Page 25 of From Rome, With Hate

Fuck, it’s the most beautiful sound in the world.

“Today is your birthday?” I ask, realizing I’d never paid attention before. I never really thought about it.

“No.” She gives me a teasing smile. “It’s in April. But Sola’s birthdayistoday, and she likes to pretend we’re birthday twins.”

“Really?” I smirk.

“Yeah.” She can’t stop smiling. “She says it’s because she always wished she had one. A twin, that is. We’ve only been friends since freshman year. I thought it was strange that first year when she asked me to wear a matching birthday crown and share a cake.” She lifts one shoulder. “But who I am to judge what makes others happy?”

“You’re kidding.” I tip my head back in laughter. “That’s one of the oddest yet funniest things I’ve ever heard.”

“I like seeing how happy it makes her.”

“Hmm…” I hum, my pulse racing. “Well, I would have gotten you a gift if I’d known.” I grin so hard, my cheeks fucking hurt.

“There’s still time.” She raises her hand slowly to run her fingers across my jawline. “If you truly meant what you said about not hating me, you’ll find a way.”

“I meant it.”

“Good.” She moves to rise up on her toes so the tip of her nose is touching mine. “Prove your words with your actions, Montgomery. I’m risking everything here.”

“So am I.”

She pulls back and moves to step around me. I follow her, wishing we could talk like this forever, away from everyone else.

“Lark,” I whisper, hoping to fuck she doesn’t pull away or stop me this time. “Please don’t leave without?—"

My words are stolen when she presses her lips to mine.

At first, it’s a fevered kiss—one catching us both off guard. We freeze, unmoving. Her mouth is soft pressed against mine, and her arms wrap around my neck. My hands move to her lower back, just above the waist of her lavender pants. I pull her against me as her body bends, sinking into our kiss. Keeping one hand pressed to the small of her back, I move the other one to wrap around her head. I moan, feeling like my heart is going to burst. I’ve never felt this way about a kiss before.

She moans, too, seeming to sigh with relief.

I don’t want this to ever end.

It must hit her we’ve already crossed a line, not to mention stayed in this bathroom entirely too long, because she abruptly pulls away from me.

Her eyes are wide and her cheeks are flushed when she falls back against the sink. She reaches behind herself to grip the edge, steadying herself.

“Fuck.” She’s panting. “We really shouldn’t be doing this. It’s a bad idea.” The redness in her cheeks spreads down to her chest. She places her hand over her heart.

“I agree.” But I growl, hungry for more.

She doesn’t stop me when I close the space between us again. My hand is on the back of her head, crashing her mouth to mine. We’re frantic and frenzied, messy and chaotic.

Her back bends against the sink as my hand smooths across it. She’s warm and soft beneath my touch, molding to me perfectly. I fall for her as hard as I’ve hated her, with every ounce of my being.

Her hands wrap around my head, and she’s weaving her fingers in my hair. She tugs on the ends, moaning and panting between our frantic kisses. My dick wakes up as if it’s been asleep its whole life. Heat spreads in my lower stomach, and I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to sink myself into someone more than I do Julianna.

“Rome.” She says my name against my mouth. “I need to go.”

“No.” I’m defiant. “Stay.”

When we leave this room, I know this moment will end. The spark in my chest will die, and we’ll both have to go back to our normal lives, pretending the other either doesn’t exist or that we hate the other.

“Sola will start looking for me.”

“Let her.” I move my mouth from her lips to her jaw and pepper her with kisses, breathing her in. Shit, she smells just like she did that day in the library: vanilla and something herbal.