Learning Curve

Thursday March 20th

Scottie

“Happy birthday to me!” Ace cheers loudly when he steps into Zip’s Diner, owning his role of birthday boy arrival pretty much exactly how I expected him to and entering a superhero stance as his eyes find us.

He wears a sash that reads Birthday Boy strung over his tuxedo—yes, a tuxedo—and a fake gold crown on his head. “Nineteen, baby! Let the good times roll!”

Julia smiles and rolls her eyes as she heads toward the table we reserved for the big night, where a few of us are already seated. The location, the vibe, and the decorations were all chosen by Julia, and the rest of us chipped in to help where we could. There are gold and black balloons everywhere and confetti on the tables, and still, Ace is the fanciest thing in the place. I’d say it’s precisely how it should be.

Ace strides over with a big-ass smile on his face and stops at the only filled table in the entire diner. His eyes move over the streamers, the balloons that have his face plastered on the front of them, and the Happy Birthday, Asshole banner we have hanging from the ceiling.

He laughs his ass off at the matching T-shirts—with his face on them—that we’re all wearing.

“Jules, you’ve really outdone yourself,” he says and wraps his arm around her shoulders to tuck her closer to his side. He presses a kiss to her forehead. “Thank you.”

Their affection combined with their just-friends status is either the biggest prank Ace has ever played on everyone or the biggest prank he’s ever played on himself. The fact that he believes the two of them are just friends when he looks at her like he does might as well be the ninth wonder of the world. According to Finn, though, Ace had been on-and-off dating some chick named Scarlett for months now.

I wonder where she is tonight.

Blake and Finn stand up to give Ace a hug and a manly back-pat, and Kayla and I follow their lead, though our hug for the birthday boy is a little less macho.

When Julia told me her plans for throwing Ace a small, low-key birthday party like this, I questioned the whole thing. I mean, Ace is the social king. He loves parties and crowds and being surrounded by people. But with the way he’s smiling and laughing and looking so damn happy, I guess Julia knows him better than anyone else.

Plus, it probably helps that his parents have some kind of mystery trip planned that has him and Julia and both of their parents flying out tomorrow. They have no idea where they’re going or what they’re doing, and knowing Ace’s parents, I don’t know if I’d be excited or terrified.

I can’t wait to hear about all of it when they get back.

“You want a slice of cake?” Finn asks, his hand pressed gently against my back.

I nod, and he touches a kiss to my lips.

“I swear, the two of you are so adorable, it kind of makes me want to puke,” Kayla teases and Julia giggles.

“I think I’m with Kay. No one should be allowed to be so damn cute together.”

Finn doesn’t balk at their words, instead, pressing one more kiss to my lips. This time, he adds enough tongue to make it nearly NSFW or public consumption.

I try to be strong, try to keep the kiss PG, but damn, I swear, whenever this man’s lips are on mine, I kind of forget anything else exists.

I could kiss Finn for hours—days, weeks, months—and never get tired of it. Last Saturday night, after we got back from a Double C event at Dragon Stadium, we lay in my bed and kissed for I don’t even know how long. Seriously. I woke up the next morning with my lips half pressed to his.

It’s insane. Indescribable. And shouldn’t be legal. But hell’s bells, I’m so glad it is.

Kayla fakes a gagging sound, and Finn stops kissing me on a chuckle, heading over to where Ace and Blake stand near the cake.

“I just want you to know,” Julia says, a soft whisper into my ear. “I’m so happy for you, Scottie. This is the kind of love you deserve.” She gives me a gentle hug and then spins on her heel to stop Ace from shoving his entire face into the cake. “Ace! If you mess up that cake, I will stab you with this knife.”

“Ohhhh, is that a threat?” he teases with both hands in the air. “Because it sounds kinky, Jules.”

With a roll of her eyes—and a secret grin—Julia shoves him out of the way, and Ace smirks down at her as she cuts the expensive bakery cake she got for his birthday.

But before any slices are passed out, Blake’s phone pings with a notification.

Both Ace’s and Finn’s phones are next.

Then mine, Julia, and Kayla’s.

McKinley Library. Back entrance. 15 minutes.

“Looks like Double C is calling our name,” Ace announces.

“You sure you want to go tonight?” Blake questions. “I’m happy to see that my future wife texted me first—clearly, she wants me there—but I think we need to let the birthday boy decide what we do tonight.”

“Are you kidding me, son?” Ace retorts with a big-ass smile. “This is fucking perfect. Let’s go!”

“What about your cake?” Julia asks, and Ace just slides the sucker back into its box and picks it up.

“Looks like we’re taking it to go, Jules!” he exclaims and takes her hand. “Let’s hit it!”

I’d question leaving the balloons and streamers and banner and all the other random birthday shit we brought to Zip’s, but Ace is apparently besties with the owner. “Yo, Zippity-Doo-Da! We gotta jet!”

“No worries!” the gray-haired man I’m assuming is Zip calls back from behind the counter. “We’ll handle the mess! You kids go have fun. Happy birthday, Ace!”

“Is it just me, or do you find it almost creepy how Ace seems to know everyone?” I ask Finn as we walk out of Zip’s Diner. Ace is already striding up the sidewalk with Julia’s hand still in his and the cake clutched to his side.

“I’ve given up on understanding it,” Finn comments, flashing a little smile in my direction.

“Honestly, he might not even be a real human,” I say. “He’s probably, like, a robot or AI or an alien from an alternate universe. I mean, he managed to get you to be his friend, which is the equivalent of a miracle.”

“A miracle?” he questions with a smirk. “You saying I’m difficult?”

“I’m saying you’re, like, bad-boy complicated.” I nudge his hip with mine. “Lucky for you, I love bad boys.”

“Hey now,” he says and surprises the hell out of me by lifting me up into the air and over his shoulder. He playfully slaps my ass. “I better be the only bad boy you love.”

I’m giggling now, and he taps my ass again with his hand. “I promise!” I squeal when he tickles my side. “You’re the only bad boy I love!”

“Good,” he says, but he doesn’t put me down on my feet.

“C’mon, Finn, you can’t carry me all the way to McKinley like this.”

“Watch me.”

I shit you not, Finn carries me the entire ten-minute walk to McKinley Library and doesn’t set me on my feet until we’re standing in front of the back entrance.

“You’re a lunatic, Finn Hayes,” I whisper to him and pinch his firm ass cheeks for good measure. He grins down at me and wraps his arm around my shoulders as Lexi opens the back entrance doors to let us all inside.

There are at least seventy or so people are here tonight, and Connor is at the door handing everyone flashlights.

Lexi stands guard until the last person is through the door, which is well behind us, and then shuts the door and puts the security system back on.

As she walks past us to the front of the crowd, Blake gets lost in his feels again. “What’s her deal? Seriously? She’s a grad student, right?”

I make wide eyes at Finn, while Ace does his best to be delicate. “Blake, dude, give it up already. She wants nothing to do with you.”

I nearly laugh. To Ace, being blunt is being gentle.

“I don’t get it,” I whisper into Finn’s ear, getting up on my tiptoes to reach. “Blake could have any girl on campus, but he’s fawning over the one girl who continues to show that she doesn’t want anything to do with him.”

Finn’s smile is unbelievably sweet as he shrugs. “I guess you can’t help who you love.”

“Hey, Lexi, how’d you get the security codes?” Ace heckles from our spot in the crowd as she’s preparing to speak.

She doesn’t bother giving him a response. “Tonight, you’re going to try to find history,” she announces. “Our university’s founder, the late Harold Dickson, is rumored to have discovered a devastating truth about his pregnant wife in 1923. Per the century-long gossip mill, Harold found out that his wife Anastasia was having an affair with a high-ranking member of a royal family in Europe and that their baby was not his. Somewhere in this library are letters that reveal the truth.”

Lexi looks around the room and flips on her flashlight. “Was his wife Anastasia really having an affair? Who was the high-ranking member of the royal family? Is Harold Dickson Jr. actually Harold’s son? No one has been able to find the letters between Anastasia and her mystery royal lover, but they’re rumored to be here, somewhere inside these walls,” she announces. “Tonight, your mission is to find those letters. Find the truth.”

Connor flips on his flashlight and steps up to take over for Lexi. “You have three hours, and you’re in luck because tonight, there is no entry fee. Since no one was able to find the golden football in Dragon Stadium last week, we’ve rolled that pot over to tonight.”

“What’s the pot at?” someone in the crowd asks.

“A lot,” Lexi answers with a grin. “I highly recommend you split off into groups. Three hours isn’t much time to hit every inch of this library by yourself.”

Ace, Blake, Kayla, Julia, Finn, and I group up without hesitation. We agreed a long time ago to work together, and after everything that happened over winter break, I petitioned to add Kayla to the Double C mix. We got in trouble with Lexi the first time we brought her, but now that Finn’s her uncle, there wasn’t much she could do.

The birthday boy guides us toward the staircase that leads to the basement of the library, ready to get started.

“Hold on.” Julia holds up a hand and stops walking. “Wouldn’t the basement be too obvious?” she questions, and Ace turns around to meet her eyes.

“You think you have a better place to start, Jules?”

She nods, but she doesn’t voice it. Instead, she gestures for all of us to lean in closer to her so the rest of the crowd doesn’t overhear. “I think we need to start in the attic.”

“There’s a fucking attic?” Ace asks, and she slaps her palm over his mouth.

“Yes, Ace. There’s an attic,” she whispers and stares at Ace with wide, knowing eyes. “But not a lot of people know about it, and I’m hoping to keep it that way.”

“How the hell do you know about it then, Jules?” Ace whispers, and Julia shrugs.

“A guy from my history class showed it to me a few weeks ago.”

“What guy?” Ace questions, and his voice is rising again.

“Just some guy I’m doing a group project with,” Julia answers, and she’s already heading toward a different part of the library, her eyes not realizing Ace looks like someone just shot his puppy.

“Jules, what’s his name?” Ace asks, picking up his pace to catch up with her.

But I don’t get to hear her answer because Finn grabs my hand and drags me toward the stacks. “Finn!” I whisper-yell, and he just grins at me over his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“I want to show you something.”

I giggle and follow his lead. As we’re walking, I find myself thinking about how far we’ve come over the past month and a half. Ever since he showed up at my dorm that one night, things have been different. Amazing, actually. The first week after we got back together, we spent a lot of time having real conversations and talking about the things we both had missed when we weren’t on speaking terms.

He told me everything that has been going on with his father. He told me about the Winslow family and what they’ve done for his mom and his siblings. He told me Reece is going to be transferring to Dickson next year. He told me what his reality was like when he was a kid living with an abusive drunk as a father.

And I told him what my life was like when my dad was still with my mom and what it’s been like for me since she showed up at that frat party. I even told him more about my sister Wren and my dad.

It feels like we’ve talked about everything, but seeing Ace in his birthday boy sash tonight has me realizing there is one thing I’ve never asked him. “Finn, when is your birthday?”

“November 15th.”

“November 15th?” A frown turns my lips into a crescent moon. “You mean I missed your birthday?”

“It’s no big deal.” He guides us through the rows and rows of books, and he doesn’t come to a stop until we’re so far from everyone else that I can no longer hear quiet chatter or see the glow of moving flashlights.

“It feels like a big deal,” I say, sadness evident in my voice. “I missed your birthday, and I didn’t even get you a present.”

“Good news, Scottie. I don’t want anything but you,” he whispers and turns off both of our flashlights.

“What the heck?” I nearly shout when darkness consumes us. “I can’t see any—”

His mouth is on mine before I can even finish my train of thought. He slides his fingers into my hair, and I don’t hesitate to return the kiss with fervor.

Before I know it, my legs are wrapped around his waist and his big hands are gripping my ass.

Goodness, this feels amazing.

I lean my head back, and his mouth makes a path down my neck and between my breasts. My eyes have adjusted to the darkness now, and I watch as he pulls my shirt and bra down with his teeth so that his mouth can wrap around one pert nipple.

My hips jerk against him when he sucks it into his mouth.

And he’s hard beneath his jeans, so hard against me, that my mind starts wondering what Finn’s cock would feel like in my mouth.

Finn moves his attention to my other breast, and a deep, throbbing ache starts to form between my thighs. I press myself against him again and that only makes me think about his hard cock more.

What does he taste like? What would he feel like against my tongue?

Over the past few weeks since we officially got together, we’ve had a lot of sex, but I’ve never actually had him in my mouth.

The thought becomes all-consuming until I slide down his body and onto my knees. His hair falls over his eyes as he stares down at me. His eyes showcase a myriad of things—heat and confusion and want and desire. And it’s all I need to see to get the courage to unzip his jeans.

“Scottie?”

“I want to do this,” I say and pull him free of his boxers and jeans. His cock is so hard now that it juts out from his body, and the smallest drop of pre-come sits on the tip. I lick my lips. “I need to do this.”

I don’t give him any time to respond. I sneak my tongue out to steal a taste, and when the sweetness of him hits my taste buds, I slide my mouth over his hard length.

His hips jolt forward at the sensation, and it makes me feel powerful. It also makes me throb.

I suck, gently at first, and build up the pressure when his hands slide into my hair in the most affectionate but gently possessive way. He needs this as much as I need this, and I’m instantly high from it.

“Fuck, Scottie,” he whispers through a moan. “I never want those lips of yours to touch any other cock but mine.”

“Never,” I hum.

“And my mouth will never touch any pussy but yours. Never. Fucking never.”

“Yes.”

I suck him deeper into my mouth and when I feel his body tense up with pleasure, I keep going. I suck and suck and suck and suck. And I don’t stop sucking until the throb between my thighs becomes almost intolerable.

I suck until Finn tries to pull away before he comes, but I grab his hips and keep him right there, so I can swallow down his pleasure.

And I savor every single drop.