Page 29 of Double Trouble

“Anytime?”

“I’m okay with anytime, anywhere.”

I feel his smile over my head. “Me too.”

“And kissing. Please tell me there will be lots of kissing. We’re pretty good at it.”

“And you’re okay with me kissing you anytime, too?”

“Well, not while I’m peeing or eating.”

He tickles my side, and I giggle and wriggle in his arms, loving how bold he was about that particular touch.

“You know what I mean, silly.”

He called me silly. I like it almost as much as I like Brink. “I don’t actually. You want permission to kiss me anytime you want?”

He lets out a sigh and drops his head. I can tell I’m frustrating him with my teasing, but it’s fun and new and I love this conversation way more than I thought I would.

“For example,” he says, “if you come off a sick grind and land right next to me and kick your board up and I’m so impressed I just gotta kiss you… will that be okay?”

I hold back my laughter and the questions I have for him. I wonder if that particular scenario has happened, how many times, and for how long. “You think my sweaty, gross runs are that attractive?”

“Hell yeah.”

“Then yes.”

“And what if you’re sitting on that counter up there…” He gestures to the Wheel Zone’s intercom area. “You’re swinging your legs, and you’ve got that beat-up board next to you, and you’re stealing sips from my Dr. Pepper.”

“Yes, that’s fine, too.” Gosh, how many times has that happened?

“What about when you lean against your car in the parking lot, and you tap your fingers against your hip to the tunes going on in your left earbud while you hold a complete conversation with me? If I just can’t help but push your hair over your shoulder and plant one on ya?”

I shake my head, awe and amusement mixing together inside of me. I lift my head, settling my chin on his shoulder and staring at his profile, watching as he tries to avoid my gaze.

“That’s okay, too.”

The corner of his mouth lifts, and he grins at his lap. “And if you’ve got your chin on my shoulder, and you’re looking at me, and I’m not looking at you because if I do, I won’t be able to stop myself… What about then?”

“You can… if I don’t kiss you first.”

He chuckles before turning to me, and we meet each other in the middle, smiling and kissing like two love-drunk fools. The longer we kiss, the more I wonder who’s going to be kissing who more whenever they want to. I know I need the magic of his lips way more than he needs mine.

It’s nearly three in the morning when I stick the key into the front door and click it open as quietly as possible. I wince at every sound that echoes through the night, but all my attempts to keep quiet are in vain, anyway. The second I step in, I lock eyes with Pete.

His elbows rest on his knees, his hand dropping between them, his phone clutched lazily in his fist. My shoulders droop, and I kick the door shut behind me.

“What’re you doing up?” I ask.

“Waiting for you.” He nods to my board. “Where were you?”

“Boarding.” I know it doesn’t answer his question, but I don’t really care. The high from Tanner’s kisses is wearing off, and exhaustion over dealing with my family takes over. I already had enough of that tonight, and if Pete is going to lecture me like a father lectures his daughter, he’s got another thing coming.

His gaze drops to my neck, and I quickly whip my hair over the spot Tanner spent a lot of time paying attention to. My eyes beat into his, daring him to say one word about it. He just scratches the back of his head and talks to his shoes.

“Look, I know tonight wasn’t awesome at Mom and Dad’s.”

“Understatement.”

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