Page 26 of Embrace

“Don’t think about other people. Think about you.”

“Yes. Yeah, I do,” I confirm.

“Okay.” He approaches me, eyeing my sweater. “Can I?”

I step back, and that seems to make Kian take one back immediately but I don’t let him. “Yes.”

His gaze settles on me for a beat, making sure before his knuckles dust over my collarbone. Kian carefully moves my hair back, then slowly undoes the first button, not taking his eyes off mine. My chest is heaving, and I know I’m wearing something underneath, but God, it feels like he’s unveiling my naked body.

One time during freshman year, one of my professors stopped me during a tutorial with a look of sympathy in her eyes and said,“Stress eating for exams?” I spent the rest of that week eating broccoli and spinach. So now, as Kian continues, I try to cling on to his words and not that memory.

“When you start allowing other people to dictate your actions…that’s when you start to lose your power,” he says. “You can dress how you want.” Another button and my cleavage comes into view. “Do whatever you want, and you’d still deserve the same respect as anyone else.” Kian doesn’t even blink as he works his way down to the last button effortlessly. He pulls my sweater off my shoulders, skimming the bare skin with his warm fingers and making me almost flinch from the contact.

He holds my sweater and takes a step back. “You’re beautiful, Scarlett. Just as you are.”

When he steps away, it feels like he’s not only taken my sweater, but my breath too.

I gesture back to the parking lot. “I should go. That date cut into my studying time.”

Kian laughs, and I give him a quick side hug, short and abrupt and I’m not even sure why I’ve done it. When I go to pull away, he doesn’t let me. He smiles brightly, like he didn’t expect the hug but now that he’s got it, there’s no way he’s going to let me brush it away like nothing.

“Six seconds,” he says.

“What?”

“If you want a hug, it’s gotta be a whole six seconds. I don’t do whatever that was.”

I’m so caught off guard by the specific time requirement that I don’t protest when he pulls me in. It’s like someone’s pressed down the final puzzle piece in an impossible picture.

“Why six?” I ask when my head connects with his chest.

The exhale from my body is automatic, and the yawn that splits my thoughts has me placing a hand over my mouth. I need to get a grip.

“That’s when your body releases oxytocin and you get the full benefit of a hug.”

I’m sure my body was releasing those hormones before I even touched him. His presence alone is a hit of oxytocin. There’s so much weighing on me, but this touch feels so solid, it’d be unfair to not surrender to it.

I’m not sure if he’s counting in his head but he releases me just when another yawn escapes.

“See,” he says. “That yawn right there means it worked.”

“Look at you quoting research papers. I guess the studying is paying off, huh?”

He chuckles. “Best tutor in town.”

Nine

Kian

I completely bombed.I miscalculated my plan for Scarlett to go on a date, and now, it’s only made her miserable. We’ve been texting since then, but I can tell she’s not very confident in my abilities. I need a new plan.

But right now, that’s on hold because my best friend is back in town.

“This is a picture of me with Eli and Sage in Toronto,” I say, swiping through my camera roll. “Oh! This one is me and my best friend, NHL legend, Lukas Preston. This is Summer and me putting shaving cream in your hand when you were aslee—”

“Okay, I’ve seen enough, Kian. And Luke is not your best friend,” Aiden says.

“Luke? Are you sure you’re allowed to call him that?” I laugh. “You’re just jealous Summer’s dad likes me more than you.”