I didn’t receive Mal’s message until after Grayson was dumped on my front step, shocking me. I hadn’t even been sure my brother was coming for graduation. I knew that things had been bad between him and my parents and I had assumed that animus would spill into my grad.

I wasn’t sure if I was happy to see him or not because he was in a mood when Lisa yelled for me that I had a visitor.

My house was in chaos, even though it was only quarter to ten and we had two hours to get to grad.

I was already showered, using the last of the hot water and I gaped at my brother from the landing.

“Gray!” I cried. “What are you doing here?”

“Not happy to see me?” he asked, barely smiling and I had a familiar knot form in my stomach. I could see he was upset.

“How did you get here? When did you get in?” I asked, hurrying down the steps. “Where’s Ella?”

His face darkened even more and I had my answer.

“Never mind,” I told him, ushering him inside. “Come in the kitchen. There’s coffee on.”

I sat him at the scarred table as my housemates flittered through and greeted us. The excitement was tangible but I found my good spirits slipping away as I studied Grayson’s face.

“Are you dating Malcolm Laurier?” he asked and my shoulders instantly touched my ears.

“What?” I choked. “Who told you that?”

“Are you?”

“Of course not!” I denied and a flash of guilt accompanied the words. So what if I’d been thinking about him nonstop since our tryst the previous week. It had been a one off. It wasn’t going to happen again and I sure as hell wasn’t dating him…no matter how many ways I’d tried to make such a scenario play out in my head. It wasn’t like he’d even texted me once since we’d parted ways. He was in the same headspace as I was.

“Good. That entire family is the devil.”

“Gray, I really need to get ready,” I told him, eager to change the subject. “Can I leave you here while I finish?”

He looked at me, shame coloring his eyes.

“Yeah, of course,” he muttered. “Sorry, Blake. Ella just gets me so mad and once her parents get involved…”

I stood, unsure if he was going to start ranting but to my relief, he shook his head.

“Go!” he insisted, grinning for the first time since arriving. “You don’t want to be late for your own graduation.”

I didn’t give him a chance to change his mind and I raced back upstairs to my room to finish dressing.

I popped in my contacts, something I rarely did but I wanted my pictures to show me at my best that day. I’d bought a new dress, an A-line number which was both professional and form fitting so it showed off my natural curves, perfectly. It was black, a color flattering for my complexion and hair.

After I applied some foundation and mascara, I stood back to look at myself critically. Someone in the house yelled, “ONE HOUR TIL SHOWTIME!”

My heart began to race but not because I was so close to graduating. I mean, I already knew I was graduating. The show was just a formality, even if I was valedictorian.

No, my anticipation was for something else entirely.

I wanted to see Mal one last time. We hadn’t said goodbye properly and I felt like I needed closure somehow even though there was nothing to close, not really.

We weren’t even friends, right?

There was a soft knock at the door and I looked up as someone pushed it open. I started in surprise.

“Mal!” I choked, stepping backward inadvertently like he was a ghost or something.

“Sorry,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I-I just wasn’t expecting you,” I answered, laughing nervously. I realized he was only wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, hardly dressed for grad.

“You look amazing,” he told me, stepping inside the room and closing the door behind him. His eyes told me he wasn’t lying and I blushed slightly.

“Thanks. You look…underdressed,” I teased. “What are you doing here?”

He shrugged, appearing slightly embarrassed.

“I’m not sure,” he replied honestly. “I think I just wanted to get you alone before our families screw it up.”

I knew exactly what he meant.

“I’m glad you came,” I told him quietly. “I also wanted to say goodbye to you.”

He nodded, a sad smile on his lips and slowly, he covered the space between us. I was nervous, knowing that my brother was downstairs. He would flip if he knew I was here with Mal in my room. We also had to go soon so we wouldn’t be late but none of that seemed to matter when he wrapped me in his arms and kissed my forehead, softly. Instantly, I fell into him, my body relaxing against his.

I felt like we just fit together somehow, like we’d always belonged curved into the grooves of one another.

“I’m almost afraid to touch you,” he said lightly. “You’re like one of those fancy cakes that should never be cut, only admired like art.”

I pulled my head back to laugh.

“You really do have all the lines, don’t you?” I chuckled. “I see why the girls have always liked you.”

His brow furrowed.

“Blake, you’ve always been wrong about me,” he growled. “I’m not the player you think I am.”

I shook my head quickly. I didn’t want anything to ruin our last minutes together. I just wanted to relish it and I showed him as much by raising myself onto my tiptoes to kiss his mouth softly.

Instantly, he returned my gesture, dancing me back toward the bed but I pulled him further with me, our mouths never parting until we hit the far wall. The bed was bound to be noisy and I didn’t want to attract any more attention to us. I had no idea who had let Mal in. The last thing I needed was anyone bursting in on us.

He pinned me against the surface, one hand pulling up my thigh so the skirt of my dress inched up but it was so tight, it didn’t go far.

I yanked it up myself, uncaring if it wrinkled. I was already excited, a rush of heat springing between my thighs as his mouth brushed against the skin of my cheeks, his nose nuzzling my flesh. The warmth of his breath created goosebumps all over my skin and I pulled him closer.

I needed to memorize every curve of his body in that moment, the way he tasted, the little sounds he made as his excitement met mine.

His free hand slipped along the small of my back to cup my cheeks, kneading them to spread me apart as he ground into me with his crotch and I felt him growing harder with each tiny jab.

“Take me,” I breathed. “Now.”

His palm slipped off my rear to unbutton his jeans and he seamlessly dropped his pants. I could feel the tip of him dripping against me, sliding over the cleft in my middle, soaking him further.

“Oh God, Blake,” he rasped. “I can’t believe we’ve taken this long—”

“Shh!” I insisted, jutting toward him. I didn’t want anything to take away from this, our last moments.

“Shh,” I said again and he seemed to accept that, plunging into me with a slick, full thrust.

I cried out and he pressed his mouth to mine, our eyes wide as we stared at one another but I could see the primal lust in his irises and he filled me hard, his thrusts deep and penetrating.

I clung to him, my nails digging into his shoulders, wanting to cry out but Mal sensed it and kept his mouth firmly against mine. Like he had before, he was bringing me to my climax without effort. I was ready for him—I’d been ready for him since the night he’d left.

My eyes closed as a newly familiar trance slid over me and I succumbed fully to the feeling of the feral act, sweat breaking out on both our faces.

Mal’s fingers dug into my leg and I knew he’d leave bruises but I welcomed them. They would be there long after he was gone.

His breathing was jagged and there was an unmistakable tightening inside me. I clenched around him, yanking him even closer. His heartrate was as erratic as mine and with a final, hard push, he joined me, spilling himself into me with hot, long streams.

I was a slip and slide but I didn’t want Mal to withdraw, not yet, not when I had him exactly where I wanted him.

If we weren’t about to be discovered, I would have never let him go, I was sure and he seemed just as reluctant as me to disengage but he did, slowly, lowering me to my feet. I hadn’t even realized I’d been partially extended over the wall until that moment.

Still breathing heavily, he stared at me as I straightened my skirt and tried to keep all the juices from slipping out from between my legs. The room reeked of sex and I was sure I would too.

“I think you’re going to need to redo your makeup,” he joked but there was an unmistakable sadness in his face.

“Mal,” I said quietly. “We’ll keep in touch, okay? Email and stuff?”

He shrugged and nodded but neither of us believed it. It would make it too hard to stay away if we did that.

“Why did Grayson and Ella need to meet first?” Mal grumbled.

“That’s what older siblings are for,” I replied lightly. “To test the waters and see if it’s safe. Obviously, it’s not.”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

He stepped toward me and gave me a warm hug, kissing the top of my head.

“You knock them dead with your speech today, okay?” he muttered. “And good luck in San Fran. Maybe I’ll run into you in Sterling sometime.”

I nodded.

“Hey,” I said when we parted and he turned to leave.

“Hm?”

“Thank you.”

It seemed like a weak thing to say to him but I wanted him to know I was grateful for everything he’d done for me, even if we had gotten off to a rocky start.

He opened his mouth, his brow knit in confusion but instead of asking what I meant, he only nodded.

“You’re welcome. Good luck, Blake.”

“You too, Mal.”

And then, Malcolm Laurier walked out of my life.

At least for a little while.