Cruel Kiss

“We can do that,” he confirmed as his hands came to my hips.

We got lost in the music. It was exhilarating to be just a number in the crowd. And then all of our friends were there with us. A pop song came on, and all of us sang at the top of our lungs. Katherine made a joke about how good my singing voice was. I’d always been self-conscious of my voice. Not that I was bad. I was good. Really good. But my parents hated the talent for no particular reason. They wanted a smart daughter, not one chasing after a musical dream that had such a small chance of success. I’d hidden it for so long that I didn’t know how to find my voice. Even though I was always the life of the party.

I avoided Katherine’s questioning look by grabbing Gavin’s shirt in both hands and dragging him against me.

“What was that about?” he asked, his lips tauntingly close.

“Nothing.”

“You have a great voice.”

I shrugged. “So does everyone.”

He laughed. “No, they don’t. You should sing more.”

“Nah. It’s just for fun.”

“And what are we doing tonight?” he teased.

I opened and closed my mouth. Well, wasn’t he sneaky? Yes, tonight, we were just having fun.

So, I sang to him. Just him. Not loud enough for anyone else to hear like before. His eyes lit up as I serenaded him through the next couple songs. A slow song came on, and I crooned the seductive tones.

“Jesus Christ, that’s sexy,” he breathed into my ear.

“The dancing or the lyrics?”

“You.”

I shivered all over at that word. I’d never used my voice to seduce anyone. Not like this. And I felt sexy, just hearing him praise me. Like my voice wasn’t just my secret, but now, it was our secret. Another secret. I liked this one just as much.

“Come on. There’s cake,” Lark called, gesturing for us to head back to our blankets.

Gavin grabbed my hand with his and threaded us through the crowd. I flopped down at the edge of the group with Gavin taking the seat next to me. We weren’t quite touching, but we weren’t exactly subtle either.

The cake was a three-tiered beauty that ombréd from blood red to pink with a tiara candle at the top. It was a confectionary masterpiece. Katherine took up position before it. Camden was at her side. I’d missed when he showed, but the smile painted on Katherine’s mouth said that she was pleased by the appearance. Good for them. I hoped we were all wrong and this truce was exactly what they needed.

We sang “Happy Birthday,” and as the song ended, I called out, “Make a wish!”

Gavin nudged me, and I laughed, mouthing What? as I leaned into him.

He wrapped a seemingly casual arm around my waist. As Katherine made her wish and blew out the candle, all I could think about was that arm. How easily it had slipped into place. How right I felt, lying against him.

“Want to go back and dance?” he asked.

I glanced back at him. Our lips were lined up, so I barely had to breathe to reach them. I swallowed hard and tried to remind myself this was just fun. No angst. No drama. Just fun.

“Sure.”

He grinned. His eyes slipped down to my lips and then back up. It was a fraction of a second, but it was clear we were both thinking the same thing.

“Coming?” Lark asked.

I jerked away from Gavin as if we’d been caught kissing. Lark gave me a knowing look and offered me a hand. I took it to get up out of the sand.

“You two looked comfy,” she said with a smile.

“He is comfy,” I said with a laugh. “Everyone needs a big, strong man to lie on like a pillow.”

Lark laughed. “If you say so.”

Gavin followed behind us, and we fell into the crowd again. It was nearly midnight. A countdown blasted the last two minutes as we danced crazily to the music. Gavin tugged me against him as we hit the final minute.

“What’s your resolution?” he asked me.

“I don’t believe in them.”

“No?”

“Do the best you can all year long. That’s all that matters.”

“Did you do the best you could this year? In this last minute?”

I bit my lip. “I think so.”

“Well, I can think of one more thing I’d like to do.” He tilted my chin up until I looked deep into his green eyes as the final ten seconds were cheered behind us.

“What’s that?” I breathed.

“Three, two, one! Happy New Year!” everyone shouted all around us.

“This.”

Then, Gavin’s lips touched mine, heralding in the new year.

12

GAVIN

Whitley’s body went rigid and her lips immobile. For a split second, I feared that she’d pull away. We’d agreed after all that we wouldn’t keep doing this.

But then she went pliant. A shudder of relief filtered through me as she pressed her body against mine, wrapped her arms around my neck, and sealed our lips together. I groaned deep in the back of my throat and lifted her effortlessly out of the sand. She grinned against my lips, but I kept kissing her, tasting the fruity drink on her tongue and the week of want that hung heavy between us.