Page 45 of Into The Light

“Start Googling.”

He typed away as I told him my plan. Emilia would have a birthday she would never forget.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Emilia

My eyes popped open one at a time. The world hadn’t even come into focus yet when last night’s events flashed through my head. I sat up with a gasp.

He kissed me. No, I kissed him. We kissed each other. Holy shit. We kissed.

Aiden and I had kissed. I couldn’t even tell you who’d started it. It might have been me. Not like I hadn’t thought about it a few, or dozens, of times. Maybe it was him? We were laughing. We were playing. We were...

Kissing.

A world-shattering, earth-moving, life-changing kiss. One that eradicated any man who’d come before him. A kiss that had flipped my world upside down and still left me struggling to figure out which way was up.

I sat immobile, clutching my sheets to my chest, eyes wide as the moment replayed in my head on repeat. My stomach flip-flopped every time my memory reached the part where his lips first touched mine.

Flip-Flop. There it goes again.

What did it mean? Something happened when our lips touched. Something similar to the connection I felt when he drank my blood. Had the power of the kiss affected him like it had me? Did the kiss mean he liked me?

I shook my head against the notion. No. Most likely he just wanted a quick screw. I may not know much about Aiden Mackay, but he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who did the whole girlfriend thing. He was a bad boy... the ultimate bad boy, if fact. And even if that kiss meant something to him, I reminded myself of my number one rule...

No more bad boys.

Falling for Aiden would be a big no-no. Sleeping with Aiden would be an even bigger no-no. Kissing Aiden would lead to sleeping with Aiden which would lead to falling for Aiden. All three... no-no. Luckily for me Mark had intervened, and I’d run for my life. It’s not that I didn’t want to keep kissing him. Sweet Jesus, did I ever. I’d wanted nothing more in this world than to feel those arms wrapped around me again. Those eyes burning into my very soul. Those lips pressed against mine.

No, Emilia! Get it together! No. More. Bad. Boys!

My head collided with my pillow as I collapsed backward in bed, my teeth biting hard onto the comforter while I tried to force out the feelings still reverberating through me. This couldn’t be happening. And all of it on my...

“Happy birthday!” Mark’s voice chimed on the other side of the door. “Rise and shine birthday girl!”

Mark. Should I tell him about the kiss? No. Not yet. I needed some time to process this before involving anyone else. Forcing the confusion from my face, I replaced it with a smile. “I’m up!”

My door burst open and Mark stepped inside with a flourish holding a cupcake with a pink candle flickering from the top. “Happy birthday, Emilia!”

“Thank you, Mark. You didn’t need to do this.”

“It’s not from me. It’s from Aiden.” He beamed at me while he put the cupcake in one hand and a note in the other.

Aiden. The kiss. Oh, God.

If all he wanted was sex, would he have sent up a birthday cupcake? Probably. I was over thinking this. He’d just got done telling me about the great love of his life that he’d lost. Making out with me was probably just some way to dull the pain, a way to pass the time since I was available. It was a kiss of convenience. Mystery solved.

“Emilia? Are you all right?” Mark had noticed my attention drift away. Little did he know where it had gone and the steamy memory I was reliving.

“I’m fine,” I said with a sigh. “Thank you for the cupcake. It looks delicious. And what’s this?” I looked at the note.

Mark beamed and gave me a sly smile. “It’s from Aiden.”

“He wrote me a note?”

He nodded his head. “Now hurry up! Make a wish and blow out your candle before it burns down and you miss out!”

I closed my eyes and made a wish. I wished that I could find true happiness. It wasn’t very specific, but it was all I could think of as my little candle got shorter and shorter. With a deep breath I blew.