Page 3 of Kiss Me Ever After
So transparent.
“Give me your phone.”
She scrambled in her tiny handbag for the device, unlocked it and handed it to me. I hesitated for a moment before deciding to put in my real phone number. I wasn’t that much of a prick. Giving her phone back, I gave her a slow, lazy smile before straightening my t-shirt and headed off towards the bar.
“See you around,” I called over my shoulder.
* * *
Lennon
In the fewdays which followed, I waited eagerly for Justin to get in touch. Every time my phone pinged with a notification I jumped excitedly onto the device, only to be disappointed. On more than one occasion, I’d started a message to him, then deleted it straight away because I didn’t know what to say.
I hadn’t told Amber about our almost kiss, even though it was killing me not to. We used to talk about everything to do with guys, including, most recently, her getting together with Curtis Porter, one of Justin’s best friends.
That evening, we were heading out to the Old Dock, one of the pubs in the next town over, as a pre-birthday celebration for Amber.
Justin had to be there, and I hoped I’d get the chance to spend some time with him.
Every hope I had shattered into a million pieces when we arrived. Sitting so close she was practically climbing in his lap was Candace Barkley. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Amber had told me they were together.
Why I ever thought there could be something between Justin and me, I had no idea. We should have stuck to our near misses and been done with it. I didn’t know why seeing him with Candace hurt so much.
And as that would be the case, I wanted to have the last word.
“I wondered why I hadn’t heard from you after the other night.” There seemed no point in beating around the bush, even though the evidence was staring me right in the face. “You know, after we kissed at the fashion show.” I embellished the actual events. Justin needed to hurt as much as I did right now. “I didn’t realise you were… involved with someone.” I dismissed Candace with a stare.
“What’s she talking about, Justin?” Candace asked, her grey eyes wide and shining with what looked like unshed tears.
Justin’s head snapped between me and Candace, a little like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Even without him saying a word, I knew exactly what was coming next.
“She’s lying, Candace,” he said, his tone soothing. “Totally misunderstood what I said.”
My eyes narrowed. “Said or did? How can I misunderstand you being millimetres away from kissing me?”
“Why would I want to get with you, Lennon? A privileged princess who gives us her presence whenever she feels like it?” Justin’s glare met mine. “We have nothing in common, nothing!”
“I don’t know what I even saw in you.”
“Nor me you.”
Our gaze locked, his brown and gold eyes reflecting something I didn’t quite understand. Regret? Disappointment?
The intensity of his stare burned me through to the core.
“Then thank God I’m never coming back to Ealynn Sands!” I yelled in his face.
At least I wouldn’t have to see him again next summer.
2
Lennon
“Good to chat with you,Lennon, we’ll see you in the morning.”
“Thanks, Bryony. Looking forward to it already.” I forced happiness into my voice, hoping it didn’t sound too fake, before hanging up on my new boss.
The clock on my grandparents’ kitchen wall ticked loudly, breaking into my thoughts, announcing six o’clock. I gulped down the lump which had formed in my throat.
