by Laura Pavlov
“Um, I believe you’ve made that very clear already.” Adelaide’s eyes were wide when she looked at her sister.
“Someone’s a bit jealous I think?” Clementine taunted.
“Um, hate to interrupt this awkward family moment, but my mother just texted that your mother said I could borrow some pants. What is her deal?” Coco looked down at her short, tight black leather miniskirt. “They’re legs, not boobs. You show more in your cheer skirt. Why is your mother stirring the pot?”
“Our mother was born stirring the pot,” the two sisters said at the same time.
“Ignore her. You look amazing,” Adelaide followed up.
“Oh, I’m ignoring her. No offense. I’m not taking fashion tips from Savannah Edington or Cricket Radcliff. The day I dress like them, I’d like you to strip me naked and force me out in the cold.” She looked over her shoulder and winked at Shaw, and we all laughed.
I moved to sit beside Adelaide on the couch, and we all sat around shooting the shit and laughing. Clementine did a brief speech about women no longer being repressed and told us she planned to take over the world someday. Maura told us about how her parents had gone off on the drive over here tonight because they ran into the Carlisles at the liquor store when they stopped to grab some wine for the party.
“I mean, this war between the two families is so ridiculous I don’t even think they know what they’re fighting about,” Maura said with a shrug.
“Isn’t it all over the land? Didn’t their family steal land from your family?” Gigi asked, reaching over and snagging a cookie.
The coffee table was loaded with sweets, and a buffet table ran along the back wall with nachos and meatballs and all kinds of finger foods.
“I guess so. It’s been going on since before my father was born. You should have seen the way my dad hissed at Mr. Carlisle.”
“I’ve heard tales that it all started over a woman. That the older Mr. Carlisle was in love with your great-grandma,” Ivy said, raising a brow at Maura.
“I don’t even know. I’m too afraid to ask because my dad gets so worked up at the mention of their family. He claims they robbed us blind back in the day.”
I wanted to laugh. Maura’s family, the Bensons, were loaded. One of the wealthiest families in Willow Springs, as were the Carlisles. So, why’d they care if they all ended up with a shit ton of money?
“We need to get to the bottom of that,” Coco said.
“Not tonight.” Ivy brushed her hands together as if she were off the clock.
It was impossible to miss how close the five of them were. And, surprisingly, I didn’t mind being here at all.
At this point, it appeared I’d find just about any reason to spend more time with Adelaide.
Chapter Fifteen
Adelaide
The party was winding down. At least for us basement dwellers. Gigi was heading home with her parents to go see her brother who was due home from college in an hour. Maura wanted to go hang out with Kyle who’d also just gotten home from school. Coco, Shaw, Ivy, Ty and Jax were going down to the lake to meet some other kids at a bonfire. Willow Springs never had a dull moment. I wondered if Jett would leave with them, but he hadn’t said anything yet.
It had been a fun night. We’d eaten too much, shared stories, and laughed our butts off. I was happy that we’d spent some time tonight with both of our friends, as I wanted my girls to know him the way I did. I could tell they all liked Jett a lot, which made me happy. I didn’t know what we were, but I liked being around him and I wanted my friends to know him better. Alec always complained when we spent time with my friends, and it had always bothered me, but I’d assumed that it was just a guy thing.
Turns out it was an Alec thing.
“Stone, are you coming or staying?” Shaw asked.
Jett cocked his head to the side and studied me and I couldn’t help but smile, which must have meant I wanted him to stay because that was all he needed.
“I’ll stay and help her clean up a bit. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Good. Coco’s driving so I can have a few beers at the bonfire. Take my truck home and you can come get me in the morning.” Shaw tossed his keys to Jett, and he caught them and dropped them in his pocket.
We said our goodbyes and moved to sit on the sofa again. “You want to watch a movie?”
“Sure,” he said, and I reached for the remote.
“Oooh, Elf is on. That’s my favorite Christmas movie. Do you like it?”
“Never seen it.” Jett leaned back against the couch. “Let’s watch.”
For the first time since we’d been hanging out, I was nervous. It felt more like a date. Every time I said goodbye to him, I missed him. It was strange. I’d never experienced that feeling before, and I’d had a boyfriend for years.
I missed Jett Stone when I wasn’t with him.
The feeling was foreign to me. And it didn’t scare me. Now that I was discovering who I was, and what I wanted—I was learning to trust my instincts for the first time in my life.
And I wanted Jett.
I didn’t know what that meant. But I knew a few things.
I trusted him in a way I’d never trusted anyone outside of my girlfriends. I could tell him anything and he’d listen to what I had to say, and he would protect it at all costs.
I desperately wanted to kiss him. I wanted to feel his lips against mine. I thought about it whenever we were together. And whenever we were apart. I’d never really craved anything physical before. Alec and I had obviously made out more times than I could count, but it never left me wanting more, aside from feeling some sort of obligation to eventually do more. Like a rite of passage. But what I felt, sitting here next to this boy, was different.
So incredibly different.
It took everything I had in me not to move closer. To reach for his hand. Press my lips to his.
Who even was I?
I’d never had these kinds of thoughts before, well, not since I’d started hanging out with Jett. I didn’t know if he felt the same way about me. He’d never acted like he wanted anything more than friendship. But this pull I felt toward him had been consuming me more than ever the past few days.
I sat rim-rod straight on the couch throughout the entire movie. Clem came back down to check on us and said she was going up to bed because the parents were acting “loopy and embarrassing.”
The movie ended and Jett pushed to his feet. “I should probably get going, Ace.”
“Yeah, it’s late. Sorry for keeping you so long.”
I grabbed my coat and followed him out the back door. We walked a few houses down toward Shaw’s truck. I didn’t know why I was walking with him all the way to the truck. Maybe to make the night last a little longer.
“Well, now I need to walk you home.” He chuckled as he fiddled with the keys and stood beside the truck.
“Don’t be silly. I’m fine.” I shifted from foot to foot, trying to think of something to say to make it last longer. Music trickled out from my house as the party was still going strong.
“They’re going to keep it going, huh?” he asked, reaching forward to tuck a piece of hair that had slipped from my ponytail behind my ear.
I reached for his hand and held it there. My heart was beating so hard and fast that I was certain he could hear it. I closed my eyes for a minute, holding his big hand in my small one.
“Do you ever think about kissing?” I opened my eyes and was horrified that I’d said those words aloud. What was I thinking?
“About kissing? Kissing who? Random people?” He smirked.
My cheeks heated with embarrassment and I pulled my hand away. “Ignore me. I don’t know what I’m talking about.”
I turned on my heels and started to walk away, because I wanted to go bury my head under my pillow and die a slow death of
humiliation.
“Ace,” he called out, and I turned around to face him. “Don’t leave like that. Come here.”
I slowly made my way back to him but kept some distance between us this time. “What’s up?”
He chuckled. “I was just messing with you.”
“About?”
He cocked his head to the side. “I think about kissing you, too.”
My heart raced faster, and butterflies swarmed my belly. I wiped the palms of my hands on my jeans because even though it was cold out, I was suddenly sweating. “You do?”
“All the fucking time.” He smiled.
What was the problem then? I’d just given him the green light.
I stepped closer. “Okaaaayy…”
“Listen. Just because we want to, does not mean that we should.”
I let out a long breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding. “Why?”
“Because I’m not that guy. There are things you don’t know about me—about my family. And I’m leaving for school in a few months, so I couldn’t give you what you deserve.” His gaze locked with mine under the moonlight, and I swore in that instant Jett Stone was the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen in my life.
“I’m not asking for forever, I’m asking for a kiss.” I crossed my arms over my chest because I was determined to make this happen. Just this once. I wanted to feel his mouth on mine. Run my hands through his hair and feel his hard body pressed against mine. Hell, I’d been dreaming about it for weeks, and now that we were here. This close.
He studied me and reached for my hand. “That’s not who you are. We both know that.”
“I have kissed one boy in my life, and he promised me this grand future that I didn’t even want. One that he clearly didn’t want either. I’m tired of planning for tomorrow. Maybe I just want to kiss you today—and not have a plan. What are you so afraid of?” I saw the panic in his dark gaze, and I wanted to know. I needed to know.
“I’m afraid that once I start kissing you, I won’t want to stop.” He tugged me closer, wrapping a hand around my waist. My sweater crept up a bit and his fingers grazed my skin.
“That doesn’t sound so terrible,” I whispered, and it came out all shaky and laced with need. My breaths were coming hard and fast and he hadn’t even kissed me. My mouth went completely dry as he held me against him, staring down at me with his dark, beautiful gaze. I felt just how much he wanted me as his desire pressed against my belly.
“Maybe we just take it one day at a time.” His fingers moved beneath my chin and tipped it up until my eyes locked with his.
“I’m fine with that. And if you want to kiss me tomorrow, I’m sure that would be fine too.” I laughed and shook my head because I couldn’t believe what a dork I was.
“Oh, you’re already wanting more when I haven’t even tasted that sweet mouth yet?”
Oh my god.
Jett Stone had a way with words, and I was all about it.
“You can kiss me whenever you want as long as you aren’t kissing anyone else at the same time, because ewwwww… that’s gross. Have you been kissing anyone else?” I asked, because I needed to know.
“Not since you came to the lake and took over my quiet place.” He smirked.
Interesting. I’d been going there for almost two months.
“Okay, then. My sweet mouth is all yours,” I teased, but I could barely feel my legs anymore because I was so nervous.
“You haven’t been kissing anyone else, have you, Ace? No booty calls from Taulson?” His mouth was so close I could feel his warm breath tickle my cheek.
“I haven’t talked to him in a few weeks, and I have no desire to kiss anyone but you.”
“Yeah?” His lips grazed mine and my eyes fluttered shut. His hand hooked around my waist, and I was pretty sure he was fully supporting my weight because I’d lost all feeling in my legs.
“Kiss me, already,” I whispered.
His mouth crashed into mine, and he spun me around, pressing my back against the truck. He lifted my feet off the ground and my legs wrapped around his waist, keeping us at the same level and making it easier to take the kiss deeper.
My fingers tangled in his hair like they’d been itching to do, and one of his hands was pressed to my bottom, holding me in place, while the other cupped the side of my face so gently it sent chills down my spine. He took his time and tilted my head to the side as his tongue slipped in.
He tasted like peppermint and I laughed against his mouth as I thought about how he’d tortured me sucking on that candy cane during the movie.
He pulled his lips away, and I yanked at his hair to keep him in place.
“Are you laughing?” He chuckled against my mouth.
“No. You taste like a candy cane and I kept thinking about kissing you the whole time you were eating that thing during the movie.”
He rubbed his nose against mine. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” I whispered.
I pulled him closer and took control of our kiss. My hips were grinding against all his hardness, and…Oh. My. God.
Nothing had ever felt so good. I could kiss this boy forever, and it still wouldn’t be long enough.
He groaned into my mouth before pulling away.
“Okay, I’d say this was a damn good first kiss,” he said, his lips still teasing mine.
Now that I’d had a taste of Jett Stone, I never wanted to stop. “Why are you stopping then?”
“Trust me, it’s not because I want to.” He started walking toward my house, still carrying me with my legs wrapped around his waist. I laughed into his neck.
“Oh my gosh, what are you doing?” I nipped at his ear with my teeth and he yelped.
“I’m walking you home after the hottest fucking kiss of my life.” His gaze locked with mine and he didn’t laugh.
“That was something. Maybe it’s because we’ve both been thinking about it for a while?” I covered my eyes with my hand when I realized what I said. “I mean, I’ve been thinking about it for a while.”
He stopped at my back door leading to the basement and set me on my feet.
“I’ve been thinking about kissing you since you gave me half of your peanut butter and jelly sandwich in third grade.” A wide grin spread across his handsome face.
“You lie. You weren’t thinking about kissing me back then.” My fingers gripped a fistful of his hoody beneath his leather coat. The fabric kept me from exploring him the way I wanted to.
“I don’t know, Ace. That was a damn good sandwich.”
I smiled. “Are you going to let me kiss you tomorrow?”
“Already thinking about tomorrow, huh?” He pulled me into a hug and wrapped his strong arms around me. I buried my face in his neck and breathed him in. He smelled like pine and fresh water, if that’s even a thing. It was my new favorite scent.
“One day at a time.”
He pulled back and opened the door. “Go. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
I pressed up on my tiptoes and kissed him one more time, needing to feel his lips on mine just to make sure I hadn’t dreamed this whole thing up.
“Goodnight, Jett Stone.”
He walked backward, watching me like he was trying to memorize every curve of my face.
“‘Night, Ace.”
And then the darkness swallowed him whole and I walked inside. I made my way upstairs to the main level, and laughter and loud chatter surrounded me. It was nearly midnight and this party was still going strong.
I climbed the next set of stairs and saw the light on in Clem’s room, so I peeked inside. “You still up?”
“What happened? Did he kiss you? Man, oh man, you two were putting off some serious heat!”
I laughed, covering my eyes. “I did kiss him. Go to bed.”
“Addy,” s
he called out as I started to close her door.
“Yeah?”
“You never looked this happy when you were with Alec. It’s nice to see you doing what you want these days. You were so much more boring when you were living in Mom’s shadow.”
I smiled. Because she was right. At least about the part that I was happier now than I’d ever been. And it felt damn good.
“Thanks. I’ll see you in the morning. Love you,” I said.
“Love you, too.”
I pulled the door closed and made my way to my bedroom. I washed my face and slipped on my pajamas before reaching for my phone to send a group message to the girls.
Me ~ Emergency meeting in the morning. Donuts at my house. I have news.
Coco ~ It’s about time. We all bailed on the party so you two could stop pretending to be besties, and admit you like each other.
Gigi ~ I cannot wait for the deets.
Maura ~ Dying.
Ivy ~ Morning can’t come soon enough. I’ll bring the notebook. It’s senior year, girls. Looks like we are filling this book already.
Me ~ See you in the morning. Love you.
They all responded with an I love you text, and my phone vibrated as I set it on my nightstand.
Jett ~ Is it tomorrow yet?
My stomach dipped and I bit down on my bottom lip as I tried to think about how to respond.
Me ~ Tomorrow can’t come soon enough. You want to meet at the lake in the afternoon?
I stared at the three little dots as they moved across my screen.
Jett ~ How about I pick you up at noon and we go to the diner for lunch? I want to feed you first.
Me ~ First? What happens after?
Jett ~ I kiss you until your lips are swollen and aching.
Me ~ Yes, please.
Jett ~ One day at a time, Ace.
Me ~ As long as I get to kiss you again, I don’t care what day it is.
Jett ~ Sweet dreams.
I fell back on my bed and touched my lips with the tips of my fingers. They were still tingling from where he’d kissed me.
Left his forever mark.
Me ~ They’re already sweet… and I haven’t even fallen asleep yet.
