On his other side, Aspen gave him a nudge. "Kiss, kiss, kiss!" she encouraged, sounding like kids chanting "chug" instead.
Keir's eyes dropped to my lips. "Overwhelmed yet?"
"Nope," I said. "Just waiting for the catch." And I lifted my chin a bit, tilting my face to his.
This was all the excuse he needed. Leaning in, the man's mouth found mine, and he kissed me gently. I couldn't help but think of how different this was to the way Hawke had kissed me. Keir was careful. Hawke was determined. Keir was confident. Hawke was almost skittish.
And Keir was here. As my tongue moved with his, I pushed away all thoughts of Hawke - and of Aspen sitting on the other side - so I could enjoy this. Just this. Not the implications, the nagging insecurities running through my head, or anything else. I just wanted to taste his lips one more time.
His thumb caressed the line of my jaw. His mouth worshiped mine. Keir kissed like everything else in the entire world could stop and it wouldn't matter. The man made me feel like I was the center of his world, and I liked it so much more than I should.
But the sound of a text being sent made me tense. The second time the little noise went off, I pulled away to look at Aspen, only to find she was the source of it. In her hands, she was typing furiously, smiling down at her screen.
"What are you doing?" I asked. "Did I just screw up?"
"Huh? What?" She looked up, then over at Keir. "Oh, did I mess it up for you?"
"Were you trying to?" he asked.
She wrinkled up her nose. "No?" It came out like a question. "I was trying not to stare. I'm kinda new to this too." Her eyes jumped back to me. "Carry on! Kiss, kiss, Rain!"
"No, no, no," Keir said. "Who are you texting?"
"My brother," she mumbled. "I, um, figured I could hang out with him since I can't really kiss her and now I wanna."
"You can kiss Keir," I teased.
Aspen huffed at me. "Uh, how about no? Like I said, you get the 'hard' ones. I prefer soft."
"Not hard yet," Keir mumbled under his breath.
In unison, Aspen and I both smacked him. "Pervert!" I huffed.
"Gross!" she said.
But he flopped back against the tree, laughing his ass off. "So does this mean you two will be cute when we're all together? Fair's fair, right?"
"Free for all?" Aspen asked.
"That does not sound the way either of you intend," I told the pair. "This just got kinky."
"This," Keir said, "is nice, comfortable, and exactly what I - "
"Get the fuck out of my way!" Torian's voice cut across the atrium. He wasn't yelling, but it wasn't far off.
My head snapped to the sound, finding him glaring at a group sitting just behind the entrance on that side. Nevaeh had pulled back, her arms up like she was braced for a blow, but Poppy Hawthorne had shifted before her.
"This isn't your school," she told him. "Maybe you're friends with the Morrigan. Good for you, asshole, but you do not have the right to tell any of us what to do!"
Torian just smiled, but the look was cold. "You want me to strip your power next?"
Poppy's body leaned back slightly. "Rain wouldn't let you." It sounded like she wasn't sure, though. "She's supposed to protect us - and that includes from you."
So I raised my voice. "Leave her alone, Torian. Poppy's helped me out a few times, and I don't forget things like that."
"Tor, stop abusing the faelings!" Aspen yelled a second later. "Nevaeh fucked up. I'm over it!"
"She was going to kill Hawke!" Torian spat. "She was aiming forhim!"
