Perfect Illusion (Perfect 1)

He swallows nervously. “Well, I hope you don’t hate me now.”

“No, I don’t,” I murmur. “I think I love you.”

Kayden’s entire body freezes, and his eyes grow wide with surprise as he allows the words to sink into him.

“Yeah. I love you,” I say with newfound conviction. “I’m glad I get to say it now. I’m sorry I didn’t say it before you left. I wanted to be better for you when I said it. I thought I lost the chance.”

“But you didn’t.” A grin appears on his face as he pulls me to him, closer than we’ve ever been so far today. “Say it again. Please.”

“What? I love you?”

He nods and I laugh again.

His gaze drops to my lips, like doesn’t want to miss a single thing that comes out of me. So I say it again, making sure to enunciate every syllable.

“I. Love. You.”

“Again.”

I circle my arms around his neck and smile. “I love you, Kayden. I don’t think I ever stopped. I like who I am right now, with you.”

“I love you too,” he whispers.

My breath hitches. Oh how I’ve longed to hear him say that to me again. And now that he’s finally said them, the words sound even sweeter than I thought they were.

And when I purse my lips, Kayden doesn’t hesitate to capture them with his own. There’s a collective exhale as our lips meet, as if we’ve both spent the past few months only dreaming about this moment, never allowing ourselves to entertain the possibility that we’d be reunited like this again. But oh boy, does the kiss live up to expectations, if not completely shatter them. My muscle memory kicks in instantaneously as our lips move over each other eagerly. My tongue sweeps across his bottom lip and I bite it, knowing that it’ll summon a loud groan from him, which it does. He tastes the same as he did, soft and sweet and salty.

Kayden threads his fingers through my hair and tugs me closer to him, until we’re both exasperated from the little space floating between our bodies and I lift a leg over his so I can straddle his lap and crush my chest against his. I feel the wild thumping of his heart as he presses against me, the excitement giving way to relief when our lips meet again. He deepens the kiss as he grabs the back of my head and pushes our mouths together at a deliciously exquisite angle.

“I’ve wanted to do that since I first laid eyes on you tonight,” Kayden whispers as he pulls away enough to rest our foreheads together.

“We should get going,” I say, breathing hard against his lips. “We’ve been gone for an hour. So much for not keeping me long.”

Kayden merely smiles. “You think they think we’re hooking up?”

“Probably,” I say with a hard laugh. I hop off his lap and get to my feet, patting away all the sand that has stuck to the edges of my dress. I offer a hand to him so I can help him up as well. “Come on. Your family probably wants to talk to you.”

He takes my hand and clasps it tightly, like he’s desperate to permanently fuse our hands together so we’ll never be apart again. “Now, why does that seem like a very horrible reunion?” He groans.

I don’t deny that it won’t be easy. Instead, I say, with a faint smile, “It’s okay. I’ve got your back.”

He grins. “You know I’ve got yours too.”

***

When we return to the reception tent, all eyes are glued on us and our entwined hands. A flush rises to my cheeks knowing that people are going to talk about us, so I excuse myself, striding toward to the bar to grab a drink, while I let Kayden reunite with his family.

Patricia is the first to rope him into a hug, breaking into tears as soon as she does. Kayden clings to his stepmother and soothes her with a smile, telling her that he’s all right. Elijah is much sterner with him, briskly pulling his son in for a hug, but once he lets go, starts lecturing him about how worried he’s been ever since he disappeared off to Phoenix. I can tell Kayden is getting flustered with the lecture, trying to end it as swiftly as he can by promising never to do it again and announcing that he’s staying for good this time. Meanwhile, Brent was the most delighted to hear the news, finally glad to have his brother back after months of not seeing him.

The only one who still appears hesitant is Evans, who looks like he needs a little more convincing. I join the conversation, seeing if Kayden needs help smoothing things over with his friend.

“You okay?” Kayden asks, placing a hand on Evans’s shoulder.

“I don’t know,” Evans says, looking frustrated as he tries to process the news. “I’m still mad at you, you know.”

“I know. And you have every reason to.”

“Just don’t bolt again.” Evans punches him lightly on the shoulders, his eyes glistening with rugged emotion. “We’re butterfly tattoo bros forever, dude.”