⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆☽Ⓛ❈Ⓒ☾⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

For the rest of the week, none of the girls bring up the question of what Dante and I are to each other. On Thursday afternoon, we're sat on the field after eating lunch. Dante has placed me between his legs again and I'm leaning on his chest.

He holds my hand, our fingers interlaced. I admire his rough but pretty fingers. I know what he can do with these talented fingers.

"What's going on with you two?" Killian asks out of nowhere.

The girls aren't with us today, they wanted to eat inside because it's too hot outside. I'm sat with Dante, Rio and Killian only.

I remain silent and let Dante answer this one. Killian looks back and forth between us with one of his eyebrows raised.

"How is that your business?" Dante replies casually.

Killian shrugs. "It's not, I'm just curious."

Dante squeezes my hand I look up at him, wondering if he wants my attention. He looks down at me, his face slightly softer than his usual expression.

"Be my girlfriend?" He asks quietly.

I blink a couple times and silently wonder if I've heard him correctly. "Pardon?"

He smiles down at me. "Be my girlfriend."

The second time, it's an order rather than a question. I can't help but smile at him being bossy. "Okay."

Dante nods and looks over at Killian. "There you go. She's my girl, everyone knows that."

My cheeks heat up at the mention of being 'his girl'.

Why do I like that so much?

Killian rolls his eyes. "I know, I know. Dani and I are old news, everyone is obsessed with the new 'it' couple, I get it."

Dante and I chuckle at his grumbling. Rio punches Killian's arm, making him grunt.

"At least you've got a girlfriend," Rio grumbles.

"That's because getting a girlfriend requires you to be attractive," Killian retorts.

The two of them start tussling on the floor. I curl my legs up to my chest to keep them out of the danger zone.

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆✥⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

The girls are ecstatic when I tell them about what went down at lunchtime. My mum is pleased for me, too. I tell her when I get home, Dad remains relatively quiet. I think he'd prefer me to be single but is just glad that I'm happy. He isn't home long because he has a business trip to leave for. I kiss him goodbye and help Mum make dinner for us all.

Dante calls me in the middle of night, waking me from a deep sleep. I'm confused at first as to why the room is illuminated. I look around sleepily and try to find my vibrating phone. I clumsily answer the call and hold the device to my ear.

"Hey, babe."

Dante's voice instantly makes me feel fuzzy inside and then worried.

Why is he calling me at midnight?

"Dante?" My voice sounds thick so I clear my throat. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just...something happened and I was wondering if I can come see you?"

I look around at my dark room. "Now?"

He chuckles down the phone. "Yeah, now."

"Um..." I think about it for a moment. Dad is the one who hears everything and he's away for the night. Mum's a heavy sleeper and is at the opposite end of the house with my siblings... "Okay. You'll have to come through my window, though."

"No problem."

With Dante on his way over, I turn on the bedside lamp and open the window for him. There is a strong rose trellis beneath my window and, luckily for Dante, they're not currently in bloom. I rush to my en suite and clean my teeth to freshen myself up a bit. I change out of my Kermit the frog pyjamas into my satin Victoria's Secret set instead.

By the time I hear Dante climbing up to my window, I'm lying in bed pretending that I just woke up like this.

His head appears through the window and he smiles at me. With all the grace and stealth of a burglar, he climbs into my room, landing noiselessly on my carpet. He kicks off his shoes, shrugs off his leather jacket and gets under the covers next to me.

He pulls me in for a hug and buries his face in my hair, inhaling deeply. I physically feel the tension leave his shoulders as I hold onto him.

"What's wrong?" I ask gently.

He pulls back to look at me and I notice the blood stain on his white t-shirt.

"Oh, my gosh!" I whisper-shout, horrified but not wanting to wake anyone up. "What happened?"

He looks down at his t-shirt and grimaces. He sits up and pulls it up over his head. There is a white bandage taped on his left peck that I inspect when he lays back down next to me.

"Got a little scratch from a knife, that's all," he replies casually, like it's not big deal.

I stare at him, my eyes wide and lips parted in shock.

How is he so blasé about this?

"Someone tried to stab you?"

He shrugs. "Tried, yeah. Don't worry, Killian took care of him."

"What do you mean?"

Dante's face hardens and my stomach sinks. I think I know exactly what he means.

"He didn't kill him, if that's what you're thinking," Dante says quickly. "But he took him to Mamba who will teach him a lesson."

I rub my eyes and try to process what I'm hearing. "Why was this guy trying to stab you?"

Dante shrugs again. "Didn't like me on his turf, I think."

"Why were you on his turf?"

He rubs his jaw, looking awkward and stalling before he answers. I give him a hard look that warns him to be truthful with me.

"Better paying customers," he says vaguely.

My eyes narrow further. "For drugs?"

He doesn't reply, he just nods once. He leans in and kisses me before I can respond.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs against my lips. "But please, can we not talk about my job right now?"

He positions himself so that he is between my legs and hovering over me. The denim material of his jeans rubs against my thighs. I put my arms around his neck, careful not to catch his wound. It can't be that deep because he doesn't seem uncomfortable holding himself above me.

He looks down at me with such intensity and longing. So different from his usual blank expression.

"I won't ask any more about it tonight, but I want to talk about this at some point," I tell him honestly.

He nods, his jaw clenched. He understands my need for answers, even if he doesn't like it.

"When that knife swiped across my chest, I'll confess, I did shit myself a bit. But in the heat of that moment, with all that adrenaline, all I could think about was you." He strokes my cheek with his fingers. "I'm sorry that I woke you up, but I knew I had to come see you."

"I'm glad that you did," I whisper back.

"I'm sorry that it took me so long to ask you out, I assumed you knew what I wanted, but tonight put that all into perspective and I realised how stupid I'd been to wait this long to ask you." He swallows hard and suddenly looks very vulnerable and very scared. "I don't want to lose you, Allie."

His heartfelt confession makes my eyes shimmer with tears. I pull on the back of his neck, making him lean down to kiss me. Our kiss shares all of the passion that we are feeling. His lips move over mine softly but with determination. His tongue bumps mine and I open my mouth wider to let him deepen the kiss.

I draw him closer to me as our tongues collide. I lift my hips to rub myself against him. He rolls his hips back, rubbing his erection against the one place that I want it. My eager hands travel down from his neck and to his jeans. I fumble with the button and the zipper but eventually get them down. I hook my feet into the waistband and drag them down his legs. Dante kicks them away, not letting his mouth leave mine even for a moment.

I grasp his cock and stroke it up and down. He pushes himself further into my hand whilst pushing his tongue deeper into my mouth. I feel so consumed by him in this moment, it's like I'm drowning in him but in the best way.

His hands move to strip me of my pyjamas, with a couple of quiet, careful movements, we are both naked in my bed. His hot body presses against mine without barriers. I guide his cock to my pussy and he freezes, not letting me draw him any closer.

"Have you done this before?"

I nod slowly. "Yeah."

Dante's jaw clenches. I don't know if that's the answer he wanted to hear, but he kisses me anyway. I hold my breath as he starts to press against my entrance.

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆✥⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

Question: do you say plastic wrap or Cling film?

If I said plastic wrap to my family they'd have no idea what I was talking about 😂