Andkissed.
All while never. Looking. Away.
Fire blazed at the spot his mouth touched, flaring up my arm, catching through my entire body. The fuzzy, fog-like haze that’d swept through my mind the night of Lydia’s party came back now, along with a soft feeling that unfurled in my chest. This was the third time Jamie kissed me, so easily, so openly, catching me off guard each time—my bodyreactingeach time.
That was what Jamie’s face must’ve looked like when he’d kissed my neck, eyes full of an intensity that would’ve made anyone blush, looking at me like?—
Oh.Thiswas the look Dalton meant. Jamie looking at me like he loved me.
It was the same expression he’d been wearing the day at the beach, when I’d undone the buttons on his shirt. The same expression from the party, when he’d lifted me onto the dresser. The one that sent a shiver down my spine now, exactly like it had every other time.
The Romance Switch. He’d flipped it.
They were his romance eyes.
His fake relationship eyes.
And, for some reason, seeing the look now had me jerking my hand back, the weird moment shattering. “Jamie,” I hissed, clenching them into fists, but the pressure of his mouth on my palm was impossible to shake off. “There arechildren here.”
Jamie’s intense expression cracked apart as he smiled, dimple pressing into his cheek as it transformed his face. I discreetly pulled in breath after ragged breath as I stared at my best friend, watching his romantic eyes bleed into anamusement I recognized. The sight, though, strangely, had my heart skipping another beat.
“Speaking of children,” Jamie said, sliding his palms lower on my knees and giving them a squeeze. “Where’s your bunch?”
Now I jolted for an entirely different reason. I hadn’t done a scan in several minutes. My head whipped up, throat closing as I skimmed the playground. The swings were all taken by other kids now, and for a horrible, terrifying second, I couldn’t find a single Carmichael.
And then it was horrible and terrifying for a different reason, because I found them standing a few feet from the bench, staring at Jamie crouched in front of me with his hands on my legs. It was clear they’d been standing there for a minute, too, as if they’d been coming to tell me they were ready for ice cream and had stopped mid-stride.
Ivy’s jaw was dropped so low that I thought it’d unhinge.
Penn had her hand over Theo’s eyes.
When Junie spoke, her voice practically echoed above all the chatter of children in the entire park. “Since when did you and Jamie startkissing?”
CHAPTER 11
Penn had been right—I should’ve been more concerned about Theo on the twenty-minute walk home. He’d finished a quarter of his Superman ice cream before passing out on one of the ice cream parlor’s picnic table seats, and no amount of nudging woke him up.
So that was how we’d ended up on the sidewalk, Jamie holding a sleeping Theo in his arms with Junie walking close at his side. Penn was in front with the backpack on, and Ivy and I walked behind everyone, holding hands. Theo’s head was slung over Jamie’s shoulder, eyes shut, drool slipping out of his ice-cream-covered mouth and onto Jamie’s gray hoodie, but Jamie didn’t seem to care. He was content as he walked along, taking the girls’ nonstop chatter in stride.
“So you’re notreallykissing Daisy?” Junie asked for what felt like the millionth time, squinting up at Jamie as if he’d finally crack and spill the truth. “Because you looked like you wanted to.”
Jamie just laughed at that, glancing over his other shoulder at me. “Told you I’m a good actor.”
The ice cream churned in my stomach. “Shut up.”
“I still don’t really get why you’re faking,” Penn said, turning around to face us, walking backward. “To make Dalton jealous?”
I shook my head. “To just get him to leave me alone.”
“It didn’t look like he was leaving you alone earlier.”
“Yeah.” Jamie didn’t glance at me this time. “It didn’t look like that to me, either.”
I was starting to think the universe was against me, forcing me to cross paths with Dalton, and setting it up so Jamie caught us. It wasn’t fair. “It’s a work-in-progress. It’s—working, though.”
“How do you know?” Junie turned around and raised her eyebrows at me. She couldn’t quite master arching one at a time. “Did Dalton say it’s working?”
I wish I could say I’d never expected you two to get together, he’d said.But… well. I’m not surprised. “Yeah.” More or less.
