Page 55 of Selling Out
He hugs me right back, leaning so I’m lifted off my feet. Hetilts his head to look at me. “I didn’t do it, but I’ll gladly receive the gratitude for it.”
The most natural thing in the world would be to kiss him right now. His lips are right there, and his eyes are telling me as clearly as they can to just do it.Kiss me, Mia. You know you want to.
Hic!I wriggle out of his arms, and he sets me down.
“Was that a friendly hug?” I ask rhetorically, my body teeming with electricity.
“Your run-of-the-mill, friendly hug.”
I give him the side-eye. “I think you and I have different definitions offriendly.”
Bobby, one of the sound guys, appears in the doorway. “There you are,” he says breathlessly. “Three minutes.” He disappears again.
I suck in a deep, shaky breath.Hic!Suddenly desperate, I wave my fingers. “I’ve got the hiccups.”
Austin’s mouth pulls into a crooked smile. “Yeah. I know.”
“Well, don’t just stand there!Dosomething!”
He hesitates for a second, then grabs me and throws me over his shoulder like he did last time.
Hic!“Something else. Hurry! I cannot sing like this, Austin.”
All his amusement is gone now. He’s as frantic as I am.
“Boo!” he yells, fingers splayed in jazz hands.
Hic!“Are you for real right now? I’m not six months old!”
Using his fingers, he does something to his eyelids until they’re flipped inside-out. He sticks out his tongue.
“Ew,” I say, drawing back slightly.Hic!My anxiety is through the roof, my entire body shaking like a leaf. I cannot do backup vocals when I’ve got the hiccups. These things are loud and embarrassing enough without a mic and an elaborate sound system piping them through the venue. “Austin! Do something!”
“Like what, Mia?!”
“Anything!”
He stares at me, eyes searching mine frantically.
And then his lips are on mine, his hands on my cheeks, holding us together.
He pulls back, his hands still on my face, his gaze fixed on mine while I try to catch my breath and see whether my heart is still a functioning organ.
Austin kissed me. He kissed me, and I didn’t even register what was happening until it was already over.
I pull him to me until our lips meet. It’s his turn to be surprised, but it only lasts a second before his grip tightens, keeping me from pulling back like he did.
His lips explore mine, and his fingers slide to my neck, making me shiver in the most glorious way. I shift my hands to his chest, my fingertips on warm, bare skin, my palms against fabric.
He deepens the kiss, and I grasp the shirt, feeling myself lose my composure. I have no idea where I am orwhoI am. All I know is I don’t want this to end.
A small ripping sound makes us both slow.
I pull back and widen my eyes at the tear at the neckline of his shirt. He gives a breathy chuckle.
“Austin!” Bobby’s head peeks around the doorway. “Thirty seconds.” His voice is urgent, and his gaze flits between us.
Austin drops his hands from my neck and nods. “Coming.”
