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Chapter Sixteen
Abel
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“You doing okay?” Ilean against the deck railing, my body angled toward Peyton.
“I am.” She takes a drink before looking up at me with a smile that makes my insides feel funny.
“Good.” I take a drink of my beer in hopes of dulling the feeling. It’s not a bad feeling. Maybe a little scary, but not bad. “So, what were you and Claire really talking about?”
“Nothing.” She shrugs. “We were talking about Nick. I think she likes him.”
“Yeah, you got that impression too?” I chuckle.
“I think it’s pretty obvious any way you spin it.”
“Out of everyone here, Nick is the last person I would have expected Claire to connect with.”
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t know. She’s just so...nice. And caring. And she has her shit together. Nick? Not so much.”
“I don’t know. He seems okay to me.”
“He’s a good guy,” I admit. “Just not someone I would have picked for Claire.”
“Well, lucky for her, you don’t get a say.” Peyton taps me on the chest with her pointer finger. I catch her hand mid motion and wrap my fingers around it, pressing both of our hands against my chest.
I don’t know why, but I find it impossible to let go. I keep waiting for that familiar feeling to return—the weight, the heaviness, the guilt—but to my surprise it’s nowhere to be found.
“You’re beautiful.” I voice my thoughts aloud.
“How much have you had to drink?” she jokes, shifting her weight from one foot to the other like she doesn’t know how to stand still.
“Five beers. But don’t worry, I know what I’m saying. This isn’t the beer talking.” I reach out with my free hand and tuck a chunk of hair behind her shoulder, feeling her shudder under my touch. “Youarebeautiful.”
“Abel.” Her voice shakes as my hand slides from her hair to her neck.
“Yeah?” I stroke my thumb across her jaw, my eyes glued to that spot.
I don’t know how it happens. One minute I’m watching my thumb move across her skin, the next I’m leaning in, the urge to be closer to her too strong to resist.
“Abel.” Her voice sounds small and I pause a mere inch from her lips. “If you kiss me, I’m not sure I’ll ever recover.”
“I’m not sure I will either,” I whisper, closing the small gap between us. The instant my lips brush hers a wave of electricity passes over my body.
It’s like grabbing ahold of an electric fence. The shock flows through me, and even though every part of me is screaming let go, I can’t. Because beyond the pain there is something so much more. Something unexpected. Something I didn’t even realize I needed until this very moment.
Her.
