“Coral—”
“Coral was my first kiss, actually,” I admit. “No, second.”
Sophie is excited about the quick change in subject. She shifts to stare at me with an eager expression. “Who was your first kiss?”
I do a slow shake of my head. “I don’t think you want to know.”
“Oh, I do.” And she clearly does—Sophie sits upright, hands clasped under her chin. “Who was she?”
“She was—ugh. I can’t believe I forgot about this.”
“How can you forget about your first kiss?” she demands.
“Who was your first kiss?” I counter to get it awayfrom me.
“Lucas Benoit, when I was seventeen,” she says promptly, like it wasn’t traumatic at all. That there were no bad feelings about it. That it even might have been a good kiss.
It’s odd how I dislike thinking of Sophie having a good kiss with someone else. “I thought you said it was Bo?”
“Bo wasn’t a real kiss,” she says with a knowing smile. “I was ten. Things aren’t real at ten.”
“Don’t tell Princess Tema that,” I warn. The newest royal princess has been out of town with Bo or I’m sure she’d be hanging out with Sophie all the time.
And me. She’d want to hang out with me. Most women do.
“Okay, so I told you my truths,” Sophie insists. “Your turn. First kiss was with…”
“You won’t respect me in the morning.”
Sophie blinks. “Do you think I respect you now?” And then she laughs. “Just teasing. Of course I respect you.”
I groan. “You can’t even tease someone without worrying about hurting their feelings.”
“I know. I’m so sad.”
“No.” I study her smiling face with real affection. “You’re not.”
We share a smile. A moment.
It stretches between us. “You have to tell me,” Sophie whispers, breaking the spell. “If you want to.”
“Fine.” I lean back with my arms behind my head. It’s better to keep up the persona of the cool guy who doesn’t care. “I was fifteen and she… she was older.”
Sophie’s eyes widen. “How old?”
“Twenty-two old.”
“Ew.” Her face scrunches, and I’d laugh if I wasn’t traumatized by the event. “There’s no way I would kiss a fifteen-year-old when I was twenty-two. That’s… that’s Wyatt’s age.”
“Maybe not the best decision, butshekissedme,” I point out. “And she was also my brother’s girlfriend at the time.”
She leans forward. “Now you really have to tell me more.”
“There’s not much to tell. My parents were hosting a party, one of the first that Fen and I were allowed to attend. Evan had been seeing this girl for a few months. I forget her name.”
I didn’t forget. Her name was Nicole.
“And how did she end up kissing you when she was dating your brother?” Sophie demands.
