Faster We Burn

friends.”
    I kissed her, not being able to hold back anymore.
    “You and me,” she whispered against my lips.
    “No space.”
     
    Katie
     
    It wasn’t until I woke up in Stryker’s arms the next morning that I realized I couldn’t go to class the way I was. He’d drawn all the way up around my neck, giving me what looked like a lace necklace, not to mention my arms and hands and legs. Unless I wore a bodysuit, everyone would be able to see it.
    “Was this some sort of ploy to get me to not leave this room?” I said when his green eyes finally opened. I would totally paint my walls that color.
    “Would that be such a bad thing?” He rolled over me and his dick pressed against me, ready to go again. I stroked him with my hand and he growled in my ear. He tried to remove my hand, but I wouldn’t let him.
    “Your turn to learn patience, my friend.” I kissed my way down his chest as my hand worked and he swore and moaned. It was nice to know that I could affect him as much as he affected me.
    I took him to the edge and back with my hands and my mouth, making him mine until I straddled him and we became united again.
     
    ***
     
    “I did have class today, you know. And I’m sure that any moment now someone is going to knock on the door and ask me to go to breakfast,” I said, still panting. Some of the beautiful drawings were smudged, but I was still covered in them.
    “What, you don’t want to go around like a walking art project? Afraid of what people will think?”
    “No, I just don’t want them staring. I can’t deal with more people looking at me. It’s like being at the funeral all over again.”
    “Shit, I’m sorry. That was insensitive.”
    “No, it wasn’t. You just forgot, and so did I.” Even if it was just for a little while. Knock, knock. Reality calling. “I can’t believe I forgot. Oh my God.” I sat up and moved away from him.
    “Oh my God. My dad is dead and we had sex and you said you loved me and I said it back. Oh God, I’m going to hell.” I tried to get out of bed, to get away from him, but he held onto me. I squirmed against him.
    “We shouldn’t have done this.”
    “You have got to stop blaming yourself for things, Katie.” He shook me a little as he said it. “Do you honestly think your dad would want you to stop living just because he did?”
    I knew he wouldn’t. I thought back to what he’d said to me when we’d had that chat in the basement. That I was strong and he was proud of me.
    “No.” He took my moment of weakness to pull me into his chest, right next to his heart.
    “What is the point of being alive if you don’t live it?” His eyes were bright and his voice was urgent. I’d never seen him like this. “I know you’re scared and I’m scared as hell too. That’s what love is, being scared as hell, but doing it anyway because it’s worth it.” He held me so tight, his arms like ropes that tied me to him, tied this moment together.
    “You terrify me, sweetheart.”
    “I terrify you. Me, with the pink obsession? I terrify the guy with the piercings and the tattoos and the, ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude?”
    “Terrifying things come in pink packages.”
    I rolled my eyes.
    “Well, I’m not scared of you, big bad boy.” He unwrapped his arms and held my face.
    “I never, ever want you to be scared of me.”
    “You’re not Zack,” I said. “You’re not anything like him.”
    “That is the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, sweetheart.”
    Just as he was leaning down for a kiss, there was a pounding on my door.
    “Um, you wanna get that? Just tell them I’m not feeling well, maybe?” He climbed over me and put his pants on as I pulled the blanket up to cover myself.
    “Oh, hey, Stryk,” Simon said. Stryker made sure to keep the door only halfway open so they couldn’t see me. “We just wanted to see if Katie was up for breakfast, but…never mind.”
    “She’s…she’s not feeling that great. We’ll probably just have something here.”
    “Sure, yeah, that’s…that’s great.” I could hear other voices, but I couldn’t tell who they were. “See you later?”
    “Sure thing.”
    “Is she okay?” That was Lottie.
    “Yeah, she is.” He wasn’t facing me, but I could hear the grin in his voice. “She just needs to take an extra day, I think.”
    “If she needs anything…”
    “I know. I’ll call you, I promise.”
    He closed the door and I could hear them chattering. More than one of them