I wiped my eyes, shaking my head. I might just laugh until the sun came up. It felt good, normal—if I ignored the faint edge of hysteria to my wheezing. My stomach muscles ached. He sat next to me, smelling like wood smoke and rain.

And between one chuckle and the next, he pressed me back into the grass, his mouth closing over mine.

He swallowed my laughter and kissed me fiercely, deeply, as if I were delicious. I kissed him back, feeling powerful and yet weak in all the right places. My knees went soft, my belly was as warm as if I’d drunk a pot of hot chocolate. I didn’t care that the ground was cold and there was a rock digging into my left ankle. He covered me and, though he should have felt heavy, he just felt right. His hand traveled lightly along my side, tickling, until his fingers closed tightly over my hipbone. He kissed my collarbone, the side of my neck, under my ear. He nipped at my lower lip and I nipped back, touching the tip of his tongue with mine. I could have stayed there for hours, but he pulled back slightly, his eyes the translucent gray of a seashell.

I couldn’t remember why I’d been laughing so hard, or why he was here.

“Hey,” he said softly.

“Hey,” I said back. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to show you something,” he rolled over, sitting up.

I wrinkled my nose and sat up as well, pretending I was interested in the bag he was dragging from under my window. I just wanted to keep kissing.

He pulled out a blanket.

I blinked at him. “You brought me a blanket?”

“Just wait.” He spread it out and then nudged me onto it. The thick wool cut the damp cold of the grass. He pulled out a second blanket and a pillow. “Okay, now lie back.”

I shot him a look.

He rolled his eyes. “Just do it. God, you’re stubborn.”

I grudgingly lay back and turned my head to look at him as he did the same. “Now what?”

“Look up.”

I glanced up, expecting stars and tree branches. It wasn’t just the stars, though there were millions of them, thick as spilled salt, or that the Milky Way looked close enough to touch, pouring out across the sky. It was the clear crystal of the light, the velvet of the sky arching over us in a way that made me feel tiny. I exhaled. “Whoa.”

He pointed to the left. “There.”

The sky was washed with colors—green, red, and blue—all wavering and dancing. They flickered like torchlight, moved like water. It was beautiful.

“The northern lights,” I whispered.

He nodded. “Isabeau said it’s a sign.”

“Uh-oh. Good sign or bad sign?”

“She didn’t say. She rushed out to do some kind of magic thing. Solange and Logan went with her.”

“Oh.”

He slanted me a glance. “But I wanted to come here instead.”

“Oh,” I said again, more cheerfully. I shifted and hugged his arm. “You’re a good boyfriend.”

“You have no idea,” he teased. I kissed the side of his mouth, hugging him tighter. I was an idiot if I let the weirdness with Solange interfere with the most romantic night ever. And since I was so determined to prove to everyone that I wasn’t an idiot, I should start now. I kissed him again and tilted my head back to watch the northern lights dancing. It was like a kaleidoscope of smoke and crystals, forming and reforming into different shapes.

“Does that look like a two-headed cow to you?” I asked.

“I see a phoenix.”

“How is that a phoenix?”

“The red part there.”

“Oh, I meant the green.” The green shifted into a dragon and then a rowboat. “That blue part looks like a cat sitting on Bruno’s head.”

Nicholas chuckled. “I’m sure he’d be thrilled. There, lion on top of a pyramid.”

I snuggled closer. “This is nice.”

“Wait, I forgot the best part.” He shifted and I heard rustling. He triumphantly held up a bag.

“Chocolate!” I grinned, popping one in my mouth. “Real chocolate, not carob. I totally love you right now.”

I paused as the words echoed around us. I swallowed chocolate and nougat and tried not to blush. We’d known each other forever. We made out on a regular basis. I shouldn’t feel embarrassed to be the first one to say “I love you.” Even if he didn’t say it back. We’d saved each other’s lives a bunch of times. Words were just words. Right? I ate another chocolate before I said something really stupid.

He turned over onto his elbow, his gaze intense. I looked away. His finger touched my chin gently, lifted it so I had to look at him.

“If you make fun of me, I’ll stake you,” I muttered.

He raised an eyebrow. “Way to ruin the moment there, Lucky.”

Oops.

The way he was looking at me made me feel suddenly shy. That was definitely new for me. I never felt shy. And now I actually had to stop myself from squirming awkwardly. It was probably just the sugar. Or an allergy to nougat.

He leaned in, his lips stopping just short of touching mine. He was so close, if I took a deep breath we’d be kissing. Something warm tingled through me. He didn’t even need vampire pheromones, he was that hot.

“I love you, too,” he whispered, one corner of his mouth lifting into a smile. I grinned back, then kissed him until I felt light-headed and breathless.

My phone vibrated in my pocket just as things were starting to get interesting. Nicholas pulled away. I sighed. Stupid phone.