Page 81 of Wallflower

"Ah see," he said, "I knew you were smart."

"Dare?" I said.

"Yeah?"

"Can you be quiet?" I asked. "Your talking is kind of ruining this for me."

He suddenly leaned back, and I opened my eyes to find him grinning.

"Just admit it," he said. "You're loving this."

I totally was.

Instead, I shrugged. "I don't hate it," I said.

Dare gave a slow shake of his head. "Guess I'll just have to try harder."

I gulped. I wasn't sure I could handle that. If he upped his game even a tiny degree, I was sure I'd melt right through this loveseat.

"It's okay," I said quickly. "You can just go back to doing what you were doing."

Dare's eyes smiled, and as he lowered his mouth to my neck, there was a slight sucking sensation and a hint of tongue, which caused my eyes to roll back, before he straightened.

"You mean like this," he said.

I met his gaze. "Yeah, that's nice."

"Nice?" he repeated. "There you go challenging me again."

"It wasn't a—"

Dare's next kiss was to my temple. It cut off my words as surely as if he'd gripped my heart in his hand. He made a trail of kisses from there, over my cheek until he was just at the corner of my lips.

"Flower?" he said in question. I could hear the hoarseness in his voice. "Can I—"

My answer was to kiss him.

There'd been enough talk and hesitation, at least from my end. Though I might regret it later, I had to feel his mouth on mine at least once more before it was too late. Dare seemed surprised for a whole two seconds. And then he was all in, kissing me back like his life depended on it.

I couldn't believe we'd waited so long to do this again.

Our first kiss was amazing, but this…oh God, this was on another level. My hands glided across Dare's shoulders to his back, one moving down his front again to his chest. I couldn't get enough of touching him. And he seemed to feel the same about me. With the next breath, Dare had picked me up, my legs closing in reaction about his waist. I didn't realize he was walking until my back was pressed against the wall.

And still, we kissed.

Dare's mouth moved with mine in a rhythm we created together. If this was a symphony, our harmonies would've melded perfectly. It was beautiful.Hewas beautiful. I couldn't get enough. And I realized as he kept kissing me and kissing me and kissing me that I never would. Never get enough of his lips caressing my lips, his hands flexing as they gripped my thighs, his scent filling me up. It was like we were in our own little bubble…

….which burst when someone cleared their throat.

"Excuse me for interrupting, but what the heck is going on here?"

I knew that voice, and it wasn't my dad's.

Dare and I froze. Definitely caught—but by the wrong parent.

Goodness gracious.

"Viola Martha Carole Rogue Kent," Mom said again.

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