Page 86 of Secondhand Smoke
Nell blinked.
Barrett smirked. “I changed my mind.”
His mouth came down on hers before she even closed her eyes.
She squeaked, and he chuckled as one hand slipped onto her hip.
She wished she could forget the other night, erase it from her memories altogether and replace that kiss with this one. This sweet, gentle kiss where Barrett moved his lips softly. Where she was in the right mind to smell his mix of cologne and cigarettes, let her hand brush against his denim vest, and feel the brush of his messy hair surround her face as he tilted his head to fit his lips perfectly against her mouth. When she could trulyfeelhim.
It was a kiss made for the end of a romance movie, and it was their kiss.
Theirfirstkiss as far as she was concerned.
Someone oblivious to what was happening called Barrett’s name.
They broke apart, panting as though they’d run a marathon when in reality not more than ten seconds had passed. Nell held tight to his shirt, not wanting to let go.
He must’ve had a similar idea because, instead of pulling away, he leaned his forehead against hers and held her in place with a starry gaze.
His mouth was too far, inches away.
Finally, they pulled away.
She let go, reluctantly.
He walked backwards with a final wink and dopey grin on his face as he said, “For good luck.”
34 - Barrett
Barrett tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, ignoring the eyes boring into his head from three different directions.
They’d left the house five minutes ago, and none of them had uttered a word.
Not when he got in the car, grinning and flustered. Not when Nell emerged soon after, looking eerily similar. Not when he’d stared in the rearview mirror as she waved goodbye until he couldn’t see her anymore.
When he did finally look away from her, he was met with three twisted stares that he was determined to ignore until they forgot about it.
Except he’d underestimated their nosiness. He could only last so long before the purposeful silence got under his skin.
“Sooo . . .” Toni was the first to break. “Nice clouds out today. Really . . . cloudy.”
“Jesus, fine. Just say it.”
Toni turned his entire body now that he had permission. “What just happened?”
“Thank god I’m not the only one who thought that was weird,” Dennis said and ran a hand over his hair.
“Are we missing something here?” Toni added.
Barrett looked at them, gauging their expression to tell if he would be able to downplay what had happened. But that mightbe difficult, considering when he himself was driven mad by the memory of what he’d just done.
“Eww, what’s that smile?” Paulie pointed at Barrett, eyes wide. He turned to the other two. “Why is he smiling like that?”
“Spit it out, Barrett, or we’re going to assume you just got handsy with Duncan behind my garage,” Toni said.
Barrett bit his lip. The smile stayed.
“No fucking way.”
