15. I’ve Never Hated Three Words So Much
Tatum
Skye is wearing sneakers with her sundress.
And I adore her for doing it. The combo is just so Skye .
She always manages to pull off stuff like that. But she’s killing me with those legs.
The dress isn’t like, super MEGA short, but it’s short enough—and I’m just grateful we’re not going someplace where other guys can see all that skin.
I know I sound way too possessive, especially considering we’re not even a real couple, but I can’t help it. I told her that she looks pretty—which she does—but pretty wasn’t the word that came to mind when I first saw her standing in front of me.
Sexy . Frick, does Skye look undeniably sexy.
And she would kill me if she knew I was thinking about this.
I wish I knew what she was thinking about.
She was acting so weird before we left the apartment’s parking lot, and now she’s been occupied with her phone. I’m so lost.
I know she’s feeling off, but from what ? And why does it seem like she’s giving me the silent treatment even though she told me I didn’t do anything wrong? Maybe something happened at work after I left? She was pretty upset about the whole Lola-is-interested-in-me thing.
Man, I’ve never seen her get jealous like that before, even when she was dating guys in the past. That doesn’t automatically mean she has non-friend feelings for me too, but I find myself wanting to hope for the impossible anyway.
Soon we reach Dria and Trey’s house, and Skye FINALLY looks up from her phone as I park in the driveway. “Oh, we’re here.”
“Yep,” I drawl, turning the car off, “we’re here.”
But while I take my seatbelt off and open my door, she doesn’t make any moves to get out.
“You staying in the car?” I ask, noting that her gaze is solely on the box of donuts. “Because it’s going to be kind of hard for me to do the pictures without you. I mean, I can try to edit you in afterward but I—”
“Nope, we’re doing this thing!” She unbuckles her seatbelt and throws open the passenger door. “Let’s go, Jacobs! We’ll get the twins’ presents afterward.”
Yeah, I’m beyond lost now. These mood changes of hers are coming and going faster than I know what to do with.
Once I’m out of the car, I grab my camera bag from the back seat, and then make sure everything’s locked up before following Skye to the front porch. I try my best not to stare as the bottom of her dress swishes back and forth (okay, fine, maybe I don’t try that hard) but the way she’s striding up the walkway makes it almost impossible.
I’m down so bad for this girl.
After Dria scolds us for ringing the doorbell, because the twins are taking a nap, she drags me and Skye to the back yard while bragging about all the reference photos she looked at online.
“I was going to use my own engagement pictures for examples,” she continues, closing the sliding door we just came out of, “but that seemed a little biased, so I settled on stalking random strangers instead.”
“Oh my freaking gosh, you made an actual image board!” Skye exclaims as her sister snatches the photo-covered posterboard off their patio table. “Why didn’t you just pin them in the app like a normal person and show us on your phone?”
Dria hugs the board while glaring at Skye. “Hey, I’m the photographer for this photoshoot, which means I call the shots. Right, Tatum?”
Photography humor.
I can’t stop myself from snickering because I’ve honestly used that line myself. “Dria is right. It’s the photographer’s job to know what’s best for the pictures.”
Although, the physical image board is a bit much. And she has quite a few kissing pictures taped on there. I’ve counted at least six so far. What the crap does she need all those for?
“Traitor!” Skye punches my arm before setting the box of donuts on the patio table. “You’re not supposed to agree with her.”
“There will be no bickering during my photoshoot.” Dria flashes us both with a disapproving frown. “Or causing any bodily harm. You two need to look like you’re in love, for crying out loud!”
Suggesting that we do this fake photoshoot was obviously not one of my best ideas. Skye doesn’t look like she’s in love with me, she looks uncomfortable as heck.
“Dria,” I say, slipping the strap of my camera bag off my shoulder, “can you give us a minute?” I extend the bag to her. “You can familiarize yourself with my camera, so you won’t be caught off-guard by anything.”
Don’t worry, it’s just my backup camera. I’m very over-protective with my usual one. Heck, Skye’s only touched it a few times since my parents gave it to me as a graduation gift. That thing is my baby.
“Yeah, sure,” Dria replies, taking the bag from me, “just remember the twins could come alive again at any second, and I work best in these kinds of situations without a toddler entourage.”
“Noted, thank you.”
She waddles off, awkwardly cradling her inspiration board, and I turn toward Skye. “Pink Stuff, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. You know that, right? We can come up with some kind of excuse for Zoya and—”
“I’m just overthinking it,” she verbally waves me off. “We’re good and the pictures will be good.” She proceeds to look over her shoulder and yells, “Dria! We’re ready!”
And there’s another mood change…
“I’m coming!” Dria huffs, lugging the board back toward us. “I’m going to take some pictures of the donuts first, so why don’t you guys wait by the trellis, and that’s where we’ll start once I’m done.”
“She’s stepping into the photographer role way too easily,” Skye grumbles as we walk to the wooden arch trellis that’s covered with white flowers. “You’ve created a monster.”
I almost disagree with her, but then I notice the way Dria is weirdly angling her body as she snaps at least a dozen pictures of the donuts. And is she—is she talking to them?
Once Dria is finally done with the donuts and closes them back up, she grabs the poster board—again—and brings it over to us. “Okay, so, Skye? I’m going to have you leaning against the trellis. Very casual-like. Tatum, you’ll stand in front of her and hold her hands like Jill and Kevin did in this photo.” She points a finger at one of her pictures, and I can vaguely tell that the couple is holding hands.
“Jill and Kevin?” Skye asks, moving to rest her back against the trellis. “How do you know their names, Dria?”
“I don’t.” Dria squints down at my camera. “I just gave them some random names to make this more fun. Numbering all of them sounded boring.”
Skye blinks at her. “And you picked Jill and Kevin ?”
“Hush!” Dria puts a hand up to stop her. “Tatum, get in position.”
So, I do.
But I also make sure that I’m not invading Skye’s space completely.
Dria looks up and scowls. “Closer, Tate. She’s supposed to be your fiancée, not a random woman you’ve never met before! I can’t do my job if you can’t do yours.”
Yeah, Skye was right, Dria is really getting into this.
I step closer to Skye, whose eyes are glued to the ground, and I hope my breathing doesn’t sound like Darth Vader. We’ve stood this close before. We’ve held hands before. There’s no reason to get freaked out. I hear my camera click a few times, and Dria mutters something about the lighting before nodding in approval.
“All righty, I want a clear shot of the ring before we get to the handholding,” she says, holding the camera up. “So, Skye, you need to touch Tatum’s arm. Just like in Amber and Vincent’s picture. And, Tatum? Maybe you could lean in a little? I think it’d look good if you rested your forehead against hers. We need to feel the love, people!”
Skye clicks her tongue as she places her hand on my upper arm, causing my skin to tingle through the sleeve of my shirt.
“Tatum,” Dria chirps, “your turn.”
My turn. Right.
I lean in until my forehead is touching Skye’s, and there’s no mistaking the way her body stills from the contact.
“Perfect!” Dria exclaims, and I can hear the camera clicking again. “Now, Tate, I want you to cup the side of her face just like in Marissa and David’s picture.”
Where is she getting all these names from?
I go ahead and cup the side of Skye’s face—“just like Marissa and David”—and my throat gets so fricking tight when Skye bites her lip. This is torture. The best and worst kind of torture.
Click. Click. Click.
“Hmm, let’s transition into the handholding! But I’m going to have Tatum kiss your forehead, Skye. Like in Rhonda and Christian’s picture.”
You kissed Skye’s head last night. It’s the same thing, just do it.
It doesn’t feel like the same thing though.
Last night, we weren’t acting like a couple. Right now, we are.
Skye’s hand slides down my arm at such a slow pace, that I’m actually clenching my jaw as I move my hand away from her face so we can interlock our fingers together.
Her hand in mine feels so good. It feels so right .
I force myself to relax as I press my lips against her forehead. To my surprise, she slips her other hand into mine as Dria continues to snap more pictures of us. Skye then gives both of my hands a light squeeze, and that’s when I truly feel relaxed. Even if my mouth is still plastered to her forehead like I’m frozen in place.
Click. Click. Click.
“Good, good,” Dria says, picking up her board. “Let’s go over to where Trey has those pretty purple flowers and all the trees.”
Skye and I pull away from each other, but she’s still holding one of my hands as she finally looks up at me. “Not too bad so far, right?”
“Yeah,” I agree with her, rubbing my thumb over her hand, “we’re practically professionals.”
“We could find a modeling agency to hire us,” she jokes back as we follow Dria’s lead, still holding hands, “and then we’d travel the world together.”
Traveling the world with Skye would be 100% fine with me.
Wherever she is, that’s where I want to be.
Right now, Dria is having us pose for pictures with the proposal donuts. I’m standing behind Skye with my arms wrapped around her waist as I’m looking down at her, and she’s holding the box of donuts while looking down at them . I feel like it’s an incredibly accurate representation of our relationship.
Click. Click. Click.
Did I mention that my arms are around Skye?
Because they are.
My arms are around her.
If this were a real engagement photoshoot, I’d be in the perfect position to kiss that area of her shoulder where her thin dress strap keeps slipping. It’s killing me.
But this isn’t a real engagement photoshoot, so I settle for holding her close.
“All right, you two,” Dria drawls, taking the box of donuts from Skye, “we have one more definite shot to capture…”
As she sets the box on their patio table and closes the donuts up, I pretend that it’s totally normal and acceptable for me to still have my arms around Skye. Besides, she hasn’t made any attempts to step out of my grasp—all she’s done is adjust her strap for the umpteenth time.
Thank God she did.
“That means we’re close to having donuts!” Skye drums her hands against my arms, and I crack a grin at her excitement. “ Finally .”
“So,” Dria says, turning to the both of us, “I gave this a lot of thought, and the last picture should be a kissing one.”
Skye’s drumming stops as her body stiffens against me, and I can feel my arms turning limp.
“I’m sorry, what ?” Skye asks, stepping out of my grasp.
Dria wants us to kiss? What the heck??
I mean, thinking about what it’d be like to kiss Skye is one thing, but actually doing it?
I don’t know if I could.
Okay, that’s a lie. I know I could definitely kiss Skye.
I just don’t know if I should . Even if it’s “fake.”
“You saw the photo board,” Dria huffs, grabbing her beloved creation. “Look at all these kissing pictures! There should be at least one kissing picture when you make your blog post.”
I can’t see Skye’s face, but her shoulders are rigid, and she’s fidgeting with her hair.
I curse under my breath.
“Hey, Dria,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck, “can you give us another minute?”
I expect her to get a little annoyed, but she offers an understanding nod. “Mmhmm, I’ll just go over there and check my messages. Keeping up with the twins usually makes me fall behind on them.”
Dria scurries off to the other side of the yard—leaving her photo board behind this time—and I bite back a frustrated sigh. “Pink Stuff.”
She doesn’t answer, and her back is still facing me, so I nudge her arm. “ Skye .”
That does it.
She turns around, and I’m met with a swirling mix of emotions in her eyes. “You think she’s right, don’t you?”
This time, I do sigh. “I mean, all the couples I’ve photographed usually kiss once or twice.”
Skye starts twisting a strand of hair around her finger and I step closer to her, slowly unwinding it before she gets any further. “Skye, we’re not going to do anything that you’re not okay with. Kissing isn’t, like, mandatory for engagement photoshoots.”
“They’re expected though,” she mumbles, adjusting that dang strap again. She tilts her head to the side as she studies my face. “Are you okay with it?”
Tell her no.
But this might be the only chance I ever get to kiss her.
Tell her no.
I can show her how I really feel while using the safety net of this fake relationship.
Tell her no.
“Tate?”
“Sorry,” I apologize, clearing my throat some. “Uh, yeah, I’d be okay with it. Only if you are though. We could just do one quick peck and that’s it.”
“One quick peck,” she echoes with a nod. “We can do that. It’s not like we’d be doing it for real.”
Ouch. Well, that hurts worse than something dropping out of the fridge and landing on your foot. And I would know, because that pain is still fresh in my mind since it happened to me this morning.
“Right,” I force myself to say, “a quick, platonic peck.”
I’ve never hated three words so much. But I can’t exactly say I want a “long, heated make-out session” instead.
Great, now I’ll have that idea marinating for a while.
“Dria!” Skye hollers for her sister again. “We’ll do it!”
Only because it’s not for real, of course.
You should’ve said no .
Oh, shut up.
“Okay, so I was thinking about doing a wide-angle shot,” Dria says, coming back over to us. “That way the camera’s not in your faces, making you guys uncomfortable or anything.”
This NOT real, quick—mostly platonic—peck is starting to feel less and less like an opportunity…but more and more like getting a flu shot. It could be uncomfortable, and we just want to get it over with ASAP .
Not exactly how I imagined my first kiss with Skye going.
“Go stand in the middle of the yard,” Dria tells us, making a shooing motion. “And let’s start with Brianna and George’s pose! What do y’all think? Tatum can have his hands on your waist, Skye, and then—”
“Maybe we should deviate from the board this time, Dria,” I interrupt her. “I think we can manage without using it as a reference.”
If I’m kissing Skye, I don’t want to kiss her like someone else. I want to kiss her like Skye and Tatum, just us.
To my surprise, Dria sets the board aside without any hesitation. “Agreed! Now get your butts over there before Trey comes out here and tells me that the twins are awake.”
So, Skye and I make our way to the middle of the yard as Dria positions herself closer to the house’s sliding doors. Dang, that really is a wide-angle shot. I wasn’t expecting her to stand so far back.
I’m glad she isn’t standing closer, though, because there’s already enough pressure as is.
“Well,” Skye says, twisting Dria’s ring back and forth, “how do you want to do this?”
I rub the back of my neck again and give it a little squeeze to ease some of the tension. “Uh, maybe I could just cup the side of your face like earlier? And then…do it?”
Because saying anything other than “do it” would be too much for me.
I still can’t believe this is happening, even if it’s only happening for a stupid picture.
“Yeah,” she tells me with a nod, “that’s good.”
Okay. Here goes nothing…
I take a step closer to her and slowly let my hand curve against her cheek. I brush my thumb over her smooth skin, hoping the action will calm my jittery nerves. It does, but only for a second, because then Skye’s breath catches; and I find myself swallowing.
“Are you sure about this?” I manage to ask, wondering if she can tell how badly I’m shaking on the inside.
Without taking her eyes off me, she grabs my other hand and gives it a brief squeeze. “I’m sure.”
Maybe I can’t tell her my true feelings, but for one miraculous moment? I can show her.
So, I focus on everything I’ve kept hidden for so long as I lean in even more, and then I brush my lips against Skye’s.
It’s only the lightest of touches, but my heart pounds like thunder anyway. It’s only the lightest of touches, but my lungs feel like they’ve decided to stop working. It’s only the lightest of touches, but I already know I’m hooked for good.
It’s only the lightest of touches, but she’s all that matters.
Skye.
The way she smells.
Sweet , like the candy-scented body sprays she loves to use.
The way she tastes.
Spicy , like the cinnamon-flavored gum she was chewing in my car.
The way she feels.
Soft , like the—
And then something crazy happens. Something that rocks me to my very core.
Long gone is our quick peck as Skye lets go of my hand and grips both of my arms before kissing me back.
My chest tightens. My skin burns. My heart stops.
She’s kissing me back .
I savor the feeling of her lips gliding against mine. The feeling of her fingers digging into my biceps. The feeling of her body arching closer to me. Every single one of my nerves is intoxicated by her.
There’s no denying it.
Maybe this was supposed to be a fake kiss, but nothing else has ever felt more real. And nothing else will ever be enough.
I’m going to spend the rest of my life wanting to be kissed by this girl, because Skye is definitely kissing me back in a way that’s anything but platonic, and it’s freaking amazing.