Page 57 of Ice Princess

I didn’t want to play, but Buddy was going to carry on with or without me. So I decided to join in, just to keep an eye on things.

We played a few rounds and everytime the bottle fell on a guy and a girl, they chose to kiss.

Then it was my turn.

I spun.

And the bottle stopped on Rebel.

My eyes had fixed on her and my heart had stopped. We hadn’t spoken in years. She’d never once glanced my way since her freshman days, but that wasn’t the same for me.

I was very much aware of her.

Every time she walked down the hallway, her ponytail bouncing and her laughter ringing through the corridor, I looked.

Every time she worked on a car with April Brooks in the school parking lot, her hips snug in a tight pair of jeans as she bent over to inspect an engine, I looked.

And that night at Buddy’s party, she was looking back at me.

Rebel was no longer the little kid in the flower field. She was every teenaged boy’s dream, especially in that tight, pink T-shirt and shorts that showed off her long, long legs.

I’d hesitated, so everyone had started chanting ‘kiss, kiss, kiss!’.

Their voices barely registered. In that moment, it was just me, Rebel and the bottle.

My heart had thudded in my chest as Rebel rolled her eyes and leaned forward, being a good sport about the game.

Her soft-as-rosebud pink lips were right there.

Right in front of me.

But I knew if I ever kissed her, I’d be doomed for life. So I backed away and chose truth instead. She’d flushed with embarrassment and, after that day, there was an extra chill to the cold shoulder she gave me.

I never thought I’d get another chance. Then I started dating Victoria and it became wrong of me towantanother chance, so I pushed it to the darkest corners of my mind.

But now, many years later, there’s nothing holding me back.

My hand draws Rebel’s face to mine. My mouth presses into her lips like I’ve been waiting all my life for this moment.

She tastes incredible—a mix of candy, sugar and honey. As syrupy sweet as every pink-tinged item she owns.

It’s too much and not enough all at once.

I lean forward for more.

Tilting her head so I can get a better angle, I move my mouth over hers while my heart thuds like a wild horse loose out the gate.

Is this a dream?

Am I in bed right now?

But no, I wouldn’t have allowed myself to imagine a moment like this.

Especially when Rebel opens her mouth a tad wider. It’s a small, unconscious invitation. But I barge in like she threw the door open wide.

I suck on her bottom lip. I nip her top lip between my teeth. I sweep my tongue against hers in a lazy swirl and she mewls.

That sound… I didn’t imagine that.

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