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When I’d first kissed Alex, we’d both gone in the same direction, our noses smashing together as we tried to line our lips up. We’d laughed about it and tried again, and though the mishap had taken some of the pressure off, the magical firework kiss I’d been wondering about my whole life hadn’t been there. The wick had been lit, but it fizzled out.
A current of pleasure zipped through me the second I pressed my lips to Connor’s, causing my heart to spasm in my chest. As soon as Connor broke out of the shocked stupor, he threaded his free hand through my hair, angled my head, and kissed me back. His mouth urged me on, assuring this was okay, that he was just as in this as I was.
That he wanted it just as badly as I did.
I’d never let myself imagine this. Connor was gorgeous, yeah, but it would’ve been cheating on Alex to picture what his lips would’ve tasted like. Would’ve been cheating to imagine how he’d react if I kissed him. And quite frankly, that wanting that had been a constant swirl in me had made no sense until a few seconds ago.
But now it was okay, it was allowed, and I knew that my imagination never would’ve done this moment justice.
Connor shifted closer, catching my body between the warmth of his chest and the coolness of the car. I curled my fingers into the material of his dress shirt, feeling his hard side through the material. He kissed me like the desire had been bottled up inside him for so long, and it was finally his chance. The scent of him was everywhere, thrilling and intoxicating as the sandalwood mixed with the late September air.
I pulled him closer, smiling against his mouth, unable to get enough.
And the world’s greatest kiss ended with one overwhelmingly familiar voice. “Wow. Just…wow.”
Connor and I broke apart to find Jade standing on the sidewalk a few feet from us, Madison lingering over her shoulder. Madison looked more shocked than Jade, with her wide blue eyes and parted lips, where Jade looked more annoyed. She was all crunched eyebrows and twisted lips.
Connor edged slightly in front of me, as if he could hide me over his shoulder. For the moment, that was fine by me. My cheeks burned as if someone had taken my internal temperature and turned up the furnace. “What are you doing here?”
“My mom asked me to stop by to see the exhibit,” Madison said, rapidly blinking. “We were going to Ashton’s party after this.”
“Which will be the perfect place to dropthisnew development.” Jade folded her arms across her chest, clicking her tongue. “You know, when Kyle told me he heard you in the hookup closet, I never would’vedreamedyou’d be in there with Maisie Matthews. I wonder if everyone else will be shocked, too.” She took a step closer, her shoes clicking against the sidewalk. Her attention slid to me. “I might not be able to get your friend to post about it, but I don’t need Babble to call Connor a cheater.”
They were the words that triggered my flight reaction, because though they were deceptively soft-spoken, it felt like she was inching toward a checkmate in a game I hadn’t realized we were playing. And they weren’t even really targeted at me.
I edged out from behind Connor. “You’re not going to say anything,” I said, but the probability in my head wasn’t absolute. It was greater than fifty-fifty, but less than one-hundred percent.
“No?” She blinked innocently. “And why wouldn’t I?”
“Connor goes from dating you to kissing a girl like me—what would everyone think?” My voice wasn’t firm, probably because my heart trampled in my chest like it was trying to break free. It wasn’t even about me. Brentwood wouldn’t care who Maisie Matthews was kissing, but theywouldcare about the golden boy cheating. And after everything he’d been through, he couldn’t be hurt again. “If he chose me over you, who’s the real loser?”
“You’re giving him too much credit, Maisie,” she said, her words eerily echoing what Connor had said a moment ago about Alex. “I hold his reputation in the palm of my hand, and he knows it. Don’t you, Connor?”
Connor didn’t reply, but when I looked up at him, there was not an ounce of emotion in his expression that could’ve hinted at what had happened a few seconds ago. I found nothing but a clenched jaw and a hard stare.
“I know about your parents,” Jade said, ticking off the numbers on her fingers. “I know about how you live with your grandma. I know you failed Algebra II.”
At Jade’s elbow, Madison dropped her gaze.
“You know we’re a package deal,” Jade said, taking another step closer. “I can’t win homecoming queen without you?”
“Why not?” Connor demanded, his voice flat.
“I’mnot Brentwood High’s star player.I’mnot the one the student body shows up week after week to see on that field.” She gave him a gooey smile, one that, if anyone were watching from the outside, it would’ve seemed flirty. “I need the prized running back, Connor Bray, and I’ve got too much on you for you to ditch me. We’re too deep in this for you to back out now.”
I gave a little scoff, despite the load of her threat. “So you’re piggybacking off him?”
“Just like you are?” Jade raised her eyebrows. “You’re only tutoring him so you can get valedictorian, right? Sounds like I’m not the only one using someone to get what we want.”
“The difference is that I’m not hurting other people in the process.”
“I don’t know.” Jade drew in a breath through her teeth. “You trying to sabotage Madison at cheer tryouts sounds a bit like that to me.”
I stared her down, the buzzing in my ears growing louder and louder. In my head, I could see it: me, standing out like a sore thumb, the only person flailing her arms to a beat that only lived in her head. “We both know that’s not what happened.”
“Trying to embarrass her by dancing to the wrong routine, but ultimately only embarrassing yourself.”
“You think I’m embarrassed about something from three years ago?”
