“You’re going to realize what a pain in the ass I was, and then you’ll forget all about missing me,” I said into his ear.He puffed a breath of air as he rubbed my back. “Promise?”

“Well, hell yeah! I’m gonna kick your ass, too!”I narrowed my eyes at him. “Not this time you’re not. I have a new superpower.”He laughed. “And what’s that? Harsh language?”I leaned over to kiss his neck once, and then ran my tongue up to his ear, kissing his earlobe. He froze in place. “Distraction,” I breathed into his ear. He grabbed my arms and flipped me onto my back. “You’re going to miss another class.”

“I plucked at my salt-stained shirt and tried to find an air of nonchalance as I prepared to introduce His Most Holy Pain in the Ass to Miss Elf Princess.”

“Brilliant blue gazes met. “I swear before you and God that I will. But if something should happen, and this morning should go awry, promise me you’ll take care of her. Promise me you’ll tell her…” Ralston paused.“Tell her what?”Ralston took a deep breath, the words bringing a tightening in his chest. “Promise me you’ll tell her that I was an idiot. That the money didn’t matter. That, last night, faced with the terrifying possibility that I had lost her…I realized that she was the most important thing I had ever had…because of my arrogance and my unwillingness to accept what has been in my heart for too long…” He trailed off. “What the hell have I done?”“It appears that you’ve gone and fallen in love.”

“I miss you when you’re not around,’ he said. ‘I can’t sleep when you’re not next to me, and I worry a lot about what you’re up to.”

“I know you’ll miss me, that’s what makes it a little bit easier; knowing I’ll bein your thoughts and on your mind till you’re back in my arms.”