Page 57 of Bastard Bartender

A laugh-like cry bursts from my mouth as I clench my chest and feel it pound against my palm.

One by one, the jumpers land in the field. Their friends and loved ones wait in the spectator area but not me.

Keeping my eye on Nic, I start to run. My feet can’t move fast enough. His landing isn’t graceful by any means, but he rights himself and lets out a howl of happiness.

He’s cheesing from ear to ear when he sees me running. I must have a serious expression on my face because his morphs into something primal.

Like a lion on the prowl, his eyes darken, and he struts to me with so much determination that I gasp my breath.

Without hesitation, I leap into his arms. My legs grip his hips as his hands land right on my ass, hoisting me into him. My arms are around his neck as I look down into his heady gaze.

When our lips meet, I melt in his embrace. His tongue slips in my mouth, and I welcome it just as much as I welcome the relief he’s spreading through my body, letting me know he’s okay and that, yes, we both are very much alive right now.

He groans as my tongue caresses his, savoring every morsel of energy flooding from his body and drinking in his kiss. Our lips dance and grasp for one another. It’s impossible to keep up with how deeply we need each other, pulling and yanking and gaining as much closeness as possible.

His mouth is like the hot desert winds, heated at the surface, scorching even. As his lips pull away, the cool air is a powerful force, sending wind to my heart so strong that I might blow over.

We kiss in the field.

We kiss in the sky.

Our kiss is heaven and earth.

I might not be the one who just jumped out of a plane, but my heart is leaping like I just dived off the cliff.

Because I did.

For Nic. With Nic. Into Nic.

That rush he explained before hits me like a wrecking ball. I feel it all the way to my toes. It’s thrilling, it’s freeing, and it’s so fucking raw that I feel like I’ve been changed forever by this one day, this one moment.

Friends?

Fuck that. After a kiss like this, there’s no going back.