Page 50 of Scoring the Player
“You’re a great kisser, man. That’s what the girlsallscream from the other side of the wall. Happy now?” I grit out.
“No, no. Let’s see the master work,” Lucas says.
Someone starts chanting, “kiss, kiss, kiss” and soon, they’re all joining in.
“I hate all of you.” I turn, angling my body so I’m facing Dahlia, then step forward.
“Sorry about this,” I whisper as I lean down and touch my lips to her cheek, just above the corner of her mouth. It’s a ghost of a kiss, so soft I’m not entirely sure she could have even felt it. But damn, I felt it.
Their response is immediate. “Boo!” and “I kiss my grandma like that.”
“Aww, come on,” Brogan says. “Kiss your girl for real.”
“It’s okay,” she says quietly, giving me the go-ahead. She tilts her head up to me in invitation. It’d be so easy to swipe my lips over hers. I’m faintly aware of the guys, still staring at us and chanting, “Kiss, kiss, kiss.”
I’ve thought about kissing her no less than a hundred times in the past thirty seconds alone, but I’m not going to steal her first kiss to prove a point to my buddies.
I step away from her and flip them off. “Sorry, boys. I’m not a show pony.”
An uncomfortable moment passes as the guys quiet, then look between me and Dahlia. When I dare to glance in her direction, I immediately wish I hadn’t. The pink in her cheeks has intensified. I embarrassed her, but she doesn’t want her first kiss to happen like this.
“I need to use the bathroom,” she says quietly, wearing a fake smile.
I drain the rest of the beer in my cup in one swallow. I try to keep my demeanor cool and casual, but as soon as she’s gone, Brogan asks, “What the hell was that about?”
“Nothing. I’m just not kissing on command.”
“Then why not kiss her because you want to?” Genuine confusion is plastered all over his face. “Did something happen? Or are you just not into her anymore?”
“Nothing happened and of course I’m into her. Dahlia’s amazing.”
“Yeah, well, you might want to tell her that because she looked like you publicly refused to kiss her. Oh wait…”
Fuck. I glance toward the door. As soon as she gets back, I need to talk to her. Hell, I never thought I’d be finding excuses not to kiss a chick. Especially one I’d sell my lucky jock strap to really kiss.
The longer she’s gone, the more anxious I am to talk to her. Seconds and minutes feel like an eternity. I’m about to go find her, when Lucas says, “No fucking way.”
My head snaps to him. He points toward the kissing booth and then elbows me. “Maybe you’re not such a good kisser after all, Walters. Your girl decided to get a little extra.”
And there she is, halfway up the line, clutching a ticket in her fingers, head held high and determined.
18
DAHLIA
What the hellam I doing?
My heart races with excitement and nerves. I feel reckless standing in this line, but it’s a welcome emotion from the embarrassment of Felix refusing to kiss me.
His friends looked surprised at first, then confused. I doubt they believe we’re together now after he wouldn’t even kiss me. My skin itches with the humiliation of it. The man hooks up with every other chick on campus like it’s no big deal but won’t even press his lips to mine to save face? How depressing.
I trudge forward. Only four people are in front of me in line. I can’t believe I’m going to kiss some random guy who’s kissed fifty or more people before me and doesn’t even know my name. It’s not the way I saw my first kiss going down, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I just need it to be done.
Someone grips me by the arm, and I spin to see Felix glaring down at me. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” I tear my arm away, but my voice doesn’t have any hard edges. I’m not mad at him. This is my fault. I never should have agreed to this fake dating scheme. I can’t pretend to date Felix and not develop real feelings for him. I already have if I’m honest.
“Don’t do this. Not here. Not like this,” he pleads.
