Page 4 of On the Breakaway

Liam howls with laughter, while Grayson watches me carefully.

His gaze feels a lot like judgment weighing on my skin. Good. Maybe if he thinks I’m awful, he’ll leave me alone.

A girl ducks under the rail, sliding in next to Liam and wrapping an arm around him as if they go way back when really she’s only hoping for his tongue down her throat.

Liam, being Liam, smirks and lets her hang off of him.

Now. Now I need to go.

As I stand, the DJ pauses the music, announcing that there’s one minute until midnight. The crowd turns frantic, everyone trying to make it back to the person they want to ring in the New Year with.

Fuck.

There is no way I can make it to the bathroom. I look around, and everyone is paired off. Even Liam is giving the brunette next to him his full attention. Everyone has someone to celebrate with.

I look to my left.

No.

Absolutely not.

Grayson’s lips tilt up in a smirk, his eyes glinting with a curiosity that has my skin heating.

There is no way in hell that I’m kissing Grayson fucking Shaw at midnight.

I turn to leave, but his hand lands on my arm. It’s gentle, but I shrug it off anyway.

“Wait,” he starts, but the yelling crowd drowns out his words as they count down from ten.

I try to watch his lips to see what he’s saying, but all I can think while I look at them is what they’d feel like against my own.

Am I about to find out?

No. No, I am not.

When the countdown hits five, I sit back down, knowing there is nowhere for me to run to. My palms start sweating, and I rub them against my thighs, noticing for the first time how close Grayson is to me in his stupid fitted jeans, watching me with his stupid green eyes.

When the countdown hits two, I’m in full panic mode. My hand shoots out, grabbing Liam’s arm and pulling him away from the girl whose name I’m confident he still doesn’t know.

“What are you–” Liam doesn’t get another word out.

As the clock hits twelve, I press my lips to his with all the confidence I can muster.

Luckily for me, Liam doesn’t seem to mind. He opens his mouth and kisses me back. I close my eyes, leaning into it, trying to ignore the fact that Grayson is probably shooting daggers at me, the brunette is probably plotting my death, and Liam is probably getting all sorts of ideas that will never happen.

Don’t get me wrong, the kiss is great. It’s so great that I let it linger, even after the cheering stops, but there’s no heat to it. There’s no mind-numbing, skin-tingling, life-changing fireworks. It’s just a great kiss.

Finally, I pull away, breaking the contact.

Liam’s grin is as wide as possible. “Damn, Aves, I might get all the hype around you.”

“You’re not so bad either, lover boy,” I tease.

He laughs, but it’s all playful in his eyes. I exhale a sigh of relief, realizing he felt nothing, too. At least I won’t have to figure out how to refriend-zone him.

“Soul sisters?” he holds his empty cup out toward me.

I laugh. “Soul sisters.” I pick mine up too and tap it against his.