Producer Bree was standing a few feet away with a smirk on her face and her trusty cameraman right next to her. And Thea justknew.
She forced her eyes upward with trepidation, and there she was, sharing the big screen withAiden freaking Murdochas Sixpence None the Richer echoed through the vast arena.
The smile froze on her face as embarrassed heat started to pour off her. “Umm…”
She glanced over at Aiden, who looked as startled as she did. His eyes cut to Bree and narrowed for a millisecond before bouncing up to the screen, where their image seemed to be getting bigger the longer they were front and center. God, why wasn’t the camera cutting away? She and Aiden clearly weren’t together. But if anything, the camera zoomed in even tighter, and she didn’t know where to look. At the screen? At Aiden? At Bree, who wasabsolutelydoing this on purpose?
Without warning, Aiden’s hand snaked around the back of her neck, and he turned her face toward him. Her eyes popped at the proprietary gesture and widened even more when he leaned forward, his mouth a fraction of an inch away from her ear.
“This all right?” he whispered.
“Y-yes,” she managed, and before she could draw a second breath, he pressed his lips to hers. At first she froze, paralyzed by shock, but a moment later his mouth softened against hers, and the movement shot heat through her body. Without intending it, she started kissing him back, dimly aware that the arena had erupted into cheers even more raucous than the ones that had accompanied the Anchors’ only goal that night.
She barely noticed. She was too focused on the press of Aiden’s fingers against her neck and the gentle pressure of his tongue as it met hers. Heat coursed through her as her hands crept up to clutch the front of his shirt. He slid his fingers into her hair, angling her head to give him better access to scrape his teeth across her bottom lip, and she moaned at the sharp little dart of pleasurable pain.
The horn that called the players to the ice for the final period penetrated her brain, which probably meant that the camera was no longer on them and she should really let go. But she was reluctant to break their contact, and the tug of his fingers on her hair made her wonder if he might feel similarly.
Then she realized where they were—sitting in full view of an arena of people,for God’s sake—and she yanked her hands away. Aiden’s fingers disentangled themselves more slowly, but his eyes didn’t move from her face. She stared right back, unsure what she was seeing in his expression. Was it an apology? Embarrassment? What was causing his breath to hitch and his pulse to jump at the base of his throat? When she reached up to brush the tips of her fingers across her lips, he opened his mouth and then shut it just as suddenly.
His gaze flicked to the screen, which now showed the action on the ice, before he finally spoke. “I’m so sorry. I just figured she wouldn’t move on until we—”
“I get it.” Her blood thundered in her ears, but she kept her voice chipper and her smile bright while she groped for an escape. “Um, I’m going to…” She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. “I think I’m going to call it a night.”
Aiden frowned but nodded. “Okay. Good night?”
His words came out like a question, but it didn’t matter because she was already out of her seat and scampering up the stairs. Her steps slowed when she reached the main floor, and she stopped in the middle of the hallway, almost getting knocked to her knees when two drunk guys spilled out of the men’s room and clipped her on the shoulder.
Aiden hadkissedher. Aiden had kissedher.
The bottom dropped out of her stomach. The hottest guy she’d ever seen had leaned over and put his lips on hers. He’d put histongue in her mouth.Inpublic.She sagged against the brick wall of the arena as people streamed past, trying to calm her racing heart.
He’d kissed her out of practicality, obviously. Never evereverdid she expect to actually know what Aiden’s lips on hers would feel like. Full and soft and warm, as it turned out. Tentative at first, then commanding but not overbearing. Nice. Her lips tingled as she relived the heat and hardness of his chest when she clutched his shirt to bring him closer to her. She’d wanted his mouth to stay moving over hers forever.
And he’s probably already forgotten it. Shuddered and laughed it off with Dave. It’d be best if she did the same thing.
Then her phone buzzed with a text from Faith:What the hell did I just watch??
A moment later, a video popped up. Faith had used her phone to record fifteen seconds of the local access channel’s broadcast of the Anchors game, and there was her face smack in the center of the screen. She hit Play and watched the kiss unfold. That sneaky snake Bree hadn’t even cut away before it ended. No, she’d lingered to catch the moment after they’d pulled back, both breathing heavily and looking dazed. Their gazes had remained locked for an eternal, suspended moment before the video cut out.
“Oh God,” she whispered, scrubbing back to the beginning of the clip to watch it again. The second time showed nothing different. Neither did the third time. Her lips met his, and afterward she was nothing but pink cheeks and dreamy eyes.
Had she really tugged on his collar to pull him closer?
She had. Those were her fingers clutching his shirt.
And had he really positioned her head to gain better access to her mouth?
He had. Those were his fingers clutching her hair.
“Heyyyyy! You’re totally famous!”
Thea’s head snapped up as a woman tottered over in skyscraper heels. She draped her skinny arms around Thea’s neck and pressed her sweaty cheek into Thea’s, the smell of stadium beer assaulting her nose. “You are so awesome, do you know that? That guy washot.Where’d he go?” She scanned the mostly empty hallway hungrily.
“He’s where all the hot guys go,” she said flatly, disentangling herself from the stranger’s hug. “Not coming home with me.”
* * *
For approximately sixtyseconds after Thea’s hasty departure, Dave didn’t say anything, instead pulling his glasses off his face to polish them with a handkerchief he produced from his back pocket. When he’d finished and settled them back on his nose, he asked, “You running a kissing booth now?”
