Page 13 of Want You Back

“And then you kiss them?” Colt’s face, those big eyes, angular nose, and most especially, those wide lips hovered inches from me. Far, far too close.

“What are you on, Colt?” I couldn’t sit fully up because then our faces would bump. Couldn’t gracefully duck under him either, so I settled for glaring up at him.

“Sometimes my stomach hurts around you.” He spoke slowly like he was reasoning something out. “And you smell good. Always. I hate it when you miss school or aren’t around. Never thought about your hands, but you’ve got nice eyes.”

“Colt.” I put a hand over my eyes like that might help me forget that my best friend thought I had nice eyes and smelled good. “Save the sweet talk for Betsey. I’m begging you.”

“I wanna know what it’s like.” Colt’s voice was husky and demanding.

“You? Want me? To kiss you?” I put a question mark on each phrase.

“I think so.” He nodded solemnly, forearms going a little wobbly as he continued to hold himself over me.

“Kinda need you to know so, Colt.” I gave a pained groan. If nothing else, I was going to die by erection soon, if not by my own stupid nobility. “No maybe.”

“That’s my whole problem. I don’t know.” Colt sounded mournful, eyes shiny under all the stars. “I don’t knowanything. Not for certain.”

Seeing as how I’d known girls weren’t it for me since forever, I didn’t have the most sympathy for Colt’s uncertainty. I took a deep breath and let it go slowly. Colt—my best friend—was hurting. Confused. Seeking answers. Answers I could potentially give. My stomach clenched.

“Are you gonna hate me in the morning?” I asked warily.

“I could never hate you, Mav. Ever.” Colt had the earnestness only the tipsy could manage. “If I don’t like it, I’ll say. Simple as that. But then I’ll know what kissing feels like.”

“Not sure I like being your experiment.”

“You don’t want me to be your first.” Colt sounded utterly dejected, a sadness I hadn’t heard from him before. “I get it?—”

I cut him off by stretching upward enough to clamp my mouth on his.Yourfirst.As soon as he’d said it, a fire had been lit in me. Spontaneous combustion. Colt Jennings could be my first kiss. I could be his. And it wasn’t the prettiest kiss. We bumped noses. One of us said ow. Might have been me.

But then Colt shifted. Maybe his arms got tired, but his body was more solidly against mine. His mouth softened. Mine did too. I tried again, a little pressure, tried to make it like the kisses I’d seen on TV, sweet, slow. The tip of my tongue darted out to trace his lower lip.

“Oh.” Colt made a dazed sound, gazing down at me through glassy eyes.

“How was that?” I asked, tone guarded.

“Good.” Colt sounded all thoughtful, almost academic. “Real good. Kissing is weird when you stop and think about it, like lips and tongues and shit, but the doing… The doing is real nice.”

“Nice.” I had never been more turned on in my entire life. Spontaneous eruption might be even more likely than combustion at this point. “I’m over here harder than a fence post, and you’re going on about nice.”

“Kiss me again,” Colt demanded. “This time for real.”

“That was?—”

Colt cut off my protest with another kiss. We still didn’t know what we were doing, but at least no one’s nose got broken. He imitated what I’d done with my tongue, so I parted my lips, letting him explore more. His tongue touched mine, and I almost came in my pants. My skin felt feverish, hot and clammy.

Colt made a low, needy noise, so I chased his tongue back to his mouth. He sucked lightly on my tongue, and my toes curled inside my dress boots. I did him one better and sucked on his lower lip. He growled, moving against me. He was hard too, and I needed to do trigonometry in my head to keep from coming in my tuxedo pants. Finally, he pulled away, panting hard.

“Holy hell, Colt. I don’t know what that was, but if you say nice, I’m gonna deck you.”

“I liked that.” Colt’s voice was a revelation, like some old-time preacher talking about the second coming. “I really liked it.” He moved against me again. “I want more.”

“You’re drunk.” I needed to remember that. We both were. He was likely to either forget this or regret it tomorrow.

“Just kissing.” Colt’s tone turned pleading. “Please?”

“Like I can say no to your face.” I groaned, pulling him in for another kiss.

“Gotta do something till one of us sobers up enough to drive.” Colt gave a very uncharacteristic giggle. Yeah. He was drunk, and clearly, I was too because I giggled right along with him.

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