The food was prepared and sitting on the breakfast bar, ready to be carried out to the coffee table where two candles were lit, making the beer bottles standing in front of them glow. Hugh reached down and felt the small box waiting to be revealed. He’d been on edge all day yesterday after his argument with Justin, but his friend had texted him this morning with an apology. He was worried and wanted to be sure Hugh made the right decision. He forgave him, but his trust in Justin had waned.

Blair was finishing getting ready in the bathroom as he carried two plates filled with chicken parmesan over before returning to the kitchen for their salads. He turned the plates and picked up his phone to select their background music for the night. He smirked, thinking of putting on anther dubstep mix, but they had to get through dinner before they tackled each other. He had a very important question to ask and hearing one word from her would be more than enough to send him over the edge. Tomorrow, they would meet their parents and tell them the good news—leaving out the messy bits about their past week, of course. And how they hadn’t spoken for three years.

He chose a relaxing acoustic station and set his phone down as the bedroom door opened. He held his breath as heels clicked down the hall and Blair stopped at the end. His chest swelled and words failed him.

“Too much?” she asked, swaying so the dress twirled around her legs.

“God no,” he breathed and coughed. “I mean, you look amazing. Blue is your color.”

She stepped into the living room, tucking her curls behind her ear and her toes curling in her heels. “I’m glad you like it.”

He stared at the bare skin at her shoulders, the plunging neckline giving him clear view of her full breasts, and how it hugged her curves like a second skin until it hit her hips. He almost wished he had put the dubstep music on instead. Dinner wouldn’t last long with her looking like that.

“Dinner?” he offered when he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

She walked to the couch and sat down. “Smells delicious. Did you make this?”

“Funny, telling jokes already.” He lifted his beer and she did the same. “A toast to picking up where we left off?”

“And to better futures.”

“And…and to one more thing,” he said, unable to wait any longer. The ring burned a hole in his pocket. “Blair, I know this has been arranged and we’ve already agreed to it, but it wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t officially ask you.” The box was in his palm.

Carefully, she placed her beer on the table. “Hugh?”

“You’ve been my best friend since we were kids,” he started, moving around the table so he could kneel beside her. “And though we got derailed along the way, we found each other again.” He opened the box and she gasped at the ring. The white gold band held a small but perfect sapphire surrounded by diamonds running through the band. “Will you be my best friend for life? Love me as I love you?”

She nodded, laughing as she held out her hand. “Yes. Yes, of course yes.” He let out a shaky breath of relief as he removed the ring. “Did you doubt I would say yes?” she asked as he slipped the ring on her finger with trembling hands.

“You never know. Weirder things have happened.”

She held his face and kissed him. He leaned closer, pushing her back into the couch as she pulled him up to sit beside her then climbed onto his lap. He explored her thighs as the kiss deepened and their tongues danced in a lustful tango. The room was hot, and they wore too many clothes for his taste. Hugh reached higher and paused when he cupped her bare ass. She pulled back long enough to wink at him, and he growled as he captured her mouth fiercely. She was naked beneath the fabric, naked and open for him.

He wanted it to be romantic, but their touches were frantic as if they were afraid their happiness wouldn’t last. She undid his belt and found his erected length begging for her touch. She held him in her hands, pumping up and down as his tongue followed her rhythm, leaving them breathless. When she left his lap and moved to his side, he frowned, but her mouth covered his cock and he groaned with pleasure. She licked up his length and sucked him into her mouth, hard and fast. He soothed his palm over her ass, shoving her dress out of the way so he could palm her sex as his other hand buried in her curls.

With each bob of her head, she caused another jolt of pleasure to shoot from his groin to the rest of his nerves. His head fell back and his jaw slackened as she swirled her tongue around him, taking him in deep before pulling back again. His fingers spread her swollen lips and he penetrated her the next time he filled her mouth.

She moaned and spread her legs as wide as she could without her knee slipping off the couch. The movement aroused him impossibly more, and his hips bucked as he twisted his fingers within her depths. His thumb massaged her clit, and she rode his hand as her mouth rode his cock. Filling her two ways was too much and he needed release. Her moaning around his shaft didn’t help. She fumbled, losing her pace as he ravished her sex. His shaft popped free of her mouth as he gripped the nape of her neck, kissing her as he sensed her orgasm grow closer, but there was no release, not yet.

When she begged him, he picked her up and, after some minor adjustments, filled her in one hard thrust. She held the back of the couch at either side of his head and he buried his face in her breasts. She rode him hard and fast. Her subtle cries turned into a scream of pure pleasure as she clenched around him. When she faltered, he grabbed her hips and pounded into her until his cock swelled and he spilled his release into her. She sagged against his body, twitching from the aftermath of the intense orgasm rocking their bodies. He kissed her cheek, still inside her, and lifted her left hand with the ring.

“Do you like it?” he asked, out of breath.

“I love it—and you and all of this.” She lifted her body carefully, and he slipped free with a grunt. A wicked glint filled her eyes as she winked and stood. “I love it all so much I’m ready for more.” She undid the strings at her back as she walked away from him, and Hugh was on his feet to give chase.

In his room, she stood near the bed, the strings partially undone and waiting for his help. He undid them quickly, trying to be gentle, but his arousal was growing again and he craved to have her every way he could tonight. The end of their secret week together was coming to a close. His body knew it as much as he did, and unless she moved in with him, they would not be able to spend this much time wrapped in each other’s arms.

* * *

Blair closed her eyes when Hugh finished undoing the corseted back and shoved the dress down her arms. Her heels remained on as she stepped out of the fabric pooled at her feet, but he lowered himself to help her not trip. He stayed there and kissed his way back up her calf and the back of her knee as she gasped. His cheek rubbed over her thigh and he kissed her hip, nibbling and sucking as his hands—oh, his hands—massaged closer to her already dripping sex.

Back on his feet, he guided her to the edge of the bed and sat her down. A damp towel from her shower was close by, and he wiped her and himself gently. Throwing it in the hamper across the room, he sank between her legs.

He didn’t have to ask. She spread her legs as wide as they could go and watched his Adam’s apple move with every hard swallow as he stared in awe at her open body, all for him. His fingers ran through her soft curls and teased her sensitive skin, not touching where she desperately wanted him to but so very close. She bit her lip as her head fell back. Her body throbbed with her heightened arousal, but he didn’t give in. As if they had a mind of their own, her hands clutched her heavy breasts, and she tugged hard on her nipples.

“Keep doing that,” he whispered as heat pooled low in her belly.

He liked it when she touched herself. Blair caressed her sides and lower, reaching down to barely touch her clit and lower still. He muttered something inaudible, his voice thick with want, and pushed her hand aside.

The next second, his fingers parted her folds. She moaned as he twisted and turned. Her hips bucked and her back arched and she sucked in sharp breaths with every drag of his fingers. Desire filled her until there was room for nothing else. She wanted him—needed him—but he pushed her right to the edge and drew back just in time. When he did it a fourth time and she growled in annoyance, he chuckled, a deep husky sound brushing across her skin as if he was touching her everywhere at once.

“What do you want, Blair?” he whispered, his fingers hovering inches from where she wanted them to plunge into her body. “Tell me.”

“I want you to take me,” she replied as their gazes locked. “Now.”

His hazel eyes flooded with a predatory glint as he stood and relieved himself of the rest of his clothes. He rolled her over on the bed and laid her out flat, covering her with his body a moment later. His fingers were close to her mouth, so she licked them, sucking his finger hard after pulling it into her mouth. His want rumbled through him and into her as his knee spread her legs and his hard rod pressed against her folds. He rubbed along them as she sucked his finger.

They had their romantic nights, but right now, in that moment, Blair wanted him to fuck her. She wanted the raw, pure form of Hugh and his lust. She wanted all of it. Lifting her hips, she pushed back against him and bit his hand hard enough to relay the message.

He got it loud and clear. He didn’t even have to guide himself in as he thrust forward. Blair gasped with delight when he didn’t hold back. She spread her legs wider, lowering her upper body as he wrapped his hand in her hair and gave it a tug. The sensations ripped down her spine, and her clit ached to be touched. She lowered her body a bit more to rub it against the sheets, but it was as if they were one mind. Hugh’s fingers found her bead and tugged and teased as his other kept a firm hold on her hip.

She met his thrusts and they lost all control. Their vision blurring from passion, Blair didn’t even realize she was crying out as her body exploded as Hugh consumed her, body and soul. She fell to the bed as he thrust one final time and his warmth jutted into her.

“Did…did I hurt you?” he gasped as he collapsed beside her on the bed a few moments later.

“Hell no,” she assured him and stretched like a cat basking in the sun. “I’ve never felt so good in my life.”

“Good, that’s good.” He laughed breathlessly as he said, “I’ve never been so worn out in my life.”

She smacked his chest playfully, and he caught her hand to kiss her palm. “On the bright side, I’m famished now.”

“Right, dinner.” He hugged her to his side and kissed her nose. “Dinner would be good.”

After a few more minutes relaxing, they climbed out of bed and decided dinner in bed while watching a movie was a much better way to pass the evening. Blair snuggled with him as the movie drew to an end a couple hours later and sleep threatened to take hold. She wanted to stay awake, but tomorrow was the last day of spring break and they would have to make their announcement. She dreaded it, not because she lied about wanting to be with Hugh, but because the second they said they were getting married, Bridget Gordie would swarm Blair. Any hopes she had of planning the wedding she and Hugh wanted would disappear.