Sand and water kick up as the bikes ride underneath the pier, spraying everyone overhead with flecks of both. Some people are annoyed, but everyone else cheers, including me.
“I’d say it looks like fun,” I laugh, “until Five-O gets involved.”
Since it’s probably not legal to ride dirt bikes on the beach any time of day, I doubt the police are fond of them doing itduring the night. That much is clear by the blue and red lights flashing in the distance that have nothing to do with the Fourth of July festival or firework show.
Jase tsks in my ear. “The thrill of the escape is half the fun.”
I turn to look up at him, and we both laugh, seeing the other peppered with wet sand that had been kicked up from below.
I brush off the left collar of his shirt and the ends of his hair that graze his shoulder, removing the remnants as he plucks out a couple of clumps from my long locks. Jase’s thumb comes up to my cheek, and I can feel the brittle sand pressing into the pad of his finger as he wipes it away…
But his hand doesn’t fall back to his side. It stays there on my face, and before I can process what he’s doing, he lowers his head, bringing his mouth to mine.
Between his cologne lingering on the sweatshirt I’m wearing and the fact he’s been holding me throughout the entire evening, I’ve been surrounded by his scent ever since we left the country club. But now? I’m engulfed by it, so much so that my brain has apparently sputtered to a halt.
Because I’m not doing anything.
My first-ever kiss comes from Jason freaking Rivers, and I can’t get a single part of my body to operate. I’m too shocked to do anything more than blink. Hell, I’m not even sure I’m doing that.
When Jase realizes this kiss is entirely one-sided, he pulls back to look at me and immediately winces.
Oh God…
Is he going to admit to being drunk? Has he somehow been downing alcohol throughout the evening and I just didn’t notice? Or is there a gas leak out here somehow? Or maybe some mind-altering toxin that’s gone airborne? Is there some horrible reason why he just did that? Is this the other shoe finallydropping? It wouldn’t surprise me, given my life. Everything’s been too perfect, so of course, this is where it all falls apart.
But despite Jase wincing and pulling away far enough to break the kiss, he doesn’t pull away altogether. His head is still lowered, and perhaps it’s just a trick of the lights from the fireworks, but I could swear there’s a hint of a blush forming on his cheeks. “I’m sorry,” he mutters. “I should have asked first or said something…or maybe not doanythingsince I’ve apparently scared the crap out of you, given the look on your face.”
He starts to straighten, apologizing again, and nowI’mthe one catchinghimoff guard. I’ve never kissed somebody before, so I have no idea what I’m doing, but I don’t give myself the chance to second guess it. Going up on my tiptoes, I press my lips to his. It’s brief and there isn’t any technique, but it can’t be too bad if Jase’s reaction is anything to go by.
Before I can lower myself off the tips of my toes, Jase slides his hands up the sides of my neck, his thumbs pressing ever so gently against my throat. It has my head tilting up, my eyes meeting his. And he’s smiling. He’s smiling like he just scored the championship game-winning touchdown, and the sight has my insides melting. Every inch of my skin pebbles at the feeling of his fingers sliding into the back of my hair as his thumbs trace along the edges of my jaw. The warmth of his breath, the softness of those lips as they capture mine again, the electricity in the air; it all has me seeing stars behind my eyelids.
Well, those things…and maybe something else.
Jase must see it too, because we both open our eyes to see a bunch of people around us holding sparklers. Some wave theirs through the air to draw hearts and various shapes, while others, like Rebecca and Travis, use theirs as wands as they pretend to have wizard’s duels. Jase and I are given ones of our own, but he immediately entrusts his to me, evidently wanting his hands free for what he’s about to do. Gripping the backs of my thighs,he lifts me up so my legs can wrap around him, leveling our faces with one another’s as his lips recapture mine.
Seriously, can I just live in this moment forever?
CHAPTER 17
WILDEST DREAMS
JULY, 4 YEARS AGO
I expectthe euphoria to wear off. I expect the metaphorical clock to strike midnight and everything to revert to its original state. It doesn’t. I’ve been smiling for the entire evening, and it only seems to grow wider. Not even getting a phone call from Blythe demanding to know where I am can kill it. Thankfully, our car service is already heading back to the country club, so I lie and say I’m in the bathroom. She gives me five minutes to show up in the foyer, with the rest of the threat left to interpretation. Yet, I’m still smiling like an idiot.
I won’t have time to change my clothes in the restroom, but since the dress Blythe got me is loose on my frame, I’m able to slip it on over my existing outfit while we’re in the backseat of the ride service. Granted, the neckline and straps of my tank top are completely different from the dress, so I don’t have a choice but to just pull all my hair in front of me to hide the visible black fabric.
With barely two minutes to spare, we pull up alongside the back street to the country club and make a mad dash for the building. I go to open the door to the side entrance, but hands capture my waist and pull me back for Jase to steal one last kiss from me.
With my prized penguin safely stored in his backpack and my fingers free of sparklers, I bring my hands up to his neck, feeling an imperfection in his skin. It’s thin and roughly two inches long. No doubt a scar. I want to ask about it, but we don’t even have enough time to say good night.
It takes everything in both of us to break apart, and I reluctantly slip through the door to head down the hallway. When I arrive in the foyer, I’m breathing heavily, my lips are probably swollen, and I’m still unable to wrestle down my smile, only earning me a glare from Blythe when she sees me. Fortunately, she doesn’t say anything, even after she scowls and glances down at her watch, like I showed up ten minutes late rather than a few seconds. I just hope her glaring remains fixed on my face rather than the rest of me, because I’m suddenly all too aware of my feet…and the fact that I’m still wearing my flip-flops instead of those torturous heels.
Crap, crap, crap.
At least a dozen people come over to say goodbye to Blythe and my dad, so I mumble an excuse about needing fresh air, escaping out the front entrance for the blessed darkness by the valet.
Despite my stepmom being unable to see my face when she eventually exits the building, she still must have some kind of happiness detection radar, because the sweet demeanor she just exhibited with her friends drops as soon as she reaches me.
