Page 34 of Finding You

“Holy crap!” she cried. Turning, she jumped into Devin’s arms as he spun her around. “I did it! I knocked down two pins! Did you see it?”

He nodded and held her tight, and for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. Her heart was racing like mad, her mouth went dry, and for a moment, all she could do was look at his lips. Their eyes met and held and it was like all the noise and all the people simply faded away because he was all she could see.

“Devin, I…”

“Hey! Look who finally knocked down a pin!” Avery said as she came up beside them. “Good for you! You’re up, Devin!”

And…that officially killed the moment.

Fortunately, for the rest of the game, every time she was up, Devin came up and helped her.

Every. Time.

By the time they were done, she was more turned on than she ever remembered being and was ready to demand that he take her home and press up against her in a sexier–naked–way.

But she never had the chance to because Ashlynn, Avery, Chloe, Billie, and Jade announced it was time to dance, so…she went to dance.

“Oh, my gosh! I love this song!” MacKenzie cried as they walked into the entertainment area. For a solid thirty minutes, she danced and laughed, and had more fun than she remembered having in years. She was a little hot and sweaty, but she was enjoying herself so much that it made it all worth it. The whole week had been amazing and it was thanks to this quirky little town and the people who lived in it.

Between girls’ night last night and then getting ready with everyone earlier, it was beginning to overwhelm her in the best possible way. Back in Syracuse, she had friends, but they rarely got together to do anything other than a movie or dinner. And dinner was always at the same place–Steve’s Pub–and they all ordered the same things every time.

In a word, it was boring.

And now that she thought about it, that pretty much described her life for far too long.

Boring.

When the girls had shown up at the shop the other day to invite her to lunch, she nearly had a panic attack. It had been years since she’d made any new friends and honestly, she thought maybe she was too old for that to happen.

She was happy to be proven wrong.

Then there was girls’ night and that was awesome, and when they’d shown up again today so she could get ready with them–and given her a bedazzled tank top that matched theirs–it felt like…she belonged.

Now, as she danced around to one of her favorite Taylor Swift songs, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirrored wall and almost couldn’t believe how different she looked. Ashlynn had lent her a pair of black skinny jeans and a fabulous pair of boots. Avery had shown up with a pizza and a gift bag for MacKenzie with her bedazzled Sweetbriar Ridge High School tank top in it. They had helped her do wonders with her hair–which had been up in a ponytail all day–but now was soft and wavy and looked as if she’d gone to a salon.

Which, basically, she had since Ashlynn owned the local hair salon.

All in all, it had been a long time since she’d put in such an effort for a night out.

Or any night.

Or any outing.

The song ended and another great one started up immediately, but all eyes had turned toward the entrance to the party room.

Devin.

When Ashlynn picked her up from the shop earlier, MacKenzie kind of had a feeling she was doing her best to convince Devin to come and hang out, but he hadn’t seemed interested. But judging by the way he was scanning the bar–and the way his gaze seemed to lock on hers–he was definitely interested.

Even more so than he had earlier while they were bowling.

For as loud as the place had seemed a minute ago, MacKenzie couldn’t hear anything now except her heart pounding at the sight of him. Faded blue jeans, a snug black t-shirt–neither of which was out of the ordinary, but the way he was holding himself was–as if he were barely holding on to the control he always had. Her breath quickened and suddenly she wished they were back at his place, just the two of them.

“Just a kiss, huh?” Ashlynn said directly in her ear. Earlier, while they were getting ready, MacKenzie had admitted to kissing Devin, but she had played it down. “I don’t think so.”

MacKenzie turned toward her, even though she hated to look away from Devin’s heated gaze. “What? What do you mean?”

Avery danced over with a knowing grin on her face. “That isnotthe look of a man who you shared just a casual kiss with.”

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