Page 52 of The Pinkie Pact

Smiling and feeling a little relief, just a little, I held out my own hand and we squeezed our pinkies together.

"What's up, ladies?" a voice said.

And here was Bear. Oh, God. Within seconds, his arms went around both of us, wrapping us in a huge hug.

"Bear!" Kara shouted in the poor guy's ear. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"Sky likes my brother!" she announced to the entire street.

Are you fucking kidding me? I was seriously going to kill her. Bear looked back and forth between us as I shot lasers out of my eyes at Kara.

"What?" she glanced at me, shrugging her shoulders. "We never said anything about not telling Bear."

I thought back to our conversation seconds ago. Had we? Maybe not. "Okay. Well, if you say anything, I meananythingto your brother, I will end our friendship. Okay? Got it?"

"Geez. Okay." Her face looked wounded and her eyes hurt. "I won't say a word. We did the pinkie pact, and I meant it."

I sighed, still aware of Bear's confusion as he watched and listened to every word. "Sorry. I just know you can, well, get a wee bit carried away. Need I remind you of the great cookie incident only a few days ago?"

"I know. I know. Okay, let's call a truce. All right? We'll both be on our best behavior."

Stretching out my tense neck, I said, "Okay. Truce," as I remembered saying the same words to her brother not too long ago.

"Besides," Kara continued, "Bear kind of needs to know this information."

Bear's hand squeezed my side. "She's right. I guess our little deal needs to come to an end."

I smiled at him. "I'm thinking so, babe."

"Well, you've taught me well." He let go of me and bowed. "And I'll forever be grateful, master."

Kara and I both giggled and she said, "Maybe I need lessons from Sky as well."

"I'm sure you do just fine," I said. "You guys are going to make me all self-conscious next time I kiss someone, thinking about my technique and all."

"I'm sure my brother won't mind," Kara said, wearing a smirk on her face. "But actually, ew, that's kind of gross. I don't even want to think about that."

We all laughed as Bear put his arms back around us both. "Let's head in. I could really use a drink."

Walking in, I tried to be all sly as my eyes searched the room for Kieran. But he wasn't there, and a strange relief washed through me. Was I going to be nervous around him now? No guy had ever made me feel like that before, and I wondered what it was about Kieran that gave me such crazy butterflies.

After we had our drinks and switched one bracelet from left to right, Kara, Bear, and I clinked our glasses together.

"To new beginnings," Bear said, winking at me.

"To new beginnings," I repeated with a grin.

As we all started to dance together, I could tell it was weird for Bear. He sort of put his arms around us both, way up high on our shoulders, and we all swayed to the beautiful beats. Bear was a huge snuggler, and I adored that in him.

God, I wished I knew someone to set him up with, but being new here, I didn't know all that many people yet. Maybe Kara and I could tackle it together, try to find Bear a great girl.

It was strange—and refreshing—that he didn't hit on random girls. Thinking back to that night we met, I wondered why he'd approached me to begin with because Bear was actually not at all the player I first thought he'd been.

While wondering what to do, I had the sensation of eyes on me, making me turn slightly to the side. And that's when I saw him.

My heart screeched to a halt, and I couldn't draw air. Kieran was standing there toward the back giving me the look.Thelook. His eyes were devouring me like I was a sweet treat he wanted to feast on. Our gazes collided, and I swear to God sparks flew across the room between us.

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