Page 64 of Embrace

She presses a finger to the corner of my mouth. It’s warm, and that sensation spreads over me like an itch that’s out of reach. “This. It’s creeping me out.”

“You calling me a creep, Scar?”

“Only when you fake a smile. I don’t like it. What’s wrong?”

Of course she’s the one who sees right through it. “Everything. I had to get some stuff for the Halloween party today, but everything Summer trusted me to take care of fell apart. The food, decorations, music. The caterers can’t fulfill the pastry order or the mains. We’re out on decor, and don’t get me started on DJ Numbnuts.”

“Wait, DJ Numbs? That guy’s notoriously flaky, Kian. I had to drag him out of his basement to one of our sorority parties sophomore year.”

“Yeah, that’s my bad. But now we’ve got no one.”

Scarlett presses her hand over mine where it rests on my thigh. “I happen to know this guy who’s, like, obsessed with music. I think he’s got over a thousand curated vinyls in his room.”

“Yeah? You know him?”

“I can hook you up. We sleep together sometimes.”

I give her a look.

She bites down a smile. “His bed is really comfy, and his clothes smell like him. I haven’t even told him I shoved the shirt he let me borrow in my bag, and I’m not planning on giving it back.”

I burst out laughing. Her eyes bounce around my face like glowing orbs.

“And isn’t pizza your guys’ favorite food? There’s nothing better than that to cushion a college kid’s stomach before they drink their weight in alcohol.”

“Pizza?” I say.

She nods. “Uncle Frank’s pizza is like heaven when you’re six drinks in.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“Because it is,” she insists. “Look, I get that you want everything to be perfect, but we can still make it a good time. I can help with decorations, my old sorority sisters would totally help you, too, and you’re like the music genius. You of all people don’t need a DJ.”

“A music genius?”

“Sometimes, I secretly Shazam your music and add it to my playlist.”

I chuckle. “You could just ask, Scar. I’d give you whatever you asked for.”

She stills for barely a heartbeat, but I catch it. Something in her eyes shifts, like my words untied a knot she didn’t know was there.

“You’re right though,” I murmur into my palms. “I just…wanted this to be perfect. Thought if I could get everyone together again, maybe it’d fix something. Make things feel right again.”

Scarlett’s on her feet then, the tips of her shoes touching mine. “Can I hug you?”

“Yes,” I say too quickly. It’s almost a reflex.

But so is the way her arms wrap around me, sliding past my shoulders, brushing my deltoids, all the way to my back. And just like that I’m gone. She pulls me in, and my face is caught against the warmth of her chest, the faint scent of citrus threading through the air. My body gives in, tipping forward, unanchored, like I’ve finally docked at home base.

Her heartbeat thuds against me. It takes me a second to realize she’s counting. Each soft exhale brushes past my ear until she reaches six. Then she eases back, her thumbs skimming over my ears as she tilts my face up toward hers.

“You’re okay, Kian. You can let go. I like it when you let go with me.”

Her face is so close to mine I can barely breathe, our lips hovering just inches apart. I let my hands press harder against her waist, keeping her still, breathing her in until she’s flooding my lungs.

But then light spills out onto the porch and Scarlett takes two quick steps away from me. I almost reach for her again, to clutch her sweater and have her on my lap this time.

Cole steps onto the porch, pausing when he sees us.