Chapter Twenty-two #2
Through his back, I felt him rumble. He reached around, clutching my knee, and I wrapped my arms around his chest, hugging him tight. My eyes squeezed shut as I rubbed my cheek back and forth then touched my lips to his sunshine.
I hadn’t meant to do it. And probably shouldn’t have. But I couldn’t help it or stop myself.
His heart skipped under my palms. Mine thumped against his back.
“Come here,” he gritted out. “C’mere, Zara.”
He pulled, and I let him move me. Then I was in front of him, crawling onto his lap, and we held on to each other, my face in his neck, his in my hair.
“I missed you.”
His arms tightened, and he inhaled sharply. “Missed you too.”
I pressed my lips to his skin, holding them there for a few fluttering heartbeats. His fingers wound through my hair, stroking slowly, making me melt into him. Then he tugged my head back to look at me.
I stopped breathing and stared back, knowing he could see how wet my eyes were. How flushed my cheeks must have been. And probably everything I was thinking and feeling too.
He lowered his face to mine, missing my mouth to touch his lips to my cheek, lingering there for a long time. And then his rough scruff scraped along my cheek, his mouth stopping beside my ear.
“That freckle. Glad it never faded.”
I sucked in a shuddering breath, squeezing my eyes shut. “I have a freckle?”
His scruff scraped in the opposite direction, lips touching the same spot again. “Right there. It gets darker as the summer goes on.”
“I don’t think I ever noticed it.”
Of course he had. He was Cormac. My first best friend.
He knew me, even after all the distance we’d put between us—the silence that had stretched for far too long.
The same boy who’d always been there. Who raced me to the river and back and convinced me I might win, even when his legs were twice as long.
The same one who could make me laugh, even with tears flooding from my eyes.
Who gave me hope when it was really hard to find.
The person I’d missed the most, even when I was so angry at him I told myself I never wanted to see him again.
When he didn’t say anything, I opened my eyes. He was close, staring down at me instead of the natural beauty around us. And not just at my freckle—all of me. His eyes roved, taking their sweet time.
We’d hugged each other a lot. We’d been close, but never this way. I’d never been in his lap, in his arms, and we’d never kissed. Not even sweet, brief ones on the cheek.
We were never this. We were kids and innocent and loved each other, but this was a line we hadn’t crossed. I’d thought about it. Of course I had. But the time had never been right. We’d been too young, and then I’d been too sad. But now…
I leaned closer, so close his face blurred. And he didn’t move back. His breath hitched, and I held mine as I grazed my lips over his.
“Zara,” he murmured.
“Cormac,” I replied, the syllables pulling our lips together again. His were just as soft and warm as I thought they would be. And when I kissed him with intent this time, he finally let his breath go and kissed me back.
Tentative at first, like he was bracing for me to change my mind. I hooked my fingers into the fabric of his T-shirt and kissed him again, soft and slow, learning his shape.
When my tongue slid along the seam of his lips, he made a low sound in his throat, and his hands slid up my back, holding me where he wanted me.
I smiled into his mouth. I couldn’t help it. Kissing Cormac Kelly made me happy. Excited in a way I hadn’t been in a long time. Like I was overflowing with bubbles.
He noticed my smile, felt the shape of it against his lips, and his curved to match mine.
“You’re smiling,” he husked.
“So are you.” I licked his bottom lip, getting to know the taste of his happiness…and oh, was it sweet.
His fingers drifted back up into my hair, cradling the back of my head as he deepened the kiss slightly. He was being careful with me. Holding himself back. As if he were afraid he’d scare me away.
There was no danger of that.
The breeze skimmed across the lake and through my shirt, but I was warm everywhere he touched.
I shifted on his lap, angling closer without thinking, and his breath stuttered, his hands tightening at my waist.
“Zara,” he breathed again, a warning and plea wrapped into one.
“Kiss me, Cormac.”
I tugged on his hair, pulling him down and myself up. I met his lips with my teeth, nibbling and then biting, tugging, until he growled and wrapped my hair around his fist. His tongue slipped into my mouth and finally, finally met mine.
Heat bloomed low in my stomach. The first waves of sweetness gave way to something different. Needier. Insistent. It wasn’t teasing anymore. Cormac was kissing me like he had to, and I could barely keep myself still.
His palm molded over my side, thumb brushing just beneath the hem of my shirt. I arched instinctively, wanting more of him, wanting—
His hand shifted, sliding over the fresh ink on my hip, and pain flared, sharp and bright.
I gasped, jerking slightly. “Ah—”
He froze.
The warmth vanished as quickly as it had come, his hands lifting like he’d touched a live wire.
“Shit.” He pulled back, eyes wide, scanning my face. “I’m sorry. I forgot—your tattoo.”
“It’s okay,” I said quickly, still catching my breath. The sting throbbed under my skin. “It’s just tender.”
His jaw tightened as he glanced down at my hip like he’d personally offended it.
“I should’ve been paying attention,” he muttered. “I wasn’t thinking. I—”
“Cormac.” I cupped his face, forcing him to look at me. “It was an accident.”
But the curtains had already fallen, the heat that had been building cooled in an instant. Cormac looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.
“We should get you home,” he said after a beat, voice rough but controlled. “Make sure you clean it up like Giselle said. Keep it covered.”
I searched his face. Part of me wanted to argue. To pull him back into that softness and pretend the world didn’t exist beyond this lake.
But the responsible, protective set of his shoulders told me he’d already made up his mind.
“Okay,” I said quietly.
He helped me off his lap and onto my feet. I took his hand to pull him up and didn’t let go. He twitched and gave a half-hearted pull, but I shook my head, so he gave up trying to get away from me. Threading my fingers between his, I held on the whole walk back.
The restaurant lights glowed behind us as we crossed the parking lot. Cormac opened the passenger door, his hand automatically finding the small of my back again, gentler than before.
I climbed into the truck, and Cormac leaned in, buckling me in himself. I almost snagged his lips when he was close, but he was back to frowning again, and now that I’d tasted his smiles, that was all I wanted.
Satisfied I was safe, he closed the door and circled to the other side.
When he hopped in, I asked, “Should I fasten your seat belt for you? Is that a thing we do now?”
He sighed but couldn’t hide the slight curl of his lips. “I’ve got it.”
The mountains faded in the side mirror as we drove, the lake swallowed by trees and distance. The sky stretched on forever above us, daylight fading fast.
Cormac kept his eyes on the road, hands gripping the wheel. The passing landscape blurred in my vision, and my fingers drifted to the sore spot at my hip. My lips still tingled, and my mind couldn’t quite believe Cormac was the reason.
Beside me, he shifted, like he wanted to say something but didn’t.
I didn’t know what to say either. Was this something we needed to talk about? I wasn’t sure. But from how stiff Cormac sat beside me, now wasn’t the time.
Once the gates to the ranch came into view, I’d come to a conclusion: if this was the only time we kissed, at least it was the sweetest kiss of my life.