*
Sweeney was the first to break the silence in the car after a few minutes of twirling the top of her ponytail around her index finger as she stared at the inky scenery whizzing past. ‘Are you freaking out?’ Now she could think properly and they were vertical and away from the scene of the crime—so to speak—her brain was rationalising.
Was that what he was doing too, or was he in blind panic mode? He was sitting so damn upright in the seat she suspected it was the latter.
At least he did her the courtesy of not pretending he didn’t know what she was talking about. ‘No. Yes. Maybe.’ Fin shot her a quick glance before returning his attention to the road. ‘Aren’t you?’
It was a fair question and the answer was definitely yes. But there’d been so many things to freak her out during this visit, the beach kiss was just one more.
She shrugged. ‘It was just a kiss.’
He snorted. ‘Thatwas not just a kiss. The party kiss was just a kiss. On the beach, that was…’
Waves of tension rolled off him as his fingers wrapped and unwrapped from the steering wheel, like he knew what it was and didn’t want to say, or he was stopping himself from going there. Whatever the reason, Sweeney was glad he didn’t complete the sentence. It was probably best left unspoken.
‘It was to be expected.’ The thought landed suddenly and she jumped on it—what other explanation could there be? Fin had been through an emotionally harrowing experience, which had also cut a little too close to the bone for Sweeney.
‘After the garage and the emotional upheaval of the afternoon,’ she continued. ‘And this weird situation our mothers have put us in. It was only natural.’
So, really, it was their mothers’ fault. Something Sweeney was totally comfortable hanging on them right now. Not least because it gave her and her part in the kiss a convenient out.
The part where she’d teased and taunted. The part where she’d lifted her shirt and flashed her bra. But,come on, it was a bra. He could see more on a beach. And it had seemed like a good idea at the time—not the flashing bit, the betcha-can’t-stop-me-getting-past bit—trying to mix things up and get him out of his head.
His grief had been so gut wrenching and she’d felt utterly useless in the face of it. When he’d suggested the lake, she’d jumped at it. She’d never been a fan of kicking a ball back and forth—probably why she’d only lasted a year in the Banshees—but she knew from old that it was Fin’s go-to activity when he had something on his mind so she’d agreed.
It hadn’t really been doing the job, though, his funk still a heavy cloud around him, and she’d been desperate to lift it any way she could. Appealing to his competitive side had always worked in the past.
Still, she didn’t knowwhathad possessed her. It might have been a game they’d played as kids but there’d been nothing childlike about her behaviour. Herbig boyandwhat else you gothad been very adult. And then there was the bra flash.
She hadn’t put a lot of thought into it—obviously. It had been more a cheeky kind of impulse, but it had seemed the perfect way to take his mind off everything.
He was a guy, after all.
A boob guy at that. Something she’d always known about him because at one stage they’d shared everything, and even if he hadn’t shared that particular tit—ha ha—bit with her, she’d known all about his stash of Bras N Things catalogues under his mattress.
Even if she’d not quite fully understood what they’d been there for at the time.
But she hadn’t expected her teasing would end up the way it did. Her sole purpose had been to take his mind off his grief and, well… mission accomplished.
Good job, Sweeney.
It was okay, though, it didn’t have to be a thing. They’d shared two kisses in two weeks and the first one had pretty much been under duress so it surely didn’t count. And the one tonight—it had just been an odd moment in what had been a tumultuous day.
So as long as it didn’t happen again, they’d be fine.
‘You’re right,’ he agreed, nodding his head vigorously, picking up the lifeline she’d thrown down. ‘The garage thing wasa lot. Emotions were running high and nostalgia got the better of us. Is it any wonder that two old friends sought a… moment of… comfort in each other’s arms?’
A moment of comfort. Yes, she liked that. Even if there’d been nothing remotely comforting about the riot of sensations and feelings it had stirred. In a lot of ways it had been the opposite. It had beendiscomforting. Disquieting. Discombobulating.
A maelstrom ofwhat the fuck.
Yet, it had also feltgood. And weirdly… right. ‘Comfort. Yes,’ Sweeney agreed. ‘Of course,’ she cautioned out loud for her benefit as much as his, ‘it can’t happen again.’
His knuckles tightened around the steering wheel as he shot her a quick, startled glance. ‘Absolutely not.’
Sweeney tried not to be offended by the look of alarm on his face or his swift agreement, as though repeating the experience had never crossed his mind. She knew she couldn’t have this both ways, but still, it rankled. ‘I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was agoodkiss.’
She’d had her fair share of first kisses in her life but that had been, by far, the best. Not that it was their first. But it definitely needed to be their last.
