Page 62 of The Pinkie Pact

"No, no. It's okay. It really is."

Relief flooded through me at the sweet sound of her voice again.

"Let's just say I took a year and a half break from all guys," she eventually said.

Letting go of her hand, I instead put my arm around her, pulling her in as close as I could while we waited at a busy stoplight. This time, I wouldn't ask more. I could only imagine what she wasn't telling me, and it hurt me way more than I thought it would that she'd had some kind of bad experience with a guy.

My mind whirled with all the possibilities. Christ, what had she been through? There were so many ways a guy could hurt a girl, and I hated thinking about any of them.

Still waiting for the light to change, I kissed the top of her head, feeling a surprising swell of protectiveness for this girl right next to me. She always seemed so strong, self-confident, and capable of handling anything, and the idea that she could be vulnerable brought out some kind of weird male alpha crap in me that I'd never felt before.

Of course, I'd never wanted anything bad to happen to Christina, and I'd made sure she was as safe as she could be. But this was different, something I didn't even know how to explain.

The light changed, and we started across, only one more block until we reached the Mall. I realized I hadn't said anything, and instead of prying further to appease my curiosity, I decided to keep it simple. "I'm really sorry that something happened to you, Sky."

And she kept it simple too. "Thank you. I'm not sure how we got onto that subject."

"My fault, I'm sure."

"I doubt it." She shook her head at me as we entered the Mall area, the Washington Monument all lit up and looming into the dark sky. "So have you ever been on top of that?"

"It's a little pointy to sit on top," I said like the total and complete nerd that I was.

But she laughed! She actually laughed at my ridiculous joke as we dodged a bunch of tourists. The Mall was more crowded than you would expect, but people liked to come down here at all hours of the day and night. I highly doubted Sky would get that chance to climb up on Lincoln.

Something about the nighttime made the area seem more magical, or it was the company of this stunning girl I was with right now. Being with her heightened everything, made everything feelmore.

As we walked the long distance beside the reflecting pool approaching the memorial, Sky commented about the same thing. "Tonight's probably not the night, huh?" she asked, looking ahead at all the people scattered on the eighty-seven steps.

"Probably not... not unless we stay here until four in the morning."

"Is that when you did it?"

I shrugged because I was so drunk I really didn't remember when it was. "Well, I'm sure it was after the bars closed down. So yeah. Pretty close. And the other time, it was during a storm when everything was iced over, and my friends and I were the only ones crazy enough to be out."

"Okay. Noted. Really bad storm or ridiculously late at night."

Damn, she was so cute.

Together, we climbed up the steps, but there were people everywhere, and I couldn't help but be annoyed. Would I ever get this girl alone to kiss her? More than anything in this world, I wanted a taste of her lips. Maybe we should have gone back to my place.

When we reached the top, she surprised me by not even going inside to where Lincoln sat. Instead, she pulled on my hand and started to lead me around to the back of the monument, making me wonder what was on her mind.

Something about the way she walked was determined, and I felt my pulse accelerating with every step. Was it possible she wanted the same thing? Was she trying to find a more secluded spot?

A few people passed us, heading for the front, as we rounded the corner to the backside of the memorial, its soft lights shining down on us. I was relieved to see no one else was around, and Sky must have felt the same because I heard her whisper, "Finally."

My heart pounded in my chest, and my lungs thought they'd just ran a 5K or something with how hard I was breathing as she turned around to face me, the look on her face making me downright weak in the knees.

I didn't know that was even possible. But Sky did it to me, and we hadn't even kissed yet. She did things to me I'd never, ever experienced.

Those stunning eyes stared into mine as she reached for my other hand and pulled me toward her. She leaned her back against one of the marble pillars, and that was my invitation.

With a hammering heart, I let go of one of her hands to cup her cheek, her soft skin cool against my warmth. She gasped at the contact, blasting heat through every cell of my body. Her eyes stared at my lips, and I knew it was now or never. Nerves exploded in my abdomen. I wanted to get this right. I couldn't screw it up. This moment felt—

"Just kiss me already, Kieran," she said.

My God, this girl.

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