Kiss Me Not (Kiss Me 1)

“When are we up there? I need to know when I can get out of here. Lindsay has accidentally bumped into me three times already,” Preston muttered.

I snorted. “One more act, then he’ll call us up and announce how much we raised, then who won.”

“You know I’m taking your crown.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you take it, you take it, don’t you? That’s part of the fun. And honestly, I’d be glad to not do it next year.”

“Do you have to defend the crown?”

“No. You can choose to not do it, but if I lose, I can’t do it next year anyway. It’s in the rules.”

“You know if I win, I won’t defend it, right?” He met my eyes. “I only did this as a favor to your dad—and I wanted to beat you. I haven’t taken any pleasure in kissing all these people this week. I’m not sure my lips will ever recover.”

“They won’t.” I tugged mine to one side. “But I don’t think I’ll come back, either.” I cast my gaze over the stage where three young girls were performing a cheer routine. “I think it’s time to let someone else take over. Maybe it needs an overhaul to allow more people to compete. I think people would love it.”

“You’re probably right. Plus, you’ll be too busy kissing me to kiss anyone else.” He winked at me.

“You’re super confident about that, aren’t you?”

“You know it.” The grin on his face was so playful I had no option but to smile right back at him.

Dad stood and motioned for us to follow him. We waited at the side until he was on the stage with the mic in his hand. “Hello, everyone! Thank you for coming to the Creek Falls Fair Talent Contest! I hope you’ve enjoyed your evening so far, and never fear; there are plenty more entertaining acts to come. Until then, we are taking a short break to announce the results of our annual Kissing Booth contest.

“For those of you who don’t know, we have a kissing booth each year, and all proceeds go to charity. Two people compete against each other for the chance to be the champion. I’d like to introduce our competitors this year: Halley Dawson, the reigning, defending champion, and her challenger, Preston Wright!”

Slightly dramatic there, Dad.

Applause rang out, and we both approached the stage with a smile and waved at everyone. Preston stood on the other side of my dad.

“Thank you to everyone who participated in the challenge this year. I’m thrilled to announce that the total raised to revamp the playground in the park is one thousand, two hundred and seventeen dollars!”

My eyes went wide.

Holy crap. We’d never raised that amount of money before, and even though it usually went to charity, the playground really did need redoing. It would be amazing for the kids in town.

“Yes, wonderful!” Dad said. “And now, for the contest winner…”

I shared a look with Preston. I knew exactly what my dad was about to say, and I had to hide my smile.

“The new kissing booth champion is… Preston!”

I laughed, turning toward him and clapping. He looked genuinely shocked, as if he’d thought I’d won, but I wasn’t surprised at all. I think I’d known from the second I found out he was my competition that he was going to win.

He was new and shiny, and half the women in town wanted to marry him, so…

Dad handed Preston the microphone and shoved him into the middle of the stage. He joined me, then, off to the side, and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“You get a year off then, Halley,” Dad said into my ear.

Laughing, I said, “I think it’s time to pass it on to someone else anyway. I think I’d still like to be involved with the booth—I think it would do well if it was overhauled for next year.”

He nodded. “I agree. Now, let’s see what Preston has to say.”

Preston looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but up on that stage, talking in front of everyone else. Still, he took a step forward and cleared his throat.

The mic screeched. He jumped back, staring at it like it’d punched him.

I hid a laugh behind my hand.

“Uh, hello?” he said, giving the mic a tap to make sure it didn’t screech again. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say here, but I wanted to thank everyone for coming out to the kissing booth and seeing both myself and Halley. It’s been a long week, but I know I speak for us both when I say it was worth it. The playground is overdue to be updated, and this is going to make a huge difference to the kids in town. So, thank you.”

He paused while people clapped.

“I’d also like to thank Halley for being great competition.” He swept his arm toward me. “But I am happy to take that crown off her, so you guys can finally kiss someone else next year.”