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I shrugged. It wasn’t like I could choose family. I would’ve gladly traded her for one of Nicki Minaj’s alter egos or even actress Bella Thorne at her worst.
“Great. That’s great.” He frowned and his eyes searched the dark bathhouse. “All right, let’s just get this over with.”
Those weren’t exactly the words a girl liked to hear when she was preparing to get her first kiss. I might not have been in the position to be picky, but I could muster up enough nerve to set some ground rules.
“First of all, my name’s Audrey. As in Audrey Hepburn, the greatest actress of all time,” I said forcefully, hoping he didn’t hear the quiver in my voice. “And if we have to do this, all hands must remain off the swimsuit at all times. No getting greedy. And I’d like to take it slow, if you don’t mind.”
He looked at me really for the first time, his eyes narrowing in amusement. As I returned his stare, his gaze moved south to rake over my body. I felt my skin flush at his attention, but knew it was probably too dark in the bathhouse for him to notice.
“You’re practically wearing a nun’s habit for a swimsuit,” he said with a deep chuckle. “Where exactly am I supposed to touch you?”
My cheeks burned. I looked down at my suit, shaking my head. “I’ll have you know, this was my lifeguard swimsuit three summers in a row. It’s not a nun’s habit. A nun would die before putting this on.”
He arched an eyebrow and grinned at me in the most maddeningly cocky way I’d ever seen. Suddenly stepping closer, he placed a hand on the side of my neck and sunk his fingers into my curls. “Well, there’s no swimsuit here.” I gasped as he ran the knuckles of his other hand slowly up my arm, eliciting an alarming amount of goosebumps to flare along my skin. “No swimsuit here.”
I was out of my league. There was no question. Collin Preston was legendary for his hookups. He’d probably made out with half of the girls in Rock Valley. The moment his perfectly proportioned lips touched mine, he’d know I was as inexperienced as the nuns he joked about.
“Just take it slow, okay?” My voice was quiet and pleading.
“Slow?” His gaze flicked to my lips. I felt a bolt of electricity spark in my gut. He leaned in closer, his minty breath mingling with mine. “I’m not sure I’ve ever done slow before, Audrey-the-greatest-actress-of-all-time.”
I bit my bottom lip, fear competing with my sudden desire to be devoured by him. The fear won out. “It’s just that, well, a girl doesn’t like to rush her first kiss and I figured slow might be better.”
He pulled away suddenly, his fingers untangling from my hair. Shock filled his eyes. “Your first kiss? Are you serious?”
My chest felt splotchy and itchy. I mentally berated myself for blurting such an intimate detail aloud. Must work on gluing mouth shut. Permanently.
“Yes...”
Swearing, he took another step away from me. “I can’t do this.”
Embarrassment flooded my face and I wrapped my arms tightly around my torso. Was it really so bad to be a complete kissing virgin? At one time, even Collin had been a newbie.
“If I’m really so repulsive to you, maybe you should sneak out the back way,” I said, resentment shooting from my eyes. “This might come as a shock to you, but not every girl is dying to kiss you. I’m only here because my cousin is Satan incarnate and I have to do what she says to get on the cheerleading team.”
He tilted his head to one side and his mouth fell open in surprise. I felt a strange satisfaction at having shocked Collin Preston into silence. I was sure he didn’t do that often. But his look of shock was quickly erased by the return of that cocky half-grin.
“Is that so?” He reclaimed the space between us, until my back pressed against the wall and I had nowhere left to retreat to.
“Yes...it is.”
The breaking of my voice probably gave me away. Deep down, I knew I wouldn’t actually mind tangling lips with him. Even with a reputation like his, I wouldn’t be able to say no.
Why did he have to be so gorgeous?
“Hmmm, then we’d better do something about that, Audrey.” He reached up and with
the pad of his thumb, slowly traced along the cupid’s bow of my upper lip. His gaze never left my mouth. With a heavy breath, he licked his lips and leaned in closer.
I momentarily closed my eyes, feeling my knees wobble. If he kissed me, I was pretty sure I was going to melt into a puddle right there on the bathhouse floor, along with the sand and lake water.
But he didn’t kiss me. Instead, he smudged his thumb across my lips and then rubbed it on his own mouth. As I sent him a questioning look, he had the audacity to wink at me and then riffle my curls with his hands.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, the strength returning to my legs.
“I’ve got a reputation to uphold.” He shrugged. “And you’ve got a cheerleading team to join. I figured we could help each other out.”
Grabbing my wrist, he pulled me toward the bathhouse door and shoved me through. Whoops and hollers erupted from the beach as I blinked blindly in the spotlight that had been placed on the bathhouse. Running my hand over my head, I tried to smooth down my messy hair and hide my blushing cheeks.
