“Yeah...why not?” Micah shrugs and sucks in his fantastically defined abs while he positions himself more upright. He takes a quick gulp of water, then dips his eyes to catch mine. “That redhead didn’t seem to mind.”

“Wait, it was…?” I drag a hand over my face as the realization of Quinn catching Micah trying to get in my room comes full force. “Crap...”

“Hey...about earlier-”

“He knows.” 

Micah pauses mid-reach with his fingers curling in the air about an inch from my waist. “What’s he know?” 

I sigh and close the distance, slowly lowering myself to sit beside him while he wiggles his legs out of the way. “I think he saw us in the woods,” I mutter, blinking down at his hand resting gently on my thigh. 

“Ohhhh, that.” 

“Micah...” I push his head away when he tries to perch on my shoulder. 

“I don’t care.”

“Hah!” The sound comes harshly from my throat, and he twitches off me completely. 

“What?” He seems annoyed suddenly, and I’m really not in the mood for that. 

“Nothing, just go to bed.” I start to move my feet on the thin carpet so I can get out of his way. “In your own room.” 

“I’m serious.” Micah tugs the comforter over his back, eyeing the fan blasting cool wind across us from its setting against the wide open window. 

“Great. Now it’s really late, so will you-?”

“Why don’t you believe me?” His gaze narrows as he rests his chin on my shoulder, stilling any momentum for motor function I’ve managed to gather. 

“You…?” I fumble with more words while he scoots even closer, the heat from his skin pulsing straight through my shirt as he leans into my back. “But this isn’t-” The end of my sentence never reaches my lips, but he seems sober enough suddenly to read every word of it on my face somehow. 

“I’m not concerned about people knowing we’re...doing what we’re doing,” he mumbles, tucking his mouth out of sight against the fabric now clinging to my shoulders through a thin layer of shower-dampness. 

“Ah…?” My mind draws a complete blank while I blink around his statement. 

“But I know you do, which is why I’m usually more careful.” Micah’s calm tone seeps warmth down my spine as he leans more of his weight into me. “I’m sorry I was so reckless tonight.” 

“I’m out,” I mutter under my breath, flinching slightly as his arms wind around my waist. “At least…I am here at school.” 

“I know,” he says, tightening his hold until he’s guiding me back into his chest. “I just wanted to make it clear that...so am I.” 

“Ah.” I can feel all of the muscles in my body tensing when he breathes against my ear. “Since when?” 

Micah chuckles deeply, his presence tickling every cell along my neck as he presses his lips to my skin. “I never wasn’t.” His words are muffled through the soft kisses he’s planting across my shoulder while pulling my oversized shirt out of his way. “We just didn’t get around to talking about it before now.” 

That’s a fair point, but-

My gasp only encourages the removal of my clothing as I melt into his touch, and my eyes flutter closed when he tosses my top to the floor. 

I guess I always thought he was just experimenting with me.

“Are you...okay now?” Micah asks as he’s turning me around to face him. “Earlier, you-”

“I’m fine.” I barely get the words out before I’m trapping him in a kiss of my own doing. It’s a deep one that lasts long enough for him to be sprawled beneath me with his hands gripping my hair and his tongue diving for more. 

Micah runs out of air first this time. The element of surprise pulls his mouth into a full smile with dimples and all as he braces his fingers on my shoulder blades. “This is new,” he practically pants, the wet heat of his breath hitting my chin while I position my hips between his legs. “Ethan-”

I don’t let him finish whatever he’s saying. I’m not entirely sure if this is a late reaction to the last round of jello, or if the 2am crazies have overtaken my existence, but I can’t bring myself to care at the moment. The mush in my mind blurs his sounds into a chorus of sighs, and when I finally lift off him enough for more of his words to form, I’m completely lightheaded. 

“Do you still want me to leave?” Micah asks rather breathily. His cheeks are flushed a deep shade of pink as his grin parts slightly to catch my incoming kiss. 

“Sure,” I mumble the word across his chin before sinking my thighs into the mattress and leaning in once more. “Go ahead.” 

I’ve got no brain cells left for the mumblings he tries to spew next. Micah picks that up pretty quick as I push my tongue through his lips until I’m trailing along the edges of his teeth. I count each one while he drags his fingers underneath my boxers, his nails digging into my ass cheeks as he pulls me hard against him.   

He’s right. It is new. Everything about it feels different. I can tell it’s throwing him off a little bit that I’m on top of him when I free his mouth from mine and slide over to start on his neck. That’s when he speaks again, but not in any words I’ve ever heard. He can’t seem to form language as he bucks his hips against me, and his hands nearly claw through my skin while the sheets tangle at our feet. 

The trail I leave on him tastes sweet with the petty revenge I put into every soft bite. Each sucking tug marks him brighter than he could ever mark me, and when it’s over, Micah’s gasping through his laughter. His shorts and underwear are soaked when they rub against mine in that sticky mess that I should’ve been more prepared for, but he doesn’t even care. He simply knocks my arms down and rolls my body beside him so he can flop himself over me and go right to sleep. Like a switch and he’s out, and I’m thinking I need another shower.