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MCKENNA
The storm outside doesn’t even begin to compare to the one brewing inside this house. I stare blank faced at Parker, silently debating between complete denial and telling him everything. He holds my gaze and doesn’t move an inch. I can tell by the expression on his face, it’s not a matter of if he knows, it’s what. There’s no getting out of this. I’m caught.
?
??I can explain.” I try, but him and I both know that’s not true. Nothing I say can justify my actions.
His eyebrows raise as he walks around the island and stands directly in front of me. “By all means, please.”
The ways I could tell this story are endless. I don’t even know where to start, so I go with the beginning. “Do you remember our first date? We were sitting at dinner and you could tell I was guarded.”
“I asked who had made you that way.” He finishes for me.
I nod. “It was Colton…”
It’s been three days. Three torturous, long, excruciating days since my brother’s best friend stole my first kiss, and my heart right along with it. Since that night, I haven’t been able to focus at all. The feeling of his kiss still lingers on my lips, like he branded me with them and claimed me for himself. Ivy tells me I need to get a grip – that it was just one kiss. Well, tell that to the part of me that has been in love with him since I was old enough to know what love is.
Maybe I wouldn’t be driving myself crazy if I was able to talk to him about it. The idea of asking him what the kiss meant, or if it meant anything at all, is the most nerve wracking thing I’ve ever faced in my life, but I know it needs to be done. However, that requires seeing him, which I haven’t – at all. He seems to be avoiding this house like the plague, which should be my answer but it’s not one I’m willing to accept.
I’m washing the dishes with Ivy on speaker phone, going through the events of the other night for the billionth time.
“But he kissed me, Iv. And not in a way that seemed accidental. He kissed me like he needed it, like he wasn’t going to live another second if he didn’t get his lips on mine.”
“So you’ve said.” She murmurs, lacking any enthusiasm at all.
“And now I haven’t seen him since. The next morning, he was gone. Literally, just gone. He usually stays for breakfast. I tried to get information from Maverick without seeming suspicious, but all he said was that Colton had to go home early in the morning. What if something bad happened?”
“Or what if he realized he made a mistake?”
“Ouch.” I know she means well, but that stung.
She sighs. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be harsh, but you have to look at the bigger picture. When’s the last time he’s gone more than a day without being at your house? If that kiss meant something, wouldn’t he have come to you already?”
“Maybe he didn’t know what to say.” Colton’s voice from behind me sounds.
I spin around so fast it almost gives me whiplash. My heart practically breaks through my chest when I see him standing there. There’s a hint of a smugness on his face, telling me he heard enough of my conversation to know I’ve been driving myself, and my best friend for that matter, absolutely insane.
“Is that Colton?!” Ivy asks, her tone suddenly louder.
“I’ll call you back.”
“Wait! Leave it on speaker! I want to-”
Without a second thought, my hand swipes my phone into the soapy water filled sink and Ivy’s inquisitive mind goes with it. Colton’s eyes widen and he snickers as he looks behind me.
“You just destroyed your phone.”
I hold back my wince. I know my mom might kill me for it later, but she’ll buy another one. I’ll just tell her it was an accident. That I was holding it to my ear with my shoulder and it slipped. Yeah, that’ll work.
“M-Maverick isn’t home.” Really, McKenna? That’s what you come up with?! Pathetic.
He smiles nervously. “I know. I came to talk to you.”
“Oh.” I run my fingers through my hair, only to realize my hand is covered in suds. Wonderful.
Colton chuckles and takes a step toward me. “You’ve got a little…”
He grabs the dish rag from beside me and wipes the bubbles from my forehead. Then, he takes each of my hands and cleans them as well. He’s so close that I can smell his cologne. It’s infiltrating my senses and making it nearly impossible to concentrate. If it meant he’d keep touching me like this, I’d dive into that sink head first.
