Cupids Peak

by Lee Jacquot

So is this the part of the movie where the jock and his quiet tutor fall for each other? Over shared fries and math problems?”

The boy version of him tugged on every soft part of me, threatening to steal my heart with the wink of his eye. But this Eli—the man he’s become—is promising to own every part of me, and that is equally erotic and terrifying as hell.

“You could say I’m direct,” he finally says. “I like to say what I want, how I want it, and how they’re going to give it to me.”

“I’ve had a thing for you since freshman year when I overheard you and your sister talking about who you’d fuck-marry-kill when it came to the cast of The Breakfast Club.”

“I dare you to let me show you how obsessed I was with you ten years ago.”

That even after all these years, I haven’t found anyone who makes me smile or laugh or feel at home the way you did?”

“I want to know you’re sure because this has been brewing for a very long time, and I intend to take everything you’re willing to give me. And I expect you to take everything I give.”

“My secret—my truth, Mia—is that you belong to me. Always have. Always will.”