The Rivalry

I switched my beer to my other hand so I could gently grasp her wrist. “No,” I said. “That’s not why I wanted to come outside.” It was clear she knew my motivations. I pulled her off the path and into the grass. We’d come down a slope and there was a retaining wall of decorative blocks to the side. It was now our destination.

Only, she jerked me to a stop. “Hold on. The grass is eating my shoes.”

She passed her drink to me so she could tug off her heels and clutch them in a hand. I took the last few steps to the wall and set both of our drinks down. The stack of stones wrapped around and disappeared into the dark of the trees.

She groaned playfully as she walked on her bare feet toward me. “Great. Now you’re even taller.”

“I don’t believe my height changed in the last thirty seconds.” I was used to girls being shorter than I was. The story of my life since eighth grade.

Kayla placed her heels beside her drink, and once her hands were empty, she didn’t seem to know what to do. Her gaze turned up to meet mine. We stood under the shade of a large oak tree, and the fading light did a number on me.

God, she was pretty.

“I’m going to kiss you.” It came out of nowhere from me, and I was pissed. What the hell happened to subtlety? Her dress, her face, and her personality made me a fucking idiot. Wasn’t I smoother than this?

Surprise jolted through her. “Are you asking permission, or warning me?”

“Maybe both.” I traced my fingertips over her cheekbone and slipped my hand back into her hair, tilting her face up to meet me as I leaned down.

She rose a few inches onto her tiptoes. Her lips were soft. She tasted faintly of her Coke, and I’d fucking swear I got drunk from the trace amount of rum left on her lips. A contact high in one second flat. She sighed as my other arm banded around her back, holding her up into our sweet, slow kiss.

It wasn’t hot in the shade, but I began to sweat. It was plenty hot when my mouth was on hers. Her lips parted, welcoming me.

My tongue was all, “Don’t mind if I do.” I dipped it into her mouth, sliding it against hers, and I was rewarded with a moan. The sexiest goddamn moan I’d ever heard.

I kept one palm cupping the side of her face as I shrugged out of my tuxedo jacket, one shoulder then the other, without stopping the kiss. Because, why the hell would I want to stop? Her greedy tongue stroked mine, and my dick jerked in my pants.

Like I needed a reminder of its existence.

I flung the jacket on the wall, and as soon as my hands were free, I lifted her up in my arms. It was like I’d squeezed the noise of surprise out of her, and it was cute. One step was all it took before I had her seated on the wall on top of my coat, not wanting her dress to get dirty. I’d give her every excuse to stay here in my arms, where I could keep kissing her.

I hadn’t come to the wedding looking to meet anyone or hook up, and if I had, I definitely didn’t have time for it to lead anywhere. But when did my life ever stick to the plan? Plays fell apart all the time.

I knew how to roll with the punches.

-5-

KAYLA

Holy mother of God, this guy knew how to kiss. Jay’s lips pressed to mine. Gentle, and slow, but it ignited a fire that burned all through my body, sizzling out to the ends of my fingertips and toes.

The way he moved his tongue in my mouth was something else. It was sexy. Maybe even a little dirty, and a whole lot of awesome. Beneath his kiss, I was going to melt. If he wasn’t careful, I’d turn molten and pour down the side of the stone wall he’d set me on.

The added height of the wall was great. All he had to do was tilt down to meet me. His face was in my hands, and I brushed my thumbs over his cheekbones, enjoying the sensation of the rough ends of the whiskers on his jaw.

He smelled freaking amazing. I didn’t just want to make out with this guy, I wanted to inhale him. It’d been some kind of torture slow dancing with him earlier. My body had been tight with anticipation, hoping he’d make a move later. Only, here we were, lips locked—and the anticipation didn’t go away. It graduated into need.

How long could we be out here before anyone noticed we were gone? I couldn’t think like that. We were secluded in the shadows, and as the sunlight continued to fade, it’d only feel more intimate here in the woods with him.