Page 66 of Just One Kiss

“I can call Quinn to come get me and drive me home.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Besides, we both know you weren’t about to let me out here without you supervising every little bit of everything.”

That was true. She didn’t want to open the cabin and give him free rein until she saw what condition it was in. She didn’t like the idea of him staying here at all, but she especially didn’t like the idea of him staying here without her checking it all out first.

“You’re right, it would make a great rental.” He walked over to the bay window in the living room and pulled the curtains open, coughing as the dust kicked up.

“Maybe we should toss those curtains,” she said.

He walked from the living room into the adjoining kitchen, stopping at the bottom of a ladder that went up to a singular loft bedroom.

Two bathrooms completed the space, and, of course, the big porch off the back with stellar views of the lake. It was a small house, but perfect for a couple of kids looking to escape their parents.

He turned around and caught her staring. “It’s weird being back here.” His eyes were full of her, and he seemed perfectly fine that they were.

She, on the other hand, was anything but. “I’ll go get the cleaning supplies from the truck.” She dashed out of the cabin and used her sternest internal monologue to remind herself that all of these peskyfeelingswere not okay.

That’s enough giddiness, Carly Raeanne.

She used both her names when she really needed to get through to herself. But when she fetched the bag of cleaning supplies and spun around to find him watching her from the front porch, she realized her stubbornness was going to be hard to combat.

Why had Josh always been so hard for her to resist?

Maybe it was the way he looked at her—long, deep stares with intensity behind his eyes, like he was thinking thoughts he shouldn’t be thinking at the most inopportune times. Or maybe it was the unexpected gentle way he always spoke to her when they were together. Or perhaps the impossible way his brokenness turned him into a walking mystery?

Whatever it was, Josh Dixon made her want to throw out the rules.

From the very second he had asked her out, Carly knew she would never love anyone the way she loved him. It was an innocent kind of love, the kind that comes with first kisses and awkward moments. The kind that stayed innocent for a very long time—a fact nobody would’ve believed.

Everyone had assumed they knew the kind of guy Josh was, but assumptions weren’t facts, and Josh had never pressured her to have sex.

It had even surprised her, if she was honest, and sometimes she wondered if he simply wasn’t attracted to her.

When the bell rang at the end of seventh hour the Friday before junior prom, Carly nearly leapt from her desk and out into the hallway.

Finally.She could focus on prom.

She’d had to twist Josh’s arm to even take her to the prom—though he swore his unwillingness had nothing to do with her and everything to do with the fact that he didn’t want to get all dressed up and go to a school dance.

Eventually, he’d relented, as he usually did, and Carly’s happiness won out over his. Beverly had taken her shopping for the perfect prom dress, and they’d found it. With a pink tulle skirt and a silver-beaded pink bodice, it made Carly feel like a princess. She couldn’t wait for Josh to see her.

They’d do all the typical prom things—pictures with gawking Mom-arazzi, dinner at Capri, grand march, dance—but it was the post-prom activities she’d planned that she was most excited about—The Sandlot 2was playing at the movie theater, and she’d already bought tickets.

It might seem childish, but it would be the cherry on the top of a potentially perfect evening.The Sandlothad been their favorite movie as kids, and while there was no way the sequel would live up to the first one, how could they not see it?

Josh had told her they could do whatever she wanted. And this was what she wanted, so he was happy to oblige.

Now, as she left Mr. Jensen’s Honors English class, she practically bounded down the hallway toward Josh’s locker, like a prisoner who’d just been paroled.

But as she approached the familiar spot in the hall, what she saw nearly stopped her in her tracks.

Belinda Tipton, dressed in her tiny cheerleading skirt, stood way too close to Josh. They were talking, their heads close together, and the sight of it made Carly’s heart sputter.

She’d heard Belinda had a crush on Josh, but this confirmed it. The only question was—did he feel the same?

Bubbly and perky and everything a cheerleader should be, Belinda had a reputation for getting what she wanted. The thought that what she wanted was her boyfriend had Carly’s stomach turning cartwheels.

Belinda tossed her head back, laughing much more loudly than she needed to. Josh glanced up and saw Carly standing there, and quickly took a step away from Belinda.

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