A Redo (Sterling Shore 6)

“Oh!” we hear Melanie say, stopping us before we can reach the stairs. Either she’s oblivious to what just happened, or she simply doesn’t want to give Erica the satisfaction of acknowledgement.

Wren turns to her with a cocked brow. “Oh what?”

I don’t think I like his mother’s smile right now. She looks like she just quilted a blanket of mischief.

“You’re under the mistletoe.”

My eyes widen as Wren’s head falls back. I follow, looking up as well. Sure enough, there’s a freaking huge bundle of mistletoe. Hell, that could be a chandelier. How did we miss it? And why is it in front of the stairs?

“It’s bad luck to ignore mistletoe,” Melanie points out, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Damn.

Wren shakes his head, looking a little confused and uncertain. Five seconds ago he had his ex dragged from the party, and he was the picture of composure. But now he seems nervous.

For some reason, we seem to have gathered an audience. All of Wren’s friends are looking on with unmasked amusement, including the longer-haired, sexy guy from earlier—Corbin. He’s standing with a dark-haired guy that is wearing a shit-eating grin.

“Come on, Wren,” Tag taunts, winking at him. “Surely a little kiss isn’t so bad.”

I feel the blush creeping up my neck, but I’m also fighting back a smile. The look of pure torture on Wren’s face is a little funny.

“You do have a kid already, so quit acting like kissing her is so terrible,” the dark-haired guy beside Corbin says, grinning salaciously.

Terrible? I hadn’t thought of him thinking it was terrible. I feel vain, because I thought it was because he was barely holding himself back. Shit. Terrible?

“Shut up, Maverick,” Wren groans.

“You gotta kiss the girl,” the dark-haired guy who is apparently named Maverick sings, doing a really good job of mimicking Sebastian from The Little Mermaid.

Everyone looks at him, and he shrugs, unaffected by the mocking grins. “What? I was with Carrie earlier and she was watching it.”

Dane laughs while shaking his head, and Rain does the same thing. I turn to Wren as the others continue to heckle him.

“You can just give me a quick peck,” I dare, even though we both know he won’t. He’s seconds away from… oh damn.

His lips come down on mine. Hard. He roughly pushes his fingers into my hair, angling my head to give him more access, and acting as though he was only waiting for my permission. This is so not a mistletoe kiss.

I think I moan—no, I know I moan—when his tongue slips between my lips and toys with my libido. My hands fly to his shoulders when he jerks me up against him. I can’t remember ever being kissed like this before.

It’s hungry, raw, carnal… and in front of everyone. But the thoughts of an audience flees when he nips at my lower lip between thrusting his tongue back in, and I sag against him, forcing him to hold me up.

A loud, obnoxious throat-clearing comes from… somewhere, and Wren finally pulls back reluctantly, leaving me breathless and wobbly. With my eyes still closed, I continue to lean into him like he has a gravitation pull on my body, and I can’t seem to shake free from the trance I’m in.

“Sorry,” he says on a rasp whisper as my eyes slowly open, blinking as I look up into his piercing blues.

Sorry?

That’s when I look around to see the entire party is silent, and all eyes are on us. We’ve garnered more attention than Erica’s tantrum.

My face flushes as Wren pulls me closer, tucking me against him as though he’s trying to shield me from the numerous pairs of curious eyes.

“Now that’s a helluva mistletoe kiss. What’d I miss?” a new dark-haired guy asks with an amused smile on his face. When did he get over here? How long was that kiss?

“Ethan, welcome to the fun. You just missed Wren cracking. But not breaking… Yet,” Tag tells the guy, but his eyes are on Wren, who is rolling his eyes at him.

“What’s he talking about?” I whisper, wishing my skin didn’t look sunbaked right now. Sheesh. You’d think I’d never been kissed before. Though, I don’t think I’ve ever been kissed quite like that.

“Nothing,” Wren says, shaking his head as he pushes me toward the stairs.

I refuse to even look at Melanie. I can’t. There’s no way.

Rain is biting back a smile that she ends up hiding behind her glass of champagne. Rye’s eyebrows are lifted to his hairline, and he doesn’t even bother hiding his wide grin, while Brin keeps her mouth covered.

You’d think this group had never seen anyone get kissed before, which is utter bullshit. I think I’ve seen all of them making out. Hell, Tag’s tongue is now inside Ash’s mouth. That was quick.

But no one else is looking at anyone except for Wren and me.