Our lips connected and for one brief, amazing moment Dean melted into me. His hands trailed up my back, pulling my body closer. His lips were warm and soft, lingering against mine, and then suddenly…gone.

Sweet as hell. Unexpected. Reassuring. It was as if he wanted me to know, in his own particular Noah way, that he hadn’t forgotten about me.

I'm not a wild card, Noah. I'm the safest bet you'll ever make.

I’d never saved anyone or anything in my whole life. I didn’t like the idea of it. I was nobody’s hero. But the alternative option would have been to let Georgie die, so I guess just this once an exception had to be made.

Sometimes I forgot our age difference and sometimes it was hard to ignore. Like right now. He radiated a masculinity, a maturity, a confidence, even in his sleep, that other guys my own age just couldn’t even compare to. Maybe that was less about his age and more about him. Either way, it was incredibly sexy—he was incredibly sexy. I kind of loved the fact that he could snap me in two and the fact that I knew he never would.

Part of me was slightly pissed off that this kiss with him hadn’t happened sooner. As in years ago sooner. Because this one little kiss—it literally rocked my world. He was morphine and I was an instant addict.

Leo backed me against the door frame, his demeanor turning all 'take-no-prisoners' as he pinned me in place with his hips. His hands traced up and down the curve of my body until they wound their way through the loose strands of my hair. He was in control, I was totally at his mercy, and I. Didn’t. Even. Care.

But maybe she’d always been this fucking adorable and I’d just been the jackass who never bothered to notice.