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He laughed softly. “I don’t think you need much practice on the kissing. That was hot.”
A throat was cleared. “No, she doesn’t. She was good at that the first time out of the gate.”
O’Neal tensed and turned, remembering they had an audience. Auden was standing there with an unreadable expression on his face.
Reality hit her like cold water.What in the heck was she doing?She’d just kissed a virtual stranger in front of the only other guy she’d ever kissed. She wasn’t…that type of girl. God, what must they be thinking about her? What must Auden think?
Who was she turning into?
She took a step back. “I, um, better get going. It’s late.”
Lennox frowned. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” she said in a rush, grabbing for the tennis shoes she’d kicked off earlier. “I just have homework and stuff to do and I shouldn’t have stayed this long and—”
“O’Neal,” Auden said, putting a hand on her arm, the touch making her flinch and halting her for a moment. “Take a breath. You’re freaking out a little.”
“I’m fine,” she said, shaking off his arm and reaching for her other shoe, her heart racing like rabbit feet.
“Look, I’m sorry about what I said, what I just did,” Auden said quickly. “I was trying to show you why you should take things slow. I shouldn’t have said—I don’t want to scare you. That was a dick move. I don’t want you leaving upset.”
“And if I took the kiss too far…” Lennox started.
She straightened and turned to face them, her shoe left untied. “You didn’t take the kiss too far. It was nice. And Auden, I’m fine. Obviously, neither of us likes to lose an argument, and we said some dumb things—you said more dumb things than I did, but I pushed too. I just…need to go.”
Auden’s concerned expression deepened. “Okay, but promise me you’ll let me know if you want to talk about this. Because tonight was…a lot. I know how it is to push yourself farther on something than you were ready for. Tonight got out of hand. That was one hundred percent my fault. I left you with no way to save face unless you did something to shock me back. I feel like I made you kiss Len.”
She took a breath, trying to calm her thumping heart. “You didn’t make me do anything. Tonight was my decision. I’m okay. I promise. I just need to go.”
“Of course. Just know you’re safe with us,” Lennox said, no playfulness in his voice. “If you’re leaving because you need to go or need some space, no problem. But if you’re leaving because you think watching that kind of movie or exchanging dirty words with Aud or kissing me sets up some kind of expectation, you have nothing to worry about. Worry about that with other guys,” he said, giving her a pointed look.
She stared at him.
“Some guys are pricks. But neither of us would ever push you to do anything you didn’t want to do. And you always have the right to tell us to fuck off—which is what Auden deserved when he was being an asshole.”
Auden grunted.
“I love that you swung back at him. Friends keep each other in line—and we’re not the easiest friends to do that with.” Len gave her one of his customary smirks. “You may have been sheltered, O’Neal, but you’re tough. I think you’re going to be just fine out in the world.”
The words warmed her from the inside out.
“He’s right,” Auden said, tone softening. “You were right to push back. I’m sorry about the off-limits thing. You’re an adult. That’s not my call.”
Her nervous energy smoothed out a little. “Thanks.”
He laughed self-consciously, the old Auden she recognized returning. “I wish I could blame this whole night on being drunk, but I only had two beers. Can we just say I had a momentary lapse in sanity?”
“You think?” She let out a breath and then shoved him in the shoulder, hard. “I cannotbelieveyou said what you said to me. The mouth on you. Maya would literally die if I told her.”
“Which youwill notdo,” he said, giving her a firm look.
“Of course, I won’t. I can’t even…” She pressed her lips together in consternation. “Say those words out loud.”
Lennox smiled and rubbed his palms together. “Ooh, another thing we can practice one night. Dirty talk.”
“Shut it, Len,” Auden said with a snort.
“Auden’s good at it. Could melt the paint right off your car,” he added.
