“What day is today?” I asked.
“The tenth.”
“So, October tenth two thousand twenty. Ten-ten-twenty-twenty.” I closed my eyes to make a mental note.
“Ten-ten-twenty-twenty,” Ollie repeated. “Fuck sounds good. I love it.” He turned his head and rested his forehead to my temple. “Come on, love. We have to head back.”
Ollie lifted off before pulling me to my feet, and we ran our way back to the campus as the date chanted in my mind. Plans. A future.
Ten-ten-twenty-twenty.
Chapter Eighteen
“Kiss her crazy and
love her insane.”
—Oliver Masters
ollie.
“Mia’s a psycho,” Liam shouted in the hall. “Bitch almost killed that freshman. She doesn’t deserve to be here.”
My head snapped behind me to see Liam talking to some random bloke, Mia and me not much farther away, capable of hearing every word pouring from his malicious tongue. The air around me changed, and like a predator watching its prey, my eyes zeroed in on him as my body shifted closer to Mia, protecting her from the ugliness.
It was Halloween, the day of the dead. Also, the day wankers grew a set of bollocks to match their nerve. As much as I’d like to teach him a lesson, it wouldn’t have done any good. He was just as scared as the next person, projecting fear onto those who were easy targets.
The prankster had easily walked into Mia’s dorm and stolen her journal, managing to broadcast everyone’s secrets over the walls, including Liam’s sexual orientation. The issue hadn’t been everyone’s knowledge of it. The issue was Liam’s inability to accept his own heart’s preference.
He was ashamed, and that made me only pity him.
Didn’t he know? Love was attracted to the soul inside, blind to everything else. You didn’t get an option—no choice in the fucking matter. Love had no guilt, fear, or negatives—only pure in form, attacking the organs, embedding itself deep, hungry, to thrive and grow. Shamelessly, love had no barriers or rules, and the real tragedy was the resistance from the close-minded, who were just as scared.
One day, love would conquer fear. It’s only a matter of time, Liam.
I grabbed her empty hand and held it to my chest. “Block it out. Liam’s just embarrassed,” I whispered with my mouth dropped toward her ear. Turning my eyes from Liam to Mia, her chest filled with air before she let out a long breath and nodded with her eyes fixed out in front of her. I moved around to face her, pinning her still and towering over her fragile frame. Her brown eyes lifted until they hit mine as her naturally wavy hair fell from her face. “Hey, if you’re a psycho, then I’ll love you insane.”
Mia chuckled and dropped her head. “I don’t think anyone understands us.”
“No one understands us? Good. Sounds like we’re finally making history then,” I stated. She smiled, and my stiff muscles relaxed under her spell. “I want to kiss you right now.”
Mia’s eyes drifted around us, and her cheeks tinted rosy. “What kind of kiss? Are you talking about a light kiss?” her eyes turned back to me, challenging me, and her lashes lowered along with her voice, “or the insane, mad, crazy kind?”
Those words injected lava in my veins, a heatwave burning for her, and the only way to ease the ache were those lips she was now biting. I snatched the books from her arms and pulled her down the hallway, pushing through Liam and the crowd forming between classes.
After we turned the corner, we reached an empty hall. The books dropped from my arms as Mia fell back against the cement, and I could hear her breathing. I ran my thumb over that bottom lip before I grabbed it with my mouth and kissed her crazy.
Her chest hummed against mine as I held her up with my hands and consumed her everything—her taste, her scent, her nostalgic soul mine lured to like a magnet. The ache was now long gone, and my tongue pushed through the part in her lips. I sank, all of me going under, and I never wanted to be pulled out from the depths of Mia ...
“uh-hmm,” a low grunt sounded behind us. My forehead dropped to Mia’s, and her eyes shifted behind me. She let out a small chuckle and straightened her posture the same time I hesitantly pulled away. “Next block starts in a minute, what are you two doing over here?” Jerry asked.
All it had taken was one person outside our bubble to remind us of where we were. Dolor. Sure, we were adults, but stripped of our freedom and deprived of our identity by the hands of medication and means of brainwash—an attempt to reset us like a broken toy.
Six more months left. Six bloody months. I’d gone seven months behind bars without Mia, another six in this hell hole seemed unmanageable. But when my eyes latched onto hers, belief that it would all be worth it erased every doubt.
The house I’d set up for us came forth in my head—the life waiting outside the iron gates. Mia and I, and if everything worked out according to plan, Zeke too.
Without removing my eyes from Mia, my mouth opened. “I’m kissing this beautiful creature, my friend.” I landed my lips on a smiling Mia once more. “Ready?”
Mia shook her head slightly, and her hair fell over her face, hiding that shit-eating grin.
It took a lot of convincing, but I’d managed to transfer Zeke over to my table in the mess hall. When Zeke’s schedule was interrupted, he’d lashed out. But I couldn’t stand back and watch him being ignored as Bria, the blonde, and Jake talked around him.
My family—my everything—belonged together.
Between the commotion, I hadn’t been able to discuss my plans with Mia about Zeke. Hell, Mia and I had never confirmed plans, only the fact that I’d steal her away, wherever she would be, once we left here. Little did she know, I had a house ready for the three of us. With news of her dual citizenship, it took a massive weight off my shoulder.
Things were falling together.
I moved my hand over Mia’s thigh to get her attention. “I’m working on becoming Zeke’s guardian,” I blurted, airing out plans and hoping the news wouldn’t close her off.
Her lovely lips turned up in the corners, and her hand covered over mine on her thigh. I closed my eyes and released a breath. “Is that even possible?” she asked low, matching my tone.
I dropped my chin. “My mate on the outside has been doing some research. Once my record is clean, I can adopt. I’m over-age,” I nudged my head in Zeke’s direction, “Look at him. He may not be my brother by blood, but he’s my brother by bond, and I’m not leaving him behind.”
If anyone understood my love for the kid, it was Mia.
“You’re amazing,” she said through a sigh. “I know whatever it takes, you’ll find a way to make it happen.”
I could breathe again. “You’re alright with this?” I had to make sure.
“Am I alright with you getting Zeke out of here? Hell yes.”
“It would be the three of us,” I clarified, putting things into perspective. “It would always be you and I, love, but Zeke would finally have a life. A chance at something he deserves.”
“Like I said,” she squeezed my hand, leaned in closer, and I held my breath, “Hell. Yes.”
Those soft lips merely touched over mine, and I closed off all senses to feel every sensation they stirred as small bumps rushed over the surface of my skin. When my eyes opened again, Mia’s contagious smile greeted me, and my stupid smile returned.