin Academy, known to almost everyone as the Academy of Unpredictable Magic, has a similar option, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to stay here for the three weeks we had off.
My only friends all went somewhere else for the break. Roman had something going on off-campus that he wouldn’t tell me about, which didn’t surprise me all that much. For a guy who’s spent a lot of his time pushing to break down my walls, he’s got some nice, tall, steel-reinforced ones of his own, I’m discovering.
Dmitri went home, and he recruited Cam to go with him so he wouldn’t have to deal with his disapproving parents alone. I don’t know the full story there, but from what little I’ve gleaned, Dmitri and his folks aren’t on the best of terms. And Asher traveled down to San Francisco to visit his family. Unlike Dmitri’s relatives, they’re all wonderful people as far as I can tell, which doesn’t surprise me, seeing as Asher’s a goddamn saint.
With those four gone, there was really no reason to stay. The academy is small, only a few hundred students, but I haven’t really gotten close with anyone else. My ex-roommate Alyssa went out of her way to make my life hell, and the only other friend I made last semester turned out to be a murderer and a liar who tried to steal a weapon of mass destruction from a hidden vault under the school. So… yeah. It’s made me a little skittish about trusting new people.
Besides, all I really wanted was to hang out with Mads anyway. I missed the hell out of her last semester.
We holed up in her dorm room and binged Marvel movies, stayed up late talking, and checked out the area around her campus. I didn’t have any more weird blips of magic—or whatever the hell that was—like I experienced the day Maddy came to visit me at the end of last semester.
Thank God. I’ve barely got a handle on the two powers I already have, I’m not sure I can deal with more.
It was fun to see my little sister in her element. A bunch of her friends were gone for the break, but I got to meet a few of them, and they all seem really great. It’s amazing to watch her blossom after being shy and alone for so many years when we were younger.
Our mom’s death really took the life out of Mads for a while. But now she’s getting it back. And while my relationship with magic might be… complicated, to say the least, I’m grateful to it if it means she gets to have this wonderful experience.
But I did miss the guys, and I definitely missed sex, and ever since I came back to the Academy of Unpredictable Magic campus, I’ve somehow ended up in Roman’s bedroom every night.
The man knows how to use his tongue. And his fingers. And… other things.
Maddy started classes already, but mine won’t start for another two days. None of my roommates are here yet, but I was pleasantly surprised to find my handsome professor wandering the corridors of Wellwood Hall on my first day back. We managed to avoid having sex in a public place for once—woohoo, go us—but it’s a good goddamn thing his room is warded with a sound dampening charm, or the whole school would probably know about us by now.
“I’m glad I came back a few days early. Talk about a welcome home,” I joke, brushing a few strands of messy brown hair out of my face. I lost track of how many times I orgasmed tonight. I’m definitely going to need a