SIX
THE SONG OF TWO GUYS IN THE MOUNTAINS
SEBASTIAN
The town’slights twinkled down in the valley, mirroring the stars in the night sky above.
Alex’s eyes blinked open. Glancing at my lips, he made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a whimper. His left hand found mine, clutching my fingers super softly at first, then a little too tightly. He tipped his head forward, but stopped with two inches still between our mouths.
“Are these two conditional?” Alex whispered. “Recording vocals and…this?”
“I already agreed to sing for you. I’ll stand by my word. If that’s the only thing you want, then?—”
“It’s definitelynotthe only thing I want.” His thumb dug into my hand. His chest trembled as he breathed.
“But?”
“There is no ‘but.’ Not really.”
“Let’s just keep the two things separate?” I asked.
He lifted his gaze. “Yeah.”
The drum inside my body picked up its pace. I leaned a little closer, and so did he, tilting his head slightly. The darkness shielded us from the rest of the world, yet he was so close I could still see everything: his slender nose, his upper lip slightly fullerthan the lower, the tiny movements of his eyes as they took me in with curiosity.
We both let out quick breaths, the corners of our lips tugging up at the same time. I nudged myself even closer, waited another second to see if he would reciprocate, but when he closed his eyes, I finally pressed my mouth to his.
For the first few seconds, our lips lingered, almost perfectly still, as warmth spread between us. Then they moved, carefully, to find the right position.
His fingers tapped against my hand. On a hunch, I flipped it over, and was promptly rewarded when he laced our fingers together.
My jacket brushed against his hoodie, the rustle underscoring the soft smacks of our mouths as they shifted again and again. I parted my lips and let him in. Our breaths ebbed and flowed in sync as our tongues met. It was almost like a song of its own—the song of our first kiss. And it tasted like lemonade.
The house laysilent against the backdrop of the starry night. Not a single sound from the party reached us as we walked up the steps to the porch. Only our footsteps echoed through the night.
Even though it was only seven o’clock, it was time to head back inside. We had been gone for almost an hour, which was more time than I had spent with anyone else so far, and I didn’t want to push everyone’s patience any further. Sure, I would have rather spent the rest of the evening getting to know him better, but that would have drawn too much scrutiny. While I was used to it, he didn’t need that. He wasn’t leaving tomorrow. He didn’thave anywhere else to call home. It was better not to get too close to the edge.
The foyer was even quieter than the front yard. The gentle click of the door closing made me turn toward Alex. I quickly glanced around to make sure no one was around and stepped before him, kissing him again.
It was supposed to be a quick peck—a brief reprise of what had happened ten minutes earlier—but the kiss lasted half a minute. My fingers found his hips. His hands stayed behind his back, braced against the door, but he still kissed me back so eagerly that I had to be the one to pull away.
“Sorry,” Alex whispered. “I had to use the opportunity.”
“Just wait until tonight when we’re sharing a room. Assuming the offer to crash with you still stands.”
He pressed his lips together, biting back a grin. “It does.” His gaze dropped to the floor for a moment, as if there was something on his tongue he couldn’t quite say, but then he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in for another kiss, one even more passionate than the last. His right hand crawled up my chest and stopped short of my neck. Then, with a sly smile, he pushed me back. “Let’s save something for later, then. You should go back to your family.”
“And you?”
He pointed upstairs. “I’ll get your bed ready.” His hand brushed over my waist as he walked past me toward the staircase. At the bottom step, he gave me a quick wave and said, “I’ll meet you at the party in a bit,” before heading upstairs.
I stood there a moment longer, listening to his footsteps fade. I wished I could have followed him. He was the reason I could finally enjoy being here. If it weren’t so ridiculous to meet someone like him at my freaking family reunion, I’d think fate had something to do with it.
But it wasn’t like this could turn into anything more. I still lived two thousand miles away. This was nothing more than us giving in to spring fever.
Besides, I couldn’t spend the entire evening with him. The right thing to do was to mingle with my family. After all, that was why I had come to Seastone.
So I forced myself out of the foyer and strode through the kitchen toward the back door.
