Page 83 of The Lost Book of First Loves

“You’ve stayed friends over the years?”

“Yes. We try to connect whenever we can. We text a lot and try to connect through video calls. And of course I feel like I travel right along with him when I watch his YouTube channel. He has over two million subscribers. Can you believe that?”

Who’s the Xandork now?she wanted to say.

He didn’t respond and they spent the rest of the band’s break talking about other social media accounts they followed and about his efforts to create a website and social media presence for his family ranch.

When the band returned, they danced for a few songs before Ali’s energy level seriously started to dip.

Between songs, she tried to hide a yawn.

“You’re tired,” Clint said, concern in his eyes.

“Sorry. I took an early-morning ride trying to acclimatize myself to being on horseback again then worked all day at the bookstore. I’m working in the morning, too.”

“Yeah, my days start early. Should we head out?”

“Good idea. I think the band’s about done, anyway.”

To her dismay, Ali almost fell asleep on the drive back to the ranch. His truck was warm and he had soft jazz music playing, which surprised her. She would have taken Clint as strictly a country music kind of guy.

“That was really fun,” she said when he pulled up in front of her house and walked around to let her out of the truck. “Thank you so much for inviting me along with you.”

“I had a great time. The best I’ve had in a long time. I would love to see you again while you’re in town. What do you think about dinner this weekend?”

“Not this weekend. I’m sorry. I’m heading up to Hidden Lake. But I’m free most evenings next week.”

“Perfect. I’ll be in touch. I should have asked you this at the bookstore, but let me make sure I have your phone number.”

They exchanged information and entered it into their phones.

“I’ll reach out,” he promised.

“Great,” she answered. “Thanks again.”

“I would like to kiss you, Ali. I know in this particular day and age it’s better to ask than to just swoop in.”

She was shocked at how much she wanted to simply say a polite good-night and slip into the house. This was Clint Maclean, though, and she had spent her teenage years dreaming about doing exactly this with him.

She didn’t answer; she simply took a step toward him and lifted her face. He made a low sound and wrapped his arms around her, lowering his mouth to hers.

For the first few seconds, Ali felt dazed. Was she actually here, kissing her teenage crush? His mouth was warm and tasted of beer and cinnamon.

It wasn’t quite as earthshaking as she had once dreamed long ago, but it was nice. With everything in turmoil, she hadn’t gone on a single date since her father died, and she had forgotten how much she enjoyed first kisses, that initial intimate connection of mouths and bodies touching.

He made that low sound again as he deepened the kiss. It wasn’t quite a growl, more like a grunt. She wasn’t really into it, but she did like kissing him.

He smelled good, too, but not quite as enticing as she had found Xander during their brief date.

And why was she thinking about how delicious Xander smelled right now, when she was smack in the middle of kissing Clint Maclean? She tried to focus on the moment and push thoughts of any other man out of her head.

She did enjoy the kiss, but she wasn’t quite prepared when she felt one hand on her butt as he pulled her against him.

She eased away, though it wasn’t exactly easy. He was hard-muscled and tough, probably from years of fighting fires and working on a ranch.

“We should probably stop there,” she said, her breath coming in little gasps. “More than likely, my grandmother is hovering on the other side of the door.”

He groaned and lowered his forehead to hers. “You could come back to my place. I live by myself now since my mom moved down to Durango to be closer to my sister and her kids after my dad died.”

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