Kingpin (Court University 2)

We danced close, this girl my air and every breath. She hugged her pillow-soft body against me, and I drank her in.

“You guys were talking for a long time,” she said, lifting her head. Obviously, her attention had been on me and what I’d been doing as much as I’d had mine on her earlier.

I spun her before dancing her back to me. “He’s just dealing with some shit. Stuff with his dad. His left him too when he was young. Jax is here now to try and reconnect with him.” I’d told Billie Jax was moving down here but hadn’t told her why. I frowned. “I hope he can be at peace with him. Take advantage of it like you did with your dad.”

Her cheek pressed against my chest in that moment, looking at her dad and new stepmom across the dance floor. The pair looked at us too in their dance, her dad waving at her. He winked, and Billie smiled.

Billie faced me. “I’m glad I did. We’re far from there, but at least, we’re making strides.”

She’d made heavy ones, one of the strongest people I knew, male or female.

Her arms fell down around my neck. “How’s Dasha doing? She all moved in or…”

Dasha was starting at Woodcreek, and though she was all moved in to the dorms, I grumbled a little at the reference. “Yeah, she is, but she’s been seeing a whole lot of Niko. Not really liking that.”

They’d actually been… shudders… dating, and I couldn’t be more livid. She’d come to stay with me for a few weeks over the summer, and I thought I’d lose my shit when I found out they’d been “hanging out” without my knowledge. My buddy had said he’d kept that close to the cuff because he wasn’t sure it was going to be a thing.

I grunted. “They’ve been dating, and I seriously want to rip off his balls and feed them to him. He’s too old for her.”

“She’s nineteen, babe.”

“Yeah, and your point? Still too old.”

Laughing a little, Billie laced our fingers together. “Niko is a good guy. Your sister is lucky to have him, and you know that.”

I did know that as much as I didn’t want to admit it.

Niko had done the right thing in the end regarding the Marvellis, protected Billie when I couldn’t. He was ride or die, a rare find, and with things working out so well with his mom’s treatments lately, he actually did have the time to fully invest in a relationship with my sister.

I supposed she could do worse, and like Billie could see my thoughts, she grinned, kissing me.

Her full, fuckable lips took me to my perfect place, a place with only her and me and no one else.

My arms fell around her, and when I hugged her to me, I felt impulsive. “We should move in together.”

She stopped the dance, her eyes curious. I had to say, I wasn’t surprised. She’d already moved into her new apartment for the new year, and though she’d spent more time at my place with me than there, the subject of moving in together hadn’t really been discussed.

Her lashes fluttered. “Are you serious?”

I pinched her chin. “Why not? Niko has been talking about wanting to move out.” I drew next to her ear. “He’s tired of hearing us.”

We literally did it everywhere, no surface untouched, and that wa

s bothering my buddy more and more these days. He’d actually walked in on us once in the shower, said it “scarred him for life.”

We’d ignored his ass and finished as he’d slammed the door. When I was with Billie, no one else was in the goddamn room.

Billie’s cheeks shot up 195 degrees in color. She braced my arms. “Can I redecorate? No offense, babe. But your house looks like a dude’s.”

She could do whatever she wanted as long as she kept calling me hers.

Swinging her around, I cemented the decision with a kiss. A move-in was only the beginning for us, and if the next wedding we attended could be ours, I wouldn’t mind that. She kept me whole, made me free, and I’d never be able to thank her enough for that. I loved her down to my fucking toes. She was mine…

And I was so happy to be hers.