AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My fingers curl inward, and my fingernails stab so deeply into my palms that crescent-shaped marks will be embedded in my flesh. “No, I really don’t have a choice.” I lean in to kiss him and get it over with, but he slants back.
“I want to ask you something first.” He glances from my lips to my eyes. “How many guys have you kissed since you kissed me?”
My irritation builds as he reminds me that, once upon a time, I trusted him so deeply that I let him give me my first kiss. We were fourteen, and I had started freaking out because I thought I was getting too old not to have been kissed before. When I told Hunter, we’d been lying on my bed, listening to old CDs I bought at a thrift store. Angsty music was playing in the background as we lay next to each other. He was leaning against my headboard while my head rested on a pillow toward the foot of the bed. I’d been staring at the ceiling for over thirty minutes, listening to lyrics that spoke of soulmates, emotions, and heartache, and I wanted to assess their meaning, but I hadn’t even gotten my first kiss yet.
“Is kissing really that big of a deal?” I suddenly asked him.
He had been doing something on his phone, but he paused when I said this. I couldn’t see his face; I could just sense his eyes were on me.
“You still haven’t been kissed?” he finally asked.
“I would’ve told you if I had,” I replied, propping myself up on my elbows and looking at him. “I thought James was going to at the party, but then he just hugged me and muttered something about how he thought I was a good friend.” I groaned, flopping back on the bed. “I don’t want any more guy friends—I have enough of those already. Too many sometimes, if you ask me.”
“Gee, I feel so loved,” he said dryly.
“Sorry,” I muttered an apology. Then, sighing, I sat up. “I’m irritated with stuff and taking it out on you.”
“I know.” He put his phone down and sat up straighter, crossing his legs. “What can I do to help? You name it, and we’ll do it.”
I lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know …” I wavered. “I’m I un-kissable?”
His eyes widened slightly. “You think you’re un-kissable?”
I shrugged. “No one will kiss me, so kind of.”
He dithered, chewing on his bottom lip. “Al, you’re not un-kissable. You’re fucking gorgeous.”
“You have to say that because you’re my best friend.” I flopped back onto the bed, feeling grumpy as I sank further into my pity party.
I felt the bed move, and then Hunter appeared above me. He had this strange expression as he leaned over me, as if he couldn’t quite decide on something.
“I actually don’t,” he told me. “I don’t tell Blaise or Ryder that I think they’re fucking gorgeous.”
“Because that’d be weird.”
“And because I don’t think it’s true. Sure, they’re good-looking dudes, but they don’t have these pretty eyes”—he traced a finger along the bottom of one of my eyes—“or these lips”—he brushed the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip—“and don’t even get me started on these long legs.” He grazed his finger along my knee.
I arched a brow at him. “If that’s true, then why will no one kiss me?”
“Because guys get intimidated by pretty girls.”
“You don’t.”
“Yeah, but I’m a cocky flirt.”
“True.”
He smiled, but it faltered slightly as he considered something. “If you want, I can do it for you.”
My brows knit. “Do what?”
A hint of nervousness reflected in his eyes, which was really weird for him. “Give you your first kiss.”
I started to laugh, thinking he was joking, but when he didn’t even crack a smile, I realized he wasn’t.
“You’re seriously offering to kiss me?” I questioned.
He nodded. “I am.”
