“Granted,” I whisper, barely able to usher the word into the universe before his lips are on mine, hot and heavy and absolutely perfect. His tongue dances with mine, teasing and tasting and taking and giving. Like this is our first kiss. Not our last. Like we have a lifetime to make up for and another to look forward to.
My fingernails dig into his skin, and my legs wrap around his lean waist as he swallows the small sigh that slips past my lips at what is the perfection of kissing Jameson Murphy.
My body heats, my heart pangs, and my head spins...
“Jamie,” I murmur and push him back as it all becomes too much.
As my stomach churns and bile works its way up my throat.
His eyes open and widen, concern etched in the lines of his face.
But I don’t have time to settle his worry before I hop off the counter and vomit on his feet.
“Ashton... What are you doing here? I figured after last night you wouldn’t be teaching your classes this morning.” Lexie moves behind the Sweet Temptations counter, her blonde hair held back by a pink bow that matchesthe cupcake embroidered on her apron. She looks perfectly put together and like everything I don’t feel right now. With a beautiful, carefree smile, she grabs a similar pink and green to-go cup. “Do you want a cup of tea? I’ve got some that are great for an upset stomach.”
I hoist Kyrie up higher on my hip and shake my head. “I’ve got a class to teach soon, but I needed to talk to you before then.”
“Seriously, shouldn’t you be in bed?” She looks around me as the bells over the door chime and her smile grows as Dillan walks in.
I swear these women are always together.
Sweet Temptations and Hopeless Romantics are only steps apart from each other on Main Street. And Hart & Soul is two doors down from here. Which I’m insanely thankful for right about now.
“Hey, Ash,” Dillan adds as she coos at Kyrie. “How are you feeling?”
“Oh... So not good,” I grumble and look between them, my mind spinning in so many directions I’m not sure I know what good feels like anymore. “We’re friends, right?” I ask, not bothering to wait for an answer. “I’m just checking because I swear I haven’t had many and I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Like friends are supposed to tell each other things, right?”
Lexie’s eyes narrow, and Dillan looks confused.
“Listen... I haven’t really done the whole girlfriends thing. Even my roommates weren’t what you’d consider good friends. We were all basically friendly competition. But you guys. . .” I look between them, ready to cry. I hate feeling like this. Out of control. Out of my element. “You guys are my first real friends in I don’t even know how long,” I admit quietly, trying hard not to sound like some crazy stage-five clinger. “So I’m going to need you to tell methisis normal.”
“What is?” Lexie asks, clearly intrigued at my utter cluelessness but luckily not looking like I’m scaring the shit out of her. So that’s good, especially since I’m feeling less stable by the minute.
“This,” I snap. “Telling you things that are super embarrassing. Or fucking horrifying, for that matter. I can’t talk to Finn, and honestly, I desperately need to talk about it because I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do with it, and the more time I spend in my head, the scarier it gets in there.”
“Pretty sure you’re scaring both of us now, Ash.” Dillan reaches for Kyrie like she thinks I’m losing my mind, and I’m not sure she’s wrong. “So slow down and breathe.”
I slide my sweet girl from my hip and hand her to Dillan, freeing me to freak out even more. “I mean, you guys are so nice and so sweet and kinda bitchy, which I actually love because that means you’re not fake little twat?—”
“Ashton...” Lexie steps in front of me. “Focus and tell us what the hell you’re talking about because you sound a little...”
“Less than stable,” Dillan fills in. “Although I love that us being bitchy makes you happy. It makes me pretty happy most days too.”
“True story,” Lexie smirks.
I look around the blessedly empty bakery, then back at the two women.
This is so bad... “I kissed Jamie this morning.”
Dillan’s grin is more than a little evil and not at all what I expected. “Well it’s about fucking time.”
“Really?” Lexie asks. “I figured we had at least another month before they gave in.”
“What?” I screech. And yes, I actually screech. It’s a horrible sound and sadly not the worst one I’ve made today. My stomach flips at the thought, but not in the I’m going to actually puke kind of way, which is a giant relief. More like the I’m so humiliatedI want to crawl into a hole and hide forever kind of way. Like a damn—wait... What’s the bird that buries its head in a hole...? An ostrich?
That would be a really big hole.
No. . . Wait. A flamingo?
