Page 35 of The Sun
I told myself to let what happened happen. That if Brandon McClure attempted to kiss me, I should go with it.
“Atlas!” Someone shouted, and my attention swung over Brandon’s shoulder.
Elias and his brothers were making their way across the back deck, stopping to talk to a group of private school kids.
Mine and Elias’ eyes locked while Brandon’s fingers crept down my neck. Brandon mumbled something about my lips and how he wanted to kiss me, but the sound of his voice was drowned out by the drumming of my pulse in my ears.
When a redhead came sauntering up with two beers, handing one to Elias’, his eyes didn’t move away from me, in fact, his gaze seemed to grow more intense when he raised the drink to his lips and took a sip.
The girl’s hands crept over his chest, and my heart pounded faster.
When she leaned in close to his face, his eyes burned straight through me.
Their hands touched. He passed something off to her.
My jaw tensed.
“You okay?” Brandon shifted on his feet which blocked my view of Elias.
“Huh. Oh. Yeah. Fine, I’m just. . . .” My pulse still thrummed. “Just. I just—”
“Shit,” Brandon’s lips thinned into a hard line. “I made you uncomfortable?”
“Oh. No. I just. . .” Swallowing, I craned my neck to sneak another glimpse of Elias, but he had been swallowed up by the horde of people.
Brandon turned to see what had caught my attention.
“I thought I saw someone. Sorry, I’m just—My head’s in a weird place.”
Brandon nodded like he understood, but there was no way he did. “Yeah. I get ya.”
“You know. I think I do want a drink,” I said.
“Yeah? Come on?” We walked over to one of at least fifteen coolers, and he popped the lid, fishing through the ice until he found a miniature bottle of wine.
Holding it up, he smiled. “This should work for that refined palate of yours.”
I took the drink, twisted the cap, and took a swig.
It was sweet and dry, not as tasty as vodka but much better than beer. “You know, you’re not as bad as I thought.”
Brandon dipped his chin on a laugh. “Wow. Not as bad as you thought.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I just. . .”
Ben and Daisy walked past, Ben glanced over his shoulder and made a slight thrusting motion as they headed to the open back door.
“You expected me to be like Ben?”
“I mean. Sorta.”
“I’m just as much like Ben as you are Daisy.”
I took another sip of wine, letting the warm buzz from the alcohol creep down my arms to my fingers.
His eyes narrowed. “So, why don’t you ever date?”
“I don’t know. I just. . . don’t.” Another sip. “Why don’t you? Well, I mean since Valeria?”
