Page 29 of Scandalous

“I’ll go first.” He gives me a meaningful look. I nod, getting what he’s saying.

He’s giving me a chance to talk to her alone while he keeps the instructor busy.

I watch as the instructor leads him to the side of the circular room surrounded by glass. We can’t hear what is being said, so I turn to Aurora.

“What do you think so far?” I ask her.

She smiles. “I’ve never even thought about doing this before. I’m excited.”

I lean into her side a little. “I love doing things out of the norm. Going across those scary bridges you see on PicApp or the London Eye. It doesn’t matter. I’ve even been skydiving for real. I like to get my heart pumping.”

Her eyes grow wide. “That sounds a little scary to be honest. Don’t you worry about, I don’t know, dying?”

I laugh. “Do you worry about dying? When you walk down the street or get in a car?”

She tilts her head. “I guess not. That’s not doing something dangerous though.”

“Isn’t it? Can’t you get into a car accident or have something fall on your head and die? Why would you limit what you do in your life because of fear that it may kill you? If it’s your time to go, does it matter where you are? Hell, you can choke on a piece of candy all alone in your living room. I try not to let fear of death stop me from new experiences.” Reaching down, I grab her hand, threading her fingers through mine.

She doesn’t pull away. Instead, she looks like she’s thinking over my words. After a few moments, she turns to me, smiling.

“You’re more than the good looks you use online. You should show it more.” She squeezes my hand as she speaks.

My cheeks grow warm. I don’t think I’ve blushed in many years, yet this girl has me doing it.

“My fans don’t want my brain. They only care about how good I look,” I whisper.

She frowns. “Then they don’t deserve anything from you. Your looks are only one facet of you. I’m not going to lie. I love looking at you, but now that I’m getting to know you a bit more, that’s not why I keep coming back to you. Your looks aren’t even in the top three reasons I like you.”

My other hand, the one not holding hers, comes up to cup her cheek, pulling her forehead to mine.

“What would be in the number one spot?”

I keep my eyes on hers, reading her emotions as she shuffles through them. She’s surprised by how up front I’m being. I don’t blame her. I promised I would take it slow, but how can I when she sees me? Really sees me, not just the goofy, good-looking exterior everyone else sees.

“Your heart. You have a heart of gold. It’s my favorite thing about you,” she murmurs, her face moving closer until her lips are only a breath away.

I want to close the distance, but I promised Drake. I don’t want to break that promise any more than I already have.

It’s not a concern though. Instead, she moves closer, her lips brushing mine once. Then twice.

When she goes to move back, I press forward, giving her a third fleeting kiss.

When we pull back, I can see my feelings being reflected in her eyes. She feels that energy flowing between us too. I only hope she feels the same for Drake.

As much as I like her, I won’t give him up for her.

Eight

The sun shines down on my face, and I can’t help but smile. Everything about today so far has been better than I thought it could be. When Liam and Drake showed up, I didn’t know what to think. I’ve talked to them both almost daily for over a year, but that doesn’t mean anything. That doesn’t mean we were going to click when we actually met.

Mostly our conversations consisted of innocent flirting or comments on each other’s social media. We never got too deep. So I never expected them to ever want to meet me in real life.

Yet here I am, lying on a blanket we picked up before entering the park, with my head in Drake’s lap as he plays with my hair. Liam’s head rests on my legs and he plays with my hand. We started off the day with indoor skydiving. Something I never thought I would do but enjoyed. What I enjoyed even more was getting to know Liam. While Drake took his turn skydiving, we talked a little. I got to see further inside that pretty head of his, telling me that he’s more than who he lets people see. It makes me sad that he feels he can’t show that. That people wouldn’t want to see it.

Then I kissed him. I have no idea what made me do it, but he was close. His scent is intoxicating. Before I knew it, I was pressing my lips to his. At first, I was embarrassed. They were chaste kisses that I initiated, so I had no idea how he felt about them. Then he pressed in for a third and I knew.

This chemistry I feel isn’t one-sided. He feels it too.

---