Chapter Twenty-one Lacey
Chapter Twenty-one
Lacey
Vaughn is kissing me.
I’m kissing Vaughn.
My stomach bottoms out as his hands move down my back. His rough palms and warm fingers press into me with the same sort of frantic urgency I feel.
And then the most amazing and embarrassing thing happens. My legs turn weak and my knees buckle. I start to go down, but Vaughn’s faster. He catches me, scooping me up in his arms. Did I just swoon?
The whole thing catches me so off guard, I stop kissing him.
“I got you,” he says, then leans in and presses his lips to mine much sweeter than before. My mind is reeling. So are my hormones.
Vaughn walks over to the desk in the room and sets me down, then steps between my spread legs, all while continuing to kiss me like no one has before.
I should have known he’d be a good kisser.
My knees trap him in on either side, and my fingers slide over his stomach.
His chest and abs are hard, the ridges of muscles defined.
When I reach the hem of his shirt, I slide one hand underneath.
He lets out a low groan at the skin-to-skin contact.
His skin is warm, and a light trail of hair runs down the center of his chest to the top of his belly button.
He nips at my bottom lip and then works his mouth down my neck and over my collarbone to my shoulder. My skin tingles, and my lips feel bruised from his kisses.
I don’t know if he presses into me or if I’m arching into him, but suddenly we’re as close as we can get, and I can feel exactly how far gone we are.
Panicking, I yelp and push him back as I jump down from the table.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, concern lacing his tone. “Are you okay?”
His blue eyes are darker than I’ve ever seen them, and his brows are pinched together. Even still, his gaze rakes over me, full of want.
I tug at the hem of my dress, which has inched up significantly. “Yes. I’m fine. I just realized I need to be somewhere.”
By his expression, he knows I’m full of crap, but he just nods. “Okay.”
“This was…” Amazing. Hot. Incredible. “Surprising.”
His lips fall into a hard line, and he doesn’t look at all happy with my summary of what just happened. Which is completely fair. That kiss deserves awards. There should be cash prizes and parades for that kiss.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for weeks,” he says.
I open my mouth to respond but I have no idea what to say. Weeks? I mean, sure, the last couple of times we hung out I felt something there, but I had no idea he’s been thinking about it for so long.
“I better go,” I say finally, then reach for the door handle.
“Lacey,” he says, stopping me before I leave.
“Yeah?” My pulse is still racing.
“Definitely out of this world.”
“Excuse me?” It’s possible my brain has shut down because the words coming out of his mouth aren’t making any sense at all.
“Your costume.” His lips pull into a smile. “You’re the hottest alien I’ve ever seen.”
My cheeks heat. I’m torn between continuing to flee and turning around and throwing myself at him. I stick with my first instinct. I need to put some distance between us and figure out what the hell just happened.
Leaving Vaughn, I step back out into the hallway. The music of the party hits me hard, bringing reality crashing down on me.
Holy shit, I just kissed Vaughn Collins.
I screw my eyes shut tightly and force my feet to move. Claire. I need Claire. She’ll know what to do.
My head swims and images of Vaughn and that kiss continue to flash in my mind. His lips grazing over my neck and his hands in my hair and roaming down my back. Everything is hazy as I move down the stairs to the party.
I move from room to room looking for my best friend.
When I don’t see her inside, I head outside.
The cold air feels good against my flushed skin.
Scanning the yard, I spot Austin’s “I heart NY” hat first. He’s dressed up as a tourist, complete with fanny pack.
It’s quite adorable. I’m relieved when I see the Statue of Liberty next to him, a.k.a. Claire.
It’s less crowded out here than inside. Thank goodness.
When I reach her, I latch onto her arm and screech, “Help!”
She turns and looks me over. Her happy expression quickly shifts to concern. “What’s wrong?”
I can see the worry in her eyes, but I can’t seem to form any words.
“Lacey, what’s wrong?” she asks again.
“I need to borrow you.” It’s all I can manage to get out, but she doesn’t bat an eye.
“Okay.”
I tug her with me, avoiding the questioning looks from Austin and some other soccer guys.
“Quick question,” she says, moving her legs quickly to keep up with me. She’s taller, but my little legs are pumping with adrenaline. “Are we going to kick someone’s ass, or is this a wardrobe malfunction kind of emergency, because I didn’t bring any tampons with me.”
I stop and face her. I wish this was a wardrobe malfunction kind of problem. It would be easier to solve.
I glance around us for prying eyes and ears. I’m out of breath and my pulse is still racing. And every time I try to focus on anything else, the memory of that kiss hits me all over again.
Like a freaking tsunami.
“Okay. You’re scaring me,” Claire says, and her gentle words finally snap me out of it.
“I kissed Vaughn.”
As soon as I’ve blurted out the words, I want to take them back. I need her help, but she’s the last person I want to be telling this.
“Shit,” I say, then keep walking at a slower pace until we reach the patio, plopping myself down in an empty chair. I’m too keyed up to be still but also suddenly exhausted.
My best friend is staring at the ground as she walks toward me. Her entire body is painted green like the Statue of Liberty, but I can still tell I’ve managed to stun her speechless.
“Say something,” I plead with her.
“You kissed Vaughn?”
Is that anger in her voice or surprise?
“I guess technically he kissed me, but I definitely kissed him back.” I groan and cover my face with my hands. My lips are still tender from the rough way he had his mouth on me. I am the worst best friend ever.
“How was it?”
When I peek out from behind my fingers, she’s…grinning?
“So good,” I say without any thought at all. I leave out award-winning. It doesn’t feel like the right moment to share that tidbit.
Worst. Friend. Ever.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t plan on kissing him. I’m not even sure if I like him.” I shake my head. “No, that’s not true. I like him, but I don’t want to, I swear.”
“Whoa. Take a breath.” Claire places a hand on my arm and squeezes gently. She forces me back to the chair I vacated and takes the one next to me.
“Drink this.” She hands me her cup.
I take a big gulp then cough when it burns my throat. “What is that?”
“Rowan made it, so there’s no telling.”
I take another smaller sip then hand it back. “Can you forgive me?”
“Stop. There is nothing to forgive. Vaughn and I have been broken up for months.”
“I know, but you were together for a long time.”
“And now I’m with Austin.” She doesn’t look upset, but I can’t help but feel like I just made a huge error in judgment. Claire is my number one. No matter what.
“Okay,” she says, looking at me with a serious expression, just a hint of a smile. “Now that I’m not worried I’m going to have fight someone wearing a toga, start from the beginning and tell me how this happened.”
I guess that means she’s not going to fight me either. I might feel better if she did.
But this is Claire. Even if she were going to hate me, I could never keep something from her. So I do what she asked.
I tell her everything. Starting with the time we spent together studying to him taking me apple picking and then finishing with tonight.
“I don’t know what came over me. He was kissing me, and then all of a sudden my fingers were tracing the muscles of his stomach, and his hands were on my ass.” I wince. “Are you sure this isn’t weird?”
“I already told you it isn’t,” she says. “And if I’m surprised, it’s only because I thought you were more likely to kill him than hook up with him.”
“No, no. We’re not hooking up. It was one kiss, and it’s not happening again.”
“You said it was a good kiss.”
“The best. I felt it all the way to my toes.” Award-winning.
She squeals with glee.
“We have nothing in common.”
She looks up like she’s thinking. “You both seem to like kissing each other, so you could just do more of that.”
I finally laugh, and gosh it feels good. I don’t know how Claire does it, but she always makes me feel better.
She nudges me gently with her green elbow. “Seriously. I think this could be good for both of you. Vaughn is ready to move on, and you have been keeping yourself too busy to do anything fun. You’re all school and cheerleading. A boyfriend could be exciting.”
“I am not looking for a boyfriend.” My stomach dips low again. And Vaughn isn’t looking for a girlfriend. He’s been very clear about that.
“A friend you kiss, then,” Claire says.
I glare at her, which just makes her laugh.
“Who cares what you call it? As long as it’s making both of you happier, that’s all that matters.”
“No.” I shake my head adamantly. “It’s not happening again. But thank you for not hating me.”
“I could never,” she assures me.
I let out a long breath. This night has definitely taken some turns. I didn’t expect to kiss Vaughn or like it so much.
“So…” Claire waits for me to snap out of my kiss-jumbled thoughts. “What now?”