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Delaney doesn't move, her feet locked in place, her arms now stretched between us with our hands still tangled together.
"Wait," Delaney slowly pulls me toward her, the hands between us acting like a leash. She lets go of my hand for the first time since we got here and I miss it, the cool autumn air turning my hand from scorching to ice. And then her hand is on my waist, pulling me closer and closing the last remaining gap between us.
"If you are already scared of the maze and I am already afraid to kiss you, maybe we should embrace our fear and conquer it head on." Her hands move from my waist to my neck, letting her fingers dance in the wisps of hair at the nape.
I am convinced I stopped breathing when she asked me to wait, so I attempt to take a breath.
"Why would you be afraid to kiss me?" I ask, letting my hand move to her hips, feeling the soft material of her sweater that rivals the softness of her hand.
"I - I mean - it will be my first time kissing someone," she hesitates to tell me the truth and I know where her mind is going. But it's not true, I don't have any more experience in this than she does.
"It will be mine too," I mutter, spreading my fingers around her waistline and tightening my grip. "And I really want it to be with you, Laney."
My lips are barely a breath from hers and my tongue comes out to wet them like I have seen them do in the movies. I hear a chainsaw in the distance and it causes both of us to jump, which only brings us closer together. I tilt my head, and she tilts hers the opposite way. And then our lips are together.
I expected it to be clunky, that I would fumble around her somehow. But it's nothing like that. Our mouths mirror each other and move just right, her lips so fucking perfect against mine. My fingers trail to her cheek, gently holding her in place because I'm not ready for this to end. Her chest is against me, her thighs pressed to mine, and I wonder how many more spots we can feel one another.
The soft feel of her lips disappears and I feel something more rough and wet. Holy shit, it's her tongue. I part my lips, letting her take the lead and when her tongue touches mine I swear my dick instantly hardens for the second time tonight. Delaney whimpers against my tongue as it dances with hers and I swear I am having an out of body experience but at this moment is the only place I want to be.
Against my will, she pulls away and we both stand breathless, our hands still on each other.
"Wow." She is the first to speak, my brain still trying to convince the thing in my pants this isn't the moment for him to make an appearance.
I plant my forehead on hers and feel her heavy breathing against my chest.
"Wow is an understatement, Laney."
Ash has had his arm around my shoulder since we walked away from the rest of the guys and it brings back memories of when he was shorter than me. Of the Reeve brothers, dare I say Ashton was always my favorite. I have loved Colton for years, but Ash holds a special part in my heart. He always wanted to hang out with Colton and I, and though I knew it drove him crazy because it meant we couldn't make out, I enjoyed the time I got to play with his little brother.
I was sixteen when Ashton was only twelve and the part of me that was forced to grow up too quickly when my mother got sick thrived on being able to rewind time and be a kid again. I could ignore my hormones and the excitement of kissing Colt and focus on the simple joys of finding all the Lego pieces we needed to make the thing from the random instruction booklet he found. If I couldn't get the pieces of my life to fit together how I wanted them to, at least I could get the building blocks to cooperate, locking tight and building a solid foundation for the next phase.
"Which of you is the stubborn one this time?" Ashton asks, our place slow and leisurely, as he fully intends for us to be the last ones out. His large body keeps me warm, and I know damn well I have the best partner for this challenge. If we don't make it out first, at least we will be the warmest.
"Since when is only one of us stubborn?" I joke back. "Colt is seeing someone and I am ... " What am I doing?
"And you're trying to ignore your history with him?" he asks, squeezing my shoulder in a taunting way.
"What the fuck, Ash." I pull his arm from around my neck, pushing it back towards him so he gets the hint that I'm pissed.
"What?" he asks with a chuckle. "Tell me that's not what you're trying to do by pushing him away and I will drop it."
"That's not - it's not like that. Carina is my friend and he is acting ridiculous. He tried to break things off with her today!" I pause, pulling in a deep breath to replenish my oxygen from my outburst. "I didn't even know you guys were all going to be here. Had I known, I would have stayed far from it. It has been shitty enough seeing Colt, not once but twice, on dates with my friend. I really don't care to keep reliving that every time I'm around him."
Ashton stopped behind me and I didn't realize I had been walking faster than him, my legs trying to keep up with my words rushing out of me. Turning back to look at him, he stands there with his arms crossed against his broad chest. I still can't believe my favorite Lego buddy is this linebacker-looking man now. "What?" I ask, trying to figure out what part of my lie he sees straight through.
"I knew you andmy brother were end game before you guys did. Don't try and play me like I can't see it's still there. He told us after he saw you at the shop and I could tell it was already eating at him."
This is the part about Colton coming back into my life that I have been dreading - the part where I have to take ownership of how I treated him and endure whatever consequences it may bring with it. We have been friendly, maybe even a little flirty at times, but I know there is this underlying tension that won't break until I talk to him about what happened that summer.
"He is with someone new and that's that. He is moving on and I am ... doing the same. Don't make it seem like something it's not."
"Dee, come on. Who are you trying to fool here? He ended things with her. I know you can't see it because you're too close, but imagine how he felt when his first date since you left him ends with him seeing you again. How can you possibly dispute that this is some kind of serendipity, kismet bullshit the universe is trying to pull on you two?"
"Okay, you need to lay off the romcoms, Ash. You sound like a Hallmark movie advertisement right now. Also there's no way he hasn't been on a single date in five years, that's ridiculous."
"Can you blame him? You fucking shattered him when you left. Don't tell him I said this, but I don't think he has been able to trust anyone else out of fear they would hurt him."
"Well, he figured it out because he started dating. It will be fine, he will be fine."
