Page 65 of 'Til All the Seas Run Dry

But he didn’t. He kissed her softly. Reverently.

“And I’m proud of you now,” she whispered against his lips, and he groaned, pulling her closer, still.“Can we—” she began to ask, but stopped with a little shriek when he moved so quickly that before her next blink, she found herself at the top of her stairs, next to her door, the side of the building at her back and Callum at her front, cupping her cheeks in his hands.

“I’m gonna have to get used to that,” Jory said with a breathless laugh, and Callum smiled before ducking his head to kiss her again. She met him, twining her arms around his neck and pressing her chest to his.She wanted to climb him, to be pressed against the wall, to cradle him with her hips.

“Let’s go inside,” she whispered.

He grunted and pulled back.

“Nay. Nay. We cannae—Jory, nay,” he said with a groan when she kissed his neck. “I want to do this properly. I dinnae want it to be like this.”

“Like what?”

“I’m meant to bring you flowers and take you to dinner and treat you like a queen and then...” he trailed off.

“I don’t need flowers,” she protested, trying to kiss him again, but he would not be budged.

“Youdeserveflowers. You deserve everything.”

She sighed, frustrated, but he’d made it impossible to be mad at him.

“You don’t have to buy me flowers.”

“Iwantto buy you flowers.”

“AndIwant you to come inside.”

“Jory—”

“I’m leaving soon. We don’t have much time. I don’t want to waste it.”

He took another step back, putting enough distance between them for the cold air to chill her.

“Jory,” he said hoarsely. “Please.”

“Callum,” she echoed. “Please.”

He sighed, reaching his hands and once again cupping her cheeks in her palms. She let him, closing her eyes.

“Cannae we… enjoy the time and not put an expiration date on it? Life is long. Well,ourlives are long. I know you mean to go, but you promised me four…hangouts.”

She could tell how much he hated the word. She had been the one to insist that they weren’t dates. That had felt like a good idea at the time. Now? It didn’t seem to matter. If she only had a month with him, she didn’t want to be just friends.

“Dates,” she said matter-of-factly.

“I thought ye said they were nae dates.” He looked suspicious, as if he was waiting for the catch.

“I changed my mind.”

“Alright,” he said slowly. “In any case, this was our first… date. Can we nae talk about you leaving just yet?”

“But—”

“I know. I know you mean to leave for good. But for the next month, can we just pretend you dinnae have that planned? Can we just… date?”

“Like… be your girlfriend?”

“That is what Robbie has been calling you.”