fifty sokeefe kisses

(29) neck

There was a knock at Sophie's bedroom door.

She yanked it open. "Mom, I don't want to talk—"

The person outside her bedroom was definitely not Edaline. Sophie blinked. "You aren't supposed to be here," she snapped.

Keefe smiled sheepishly at her. "Surprise?"

Sophie poked her head out into the hallway before dragging him inside and closing the door. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, gesturing at him. "In fact, how did you even get in?"

He scratched his head. "Well, one, Sandor has pretty much given up on trying to stop me, and two, your mom has a soft spot for hand-picked bouquets of daisies and true love." He blinked at her innocently.

Sophie just stared at him, unimpressed. "You bribed my mom?"

"Uh, with flowers, yes. I don't think that counts."

"Well, 'true love' is what got me grounded in the first place."

She was about a week into her month-long grounding, thanks to the 'incident'—which Grady only brought up once, to tell her she was grounded, and Edaline proceeded to bring up multiple times, much to Sophie's chagrin and embarrassment—and as much as Sophie missed Keefe coming around, she really didn't need his presence at Havenfield to stir up any more prodding questions from her parents.

"Which is why this will be quick. Promise." With a small grin, he procured a small box from behind his back. "I come bearing gifts."

Sophie bit her lip to hide a smile. "I guess that's a good start to a proper apology."

Keefe pressed a hand to his chest in mock offense. "An apology? This is supposed to be a sucks-that-you're-grounded gift, not an I'm-sorry-we-made-out-in-front-of-your-dad gift."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, ew, please never say that again."

"Just saying it like it is." He held out the box to her. "So you want it or not?"

"Of course." She plucked it from his hands and sat on her bed to open it. It was a small gift box, barely bigger than her hand and tied with a simple white bow. Keefe watched her intently as she opened it.

"Whoa," Sophie breathed as she pulled out the contents—it was a necklace with a tiny swan charm on a delicate silver chain. Pretty, but subtle enough for everyday use.

"I just, uh, saw it when I was at Mysterium, and it reminded me of you." His face was pink.

Keefe's moments of vulnerability were rare but precious to her, and she couldn't help feeling a little giddy at his thoughtfulness. Instead of drawing attention to his bashfulness, however, she just smiled and held the necklace up. "Help me put it on?"

His eyes lit up. "Sure."

Sophie turned around, biting back a grin as he brushed her hair to the side and wound the necklace around her. The swan charm was cold against her throat, but Keefe's gentle fingers were warm against the nape of her neck as he fiddled with the clasp.

Keefe leaned down and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. "There. All done."

She giggled, ticklish, and turned back around. "How does it look?" she asked jokingly.

He gave her a dopey smile. "Amazing." Then his expression softened. "Do you like it?"

Sophie scoffed, stepping forward. "Keefe." Her hands reached up to cup his face. "I love it. Thank you."

She kissed him softly, savoring his touch. She really had missed him in the last few days, but she knew it wouldn't help anything if Grady caught him here again.

With some reluctance, she put her hands against Keefe's chest to gently push him away. "Alright, Mr. Sencen," she told him. "You really gotta go."

He pouted down at her, but the look in her eyes made it clear she wouldn't take no for an answer. "Okay, okay, fine." He held her hand in his. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

He gave her one more quick kiss before sneaking back out in the hallway. Sophie could only hope Edaline would go easy on him.

This was going to be a long month.