I walked into COW and slid into a seat next to Jason. He looked over at me with a "let me give you as many butterflies as I can" grin. "Hey Abby." I gave him a soft smile and responded before turning to the front of the room. He grunted and then turned his attention to Lane at his right. I fiddled with my pencil, twirling it in between my fingers.

The butterflies I got around him started to make my angry and I released a long breath of air.

Matt was watching me carefully and I gave him a questioning look. He smiled at me and winked before turning to Lane. Rylee leaned across the isle and asked, "What do you think is going to happen in CoveOps tomorrow ?" I stopped tapping. "I'm praying for a pop quiz."

Gracie spun around in her seat gracefully. "Do you think we'd go to Washington? I'd love to pull an Aunt Cammie and find my future husband." I laughed. "When my mom met my dad she hated him. He was arrogant and better than her."

"We Goode men do have a talent for being the best," Matt smirked. I threw my pencil at him and then looked over at Gracie. "Maybe you will though." Lane grabbed my pencil from Matt's hands (before he could spear me in the side of the head) and tossed it back to me before asking, "What's a pop quiz?"

All of the girls in the class spun around. "A pop quiz is when Joe takes us into the town or Washington or wherever he deems appropriate and we do fieldwork," Kodi smiled, "it's the most fun we'll have all year."

"Sounds pretty basic."

Quinn Daye, a 5'11", 185 lbs Amazon beauty, turned to Lane and said, "It may sound boring, but it really does make the difference between life and death." "Is that so?"

Lane grinned at her and then moved to sit by her. I raised my eyebrows in surprise and then turned back to my friends. "Anyway," Gracie examined her nails," I want one soon."

Rylee took Lane's empty seat next to Matt and engaged in a conversation about some maneuvers they probably didn't have the clearance to talk about. Gracie and Kodi got into a heated discussion about the latest trends in Europe which left Jason and I to ourselves in silence. "So," he began softly, "How has your day been?"

Considering the fact that he had every class with me, I knew Jason's attempt at small talk had a hidden agenda.

"What are you working at Jason?" His grin faltered. "I...I was just trying to talk to you Abby. What happened to us being friends?" He lowered his voice as he noticed my girls listening.

"What happened between you and Gracie over summer Jason?"

He opened his mouth to answer me but Mr. Smith clapped his hands together.

"Good afternoon class. Today's lesson is pretty simple. Convert a purchase of at least $250 into the given currencies and then give me your remaining change in a new currency if your choice. You will find today's exchange rates in the folder in front of you. You have 25 minutes. No talking."

I gave Jason a pointed look and opened up my folder. I felt him staring at me before finally starting his work. I couldn't help but feel sad that I was still jealous of he and Gracie's flirting over the weeks, despite Gracie telling me that nothing really happened.

I balled my fist under the table before taking a deep breath and starting working.

I had 23 minutes left and I was going to be first.

I ended up getting to leave class early, much to the dismay of my friends. I walked quickly down the hall of Sublevel 2 and to the elevator. I waited impatiently for the doors to open, tapping my foot on the floor rather loudly. "You're making me antsy." I spun around to see Jason smiling at me. "Sorry." The doors opened and I stepped in. He followed me and I released an audible sigh.

"Jason, look...I know nothing happened between you and Gracie but-" I didn't get to finish.

He grabbed my waist and turned me to face him. He searched my face intensely before smashing his lips onto mine. Shocked, I couldn't do anything but kiss him back. He blindly pushed the doors closed and hit the floor button before sliding his hand up my side to cup my face. Instinctively I placed one hand on his waist, pulling him closer and tangled my other hand in his hair. He gently pressed me up against the elevator wall and kissed me with expert lips. It was slow and tantalizing. My lips parted and I felt his smile against my tender lips.

When he finally pulled away, I was panting softly.

Leaning his forehead on mine, Jason whispered, "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to do that?" I closed my eyes and giggled as he began peppering my face with kisses speaking a word in between each peck. "I. Have. Been. Dreaming. Of. Kissing. You. For. Years." I pushed him back gently; his kisses and the sight of his lips were making me dizzy.

"What are we doing Jason?" I tried to be serious but the grin just wouldn't leave my face. The doors of the elevator dinged opened and Jason and I avoided the eyes of some questioning sophomores headed to Sublevel 1. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into a hidden passageway behind a suit of armor. "How did you know this was here?" He waved me off and pulled me behind him as we jogged up a flight of stairs that probably hasn't been used since Gilly's time. He stopped suddenly and pushed a section of the wall in to his right.

He climbed into a brightly lit room and I had no choice but to follow.

"How did you know this was here?" I may or may not have asked my mom where she and the Aunts hung out when they were in school," he admitted. I had found this room in my eighth grade year, accidentally falling through the vent in the ceiling and thankfully landing on some very dusty beanbags. I hadn't even shown the girls this room. He closed the passageway before grinning at me and pulling me to him.

"Jason," I laughed, but my words were quickly silenced by his lips on mine.

His mouth was so soft...and pink too. He suddenly fell and pulled me down onto the beanbags. I fell with one leg on him and one off to the side and my waist somewhat lined up with his. He ran his fingers through my hair before pulling me down to kiss him again. His other arm held me to him, his hand grabbing onto my waist and drawing lazy circles on the skin in between my lifted shirt and my skirt. It was...amazing.

I pulled my lips from his reluctantly and whispered, "What are we doing?" He traced my face with a finger gently and responded, "I'm kissing the girl of my dreams. What are you doing?"

I smacked him gently. "You know what I mean."

He sat up and flipped me over to where my legs were across his lap. He dragged a finger over the curve of my knee, marveling in the way goosebumps formed in its wake. "I don't know Abby. I half expected to never be able to have children once I grabbed you." He licked his lips once. Twice. "I never expected I'd actually be able to kiss you."

I laughed and looked into his eyes. They were bright with excitement and something more tender. He kissed me again and I savored the way his lips felt. "I don't want to stop kissing you actually."

I laid a hand on the side of his face and gently stroked his bottom lip. "This escalated so quickly Jason." I bit my lip in though, which caused him to grin. "We just went from barely talking to this!"

He leaned back and breathed deeply. "We need to talk. We need to plan and we need to figure out this relationship." "Relationship?" "Don't you want one?" He grabbed my thigh and shook me. "Abigail Goode, I've been waiting for you to be my girlfriend since we were twelve. Don't deny me this amazing pleasure when I'm so close." I laughed. "You have to ask my out in order for it to be a relationship." "Ah indeed."

He leaned forward and kissed me slowly, dragging a hand down my back and gently laying me on the ground. He braced both hands on either side of me and brought his lips close to mine. They brushed mine as he spoke," Will you be my girlfriend?"

Between the way his hair fell into his eyes, the sapphire blue his eyes had taken on, and his pink and swollen lips, I didn't hesitate when I whispered, "Yes." He smirked above me before placing one last kiss onto my lips and whispering into my ear, "You have to tell the group."

I shivered as his breath caressed my ear and he pressed a kiss to my lobe. "Fine," I twisted his head gently to the side and nipped his ear, "You have to tell my parents."

When he pulled back, his face was pale. I laughed.

"They've been expecting this for years."

We stood quickly.

Jason pulled me to him and I laid my head on his chest, savoring the warmth from him compared to the chill of the room. "I honestly believe the scariest thing I've done is kissed you. I'm an operative-in-training for goodness sake and I was terrified when I grabbed you."

I smiled even though he couldn't see me. "I had to do it though. You were still mad at me for the flirting with Gracie. Nothing happened though." I peered up at him. "I know."

He smiled down at me and said, "We should go before some nosy seventh graders find their way up here." I escaped his embrace and started towards the passageway when he caught my arm and turned me back to him.

"We're going to be okay right? Like this isn't going to end up with me unable to procreate and you with a broken heart right?"

"I don't plan on it," I smiled. "I can go up the vent and you can go through the passageway." I moved back towards the beanbags and jumped up to move the grate. "Shouldn't you be the one taking the stairs?"

"Why? Because I'm wearing a skirt?" He put his hands up in surrender.

"See you downstairs Abby." I watched him climb out the hole in the wall and then touched my lips.

What just happened? Shaking myself out of it, I jumped up and climbed into the vent. I began to shimmy my way through the ventilation system and soon I was over my mom's office. She was on the phone and speaking quietly but her voice carried.

"I haven't told her yet no." I froze. "No Zach, Abby can't know. She's antsy and we both know when an antsy operative gets spooked. They lash out. The last thing we need is for her to start looking into this."

What was my mother hiding? "Matt hasn't said anything to her either." Matt was hiding this from me too? "You and our son both know how dangerous the Uomini Morte are- the last thing I want is for Abigail to actively go searching for them Zach."

My brows furrowed and I slowly and silently backed up and took a left.

I kept going until I was in the vent right above my room. I kicked the vent open, causing the girls to scream, and dropped to the ground. "Abigail Goode why are you in the vent!"

Kodi had a freshly manicure hand pressed against her chest. Gracie threw a pillow at me roughly, which I caught and tossed to the side. Rylee breathed in deeply and searched my face. "You have news." She looked closer and grinned. "You have big news." I fought the urge to touch my lips again.

"I'll tell you about that later. Right now, we've got some research to do."