appeared, it was gone. “Sure. Have it your way.” He hesitated for a beat, his gaze running over me. “I’m going to go say hi to some friends at another table.” He placed a swift kiss on my cheek. “Thanks for the dance.” He winked. “And everything else.”
I watched him walk away, my jaw hanging open in shock. I somehow still couldn’t wrap my mind around what had just happened. My first kiss wasn’t supposed to be like this. I’d had it all planned out. I was supposed to go to Harvard, meet the guy at Harvard. He would be my first kiss, the guy I would have sex with for the first time, the guy I would eventually marry. Maybe it sounded naive, but I didn’t care. I had it all planned out. This had definitely not been in my plans.
I ran my fingers over my lips. They felt soft, swollen. My breasts felt sensitive, my nipples tight. My body felt as if it belonged to someone else. No one had ever touched me like that before. I’d never wanted anyone to.
“Where’d you go?”
I jerked my hand away from my lips. Mya stood in front of me, a bottle of water in her hand.
“Bathroom,” I lied. “I just needed to get away from the loud music and everything.”
“I think we’re about ready to go soon. Michael is gathering the group.”
I took the water from her, taking a long swig from the bottle. Mya plopped down next to me on one of the stools.
“Do you know where everyone else is?”
I wasn’t going to fess up to knowing anything about Samir’s whereabouts. “No idea.”
Mya groaned. “Well, I’m leaving in fifteen minutes regardless of who is ready to go. I’m exhausted and my feet are killing me.”
“Same.”
“You ladies had enough for the night?” Michael appeared in front of us.
I nodded, beyond relieved to see him. “Yeah, I’m pretty tired.”
“Come on, then. We can make our exit. The rest of the group can find their own way home.”
My hand clutched in his, I followed Michael out of the club. Mya trailed behind us, her hand pressed against my back. I turned my head to the right, my gaze drifting across the room to the tables pushed up against the far wall.
I couldn’t help it.
Samir sat at one of the tables, two blonde girls flanking him, his arms wrapped around their lithe bodies. His head jerked up and he met my gaze across the crowded room. Heat flared between us. I tore my gaze away.
So much for my first kiss.
Chapter 6
Firsts. There was something about the first day of school. Today felt like the start of everything, not just the start of classes. Today was the day I would finally get to take the classes I wanted to take, to focus on subjects I actually cared about rather than having to sit through boring biology classes and the like.
My inner nerd hummed with excitement.
I stood in front of my small wardrobe, desperately trying to decide what to wear. When I packed for London, my clothes had seemed decent enough. But after Saturday’s party I began to realize fashion was a serious business at the International School. And I had no idea how to play the game. These were the moments when I wished I had a mom.
“That really doesn’t go together.”
I gritted my teeth, not bothering to turn around and look at Fleur. “Gee, thanks. I hadn’t realized.”
Her hand reached out, thrusting something orange and pink in my line of sight. “Try this. It’ll help the outfit out.” Fleur paused. “Without it you look a little sad.”
I grabbed the scarf out of her hand. I had ten minutes to get to my classroom building. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than being late on the first day.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, wrapping the scarf around my neck. I stood back, studying my appearance in the mirror. She was right—it was better.
When I turned around, Fleur was gone.
“You look great,” Noora called out from her side of the room. “I like the dress.”
“Thanks. Do you have class this morning?”
She shook her head, her silk hijab swinging with the motion. “I have my first class in the afternoon. I’m just going to spend the morning reading a bit. What class are you headed to?”
I had my schedule memorized, printed out, and tucked in my planner in case I forgot. Introduction to International Relations, British Literature, History of Mathematics (yep, they were actually going to give me math credit for that one), Introduction to Political Science and Creative Writing.
“Intro to International Relations with Graves.”
Noora wrinkled her nose. “Have fun with that. It sounds like the kind of class that makes me glad I’m an Art major.”
It was the class I was most looking forward to. At the International School you didn’t declare your major until sophomore year, but I’d known I wanted to study IR since my sophomore year of high school.
I rushed out of the room, hurrying through the hall and down the stairs, weaving my way through the groups of students standing in the lobby. I left the building, trying to settle the nerves in my stomach. I had to make a good impression today. The International School was small; it was likely I would have the same teachers throughout my four years here. Being late was not an option.
King’s House was the main residence hall at the International School. The building housed most of the dorms along with the cafeteria, several staff offices and a common room that contained several leather couches, a large flat-screen TV and a pool table. The other residence building, Queen’s Hall, was a few streets over. Our classes were all held one street away from the main residence hall.
I made the trip in seven minutes, barely walking through the classroom door in time for class to start. I sneaked into the back of the room. The room was small, but filled with students. I counted about forty in all. There was only one empty seat.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
Samir lounged in his chair, his legs crossed at the ankles, right next to the only open chair. He grinned. “Miss me?”
“Hardly.” I rolled my eyes, sliding into the seat next to him. “Are you even supposed to be in this class? Aren’t you a sophomore?”
“Junior.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why are you in an intro class? What’s your major?”
He beamed at me. “IR.”
“Bullshit.”
He laughed. “I speak the truth.”
“You’re a junior and you’re just now taking Intro to IR? How is that even
