Tora laughs as graduation caps rain down over the students and the sound of her laughter sails over the crowd and shakes me right to the core. I’ll never get used to that sound. It wraps around me like a blanket. It’s the sound that keeps me warm at night. It’s pure magic and to not have that in my life would be devastating.
It’s my undoing.
I break from my chair. I need to hold her.
I can’t possibly wait a minute longer.
I hurry down to the side of the stage where the students are taking their sweet ass time getting down. I spot her instantly, as though I’m drawn to her. She’s busy chatting to one of the girls who she’s become quite close with over the past few years, but right now, that’s not what’s important. Getting my lips on hers is.
She starts making her way down the steps, clutching her diploma in her hand like a lifeline.
I can’t even wait until she’s at the bottom of the stairs. My arm snakes out and curls around her waist before I hoist her down. She squeals out, not having noticed me here as the crowd of people standing around us is ridiculous. She would have assumed that I’d be waiting patiently with our family and friends. Yeah fucking right.
I pull her up into my arms and once again, her laugh wraps around me.
I can’t resist her any longer and crush my lips down on hers. I step back behind the stage and barge my way into a supply closet, pleased to find it completely empty.
Tora’s hand finds my chest and she travels it up around the back of my neck before continuing into my hair as I readjust her and rest her ass against a shelf, putting us eye to eye. “Look,” she smiles proudly once we break the kiss. She shows me her diploma and I can’t help but read her name on the certificate over and over again. “I did it.”
“You sure fucking did,” I tell her, taking in the joy within her eyes. “I’m so proud of you. You’re incredible.”
It’s about now when she generally makes some smartass comment, being embarrassed with all the extra attention on her and hating accepting compliments, but it doesn’t come. Not today. She’s owing it. She did something not many people could do and she knows it.
Tora tilts her chin back up to me, silently asking me to kiss her again. “Thank you,” she murmurs as I draw closer to her once again. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Yes, you could,” I tell her. “It was all you. You did the work. You did the studying. You made those exams your bitch. All I did was love you and remind you to kill it.”
She rolls her eyes as a slight flush creeps into her cheeks. “I love you,” she says with her lips moving so close to mine, teasing me with the promise of absolute pleasure.
I smile into her before catching her lips in mine. “I love you too,” I promise her. “I can’t wait to get you home.”
She laughs out and hits me across the chest. “Is your mind always in the gutter?” she questions, assuming I’m referring to getting her back to the place she has here so I can screw her up against the wall for the last time. Though, it’s not like that isn’t going to happen.
“Yes,” I scoff. “But that’s not what I meant. I can’t wait to get you home to Broken Hill and really start our lives together.”
Love shines back through her eyes and I know without a doubt that she’s been dreaming about the same thing. She melts into me. “Can we leave now?”
The door barges open and we jump at the suddenness, but the second I see my moronic brother’s grin staring back at me, I want nothing more than to kick him in the balls for interrupting my time with my girl.
“Here you are,” he practically cheers. He barges me out of the way before I have a chance to even fully accept the fact that he’s standing right before us. “Quit hogging her,” Jess tells me as he grabs Tora’s arm and yanks her over his shoulder. “It’s time to party.”
Tora squeals out, but her laughter quickly takes over and before I know it, Jesse is jogging up the hallway and dropping Tora into the middle of a circle, surrounded by her friends and family, each of them more excited than the last, desperately wanting to offer their congratulations.
I want to hate on Jesse for taking her away from me just now, but I simply can’t as seeing her so damn happy warms my heart in a way I’ll never get tired of. Screw hiding out in a supply closet. It’s moments like these that I live for.