Free In the Heart of Forever by Jo-Anna Walker

continued to stare at me, his eyes glancing down at my lips every so often.
    My neck heated and I rose to my feet, searching through the books that I had read many times before. Unable to ignore the intense attraction I felt towards Rave, I closed my eyes when I felt his warm body come up behind me. I looked up at him. “Rave.”
    He smirked and cupped the back of my neck.
    I tilted my head to meet the impact of his warm lips. No matter how many times he kissed me, it would always be like the first time.
    He pressed his body into me and pushed me up against the stack of books, not caring in the least that we were in public. A tantalizing thrill ran down my spine at the thought of someone seeing us at any moment.
    Our tongues danced and dueled as he ran a hand down my back.
    I gripped his shirt, pulling him against me, deepening the kiss. He pressed his lower body into mine and the feel of his thigh against my core excited me.
    He released my mouth and trailed kisses down my jaw as he squeezed my hip. “I’ve never made out in a library before.”
    My cheeks heated and I breathed deeply, easing my racing heart. “I’ve never made out with a boy, period.”
    A smug grin formed on Rave’s face as he ran a thumb over my kiss-swollen lips. “Seems like I’m your first for a lot of things.”
    My breath caught and the sound of my phone interrupted our heated conversation. I walked back to my bag and saw that it was Allan. My stomach dropped and I thought of ignoring it but decided I’d better not. “Hello?”
    “Where are you?” Allan growled, slurring his words.
    I frowned. “Are you drunk? I’m at school.”
    “Just making sure you actually went to school today. I’ll be home late so I expect dinner when I walk into the house, brat.”
    “Fine.” God, I hated it when he called me. “Good bye Allan.” I disconnected the line and turned off my phone. I tensed when a hand touched my back and relaxed when I realized it was Rave. “I almost forgot you were there.”
    “Why?” The circles he ran on my back soothed me.
    “You’re so quiet.” I turned my head to him.
    He smiled softly. His lips were darker from our passionate kiss and knowing that I wanted to do that again made my body heat with an unexpected desire.
    “Who was that?”
    “Someone I wish would leave me alone.”
    Rave gave an understanding nod and lightly stroked my forearm.
    “Don’t you sometimes wish you could just run away?”
    His features hardened. “All the fucking time.”
    I sighed, shaking my head.
    He grabbed my hands in his and brushed his lips along my knuckles before kissing each one. He sat behind me and pulled me against him, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. “Whenever you’re ready to talk, I’m here, baby.”
    Tears pricked my eyes and I nodded. “Thank you.”
    The feel of his warm body enveloping mine, made all of the problems that seemed to have lasted forever, shatter around me.
    The sound of people approaching interrupted our conversation.
    “I don’t know. I don’t really talk to her anymore since she’s been hanging out with the new guy.”
    “Oh yeah, I’ve seen them walking the halls together.”
    Rave tensed behind me and I sat up, listening to the voices that were headed towards us. I knew one was Jake but the other, I didn’t recognize.
    “Yeah, they’ve gotten pretty cozy I hear, too,” Jake said suggestively.
    My head whipped to Rave’s and his eyes darkened. I looked back at where the sound was coming from. My heart started beating hard against my chest. I had a feeling that this conversation wasn’t going to end well.
    Through the book shelf, in between each row, I could see Jake and the other kid standing on the other side.
    Rave tapped me on the arm to get my attention. He lifted his finger to his lips. I nodded. I didn’t want to hear anymore but I was curious as to what lies Jake and his friend were talking about.
    “I thought you and Jesse were close?”
    “I thought so, too. I