The bucket list burned in my pocket. I thought about bringing up Kristen again. Talking about his girlfriend usually doused whatever simmered between us in ice cold water. But I couldn’t bring myself to say her name. Not then or for the next two hours as we talked about everything but Kristen or Logan.
Instead, we enjoyed our beers and laughed about our past and the crazy things we did to each other over the years. Eventually we found ourselves lying on our backs, staring up at the sky, counting stars and talking about the future.
“I’m never coming back here,” I whispered to him, the words springing to life once they hit the cool night air. “I’m leaving for college and I’m never coming back. I never want to see this town again.”
He turned his head from the sky and stared at the side of my face. “What about your mom?”
“She can come visit me. Any time she wants. I just… I can’t come back to this place and that trailer and face this world ever again.”
“Was it really that bad? Was I really that bad?”
I laughed and turned to face him. Propping my head in my hand, I found myself brushing his hair back with the tips of my free fingers. “You weren’t awesome. But, I don’t know, I never minded what went on between us. It felt like we were at least playing on equal footing. It’s the rest of the town. The pity. The judgmental looks. The… discrimination. This town is snobby as shit. I’m done being judge based on where I live and who my mom is.”
“I’m sorry I’ve been an asshole.”
I smiled and it felt real. Two hours ago, I’d expected to go to my grave hating Levi Cole. Now he was apologizing for his assholery? What a crazy night. “I forgive you.” He scooted closer, his hand resting on my hip—the heat of it burning through my clothes and skin and somehow branding the bone there. I sucked in a sharp breath at the contact. “I’m sorry too,” I whispered, meaning it.
He held my gaze. “Then I guess you’ll make me visit you, too.”
Confusion interrupted the heating warmth in my belly. “What?”
“If I want to see you, I’m going to have to go to you. Since you’re never coming back here again.”
“Yeah, but you won’t—”
“I will,” he promised, cutting me off. “I will want to see you again.”
“Levi, we’re going in separate directions. This ends tonight.”
His body moved closer to mine, pressing against me from toes to chest. “You’re wrong, Ruby Dawson.Thisis only getting started.” And then he kissed me into oblivion.
Rolling me underneath him, he took my mouth captive with his. He tasted like beer and breath mints and something solid and lasting and like nothing I expected.
Where I thought his lips would be hard and rough, they were pillow soft and enticing. His kisses were insistent, yes, hungry even. But not invasive.
My fingers curled into his Clark City Football t-shirt and I held him closer to me, desperate for more of him, more of his mouth on me. His hand slipped under my tank top, finding my breast. I arched my back, pressing closer to him.
While this wasn’t my first kiss, this was my first trip to second base and I had no idea I would like it so much. Things were moving quickly, and I didn’t know how to stop. How to stop us.
Or even if I wanted to.
He kissed me harder, his mouth taking mine until I released a breathy sound that came from the very center of me. Led by instinct, I reached for his jeans, slipping my fingers into the waistband and sliding them around to find his fly.
He shivered and laughed at the same time. “God, that tickled.”
Enjoying torturing him, I slid my fingers back, dipping them further inside his boxer briefs.
“Ruby,” he hissed, settling his body more firmly on top of mine, before pulling away completely and jumping to his feet. “I-I can’t.”
I blinked up at him, cold reality suddenly washing over me. “You can’t?”
He gave me a tortured look. “Kristen.”
The chill that swept over my body turned to a fire of anger. “Oh, my god.”
“I’ll be right back,” he insisted, holding his hands up placatingly. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
He rushed from the balcony back into the house while I collected myself into a sitting position. I eyed the balcony ledge and contemplated jumping to end this humiliation.
