Page 62 of Bad Boys After Dark - Brett
“He doesn’t know?” Lindsay dramatically flipped her hair over her shoulders and sat up pin straight. She turned toward Trixie and, speaking in an animated voice, as if she were a younger Sophie, said, “I had a wonderful time at homecoming. Thank you for taking me.”
Trixie leaned forward to kiss Lindsay, and Lindsay moved out of reach, causing Trixie to fall off the haystack. Everyone laughed, except Brett, who was trying to suppress his smile, and tightened his grip on Sophie.
Sophie felt her cheeks burning. “That was a hundred years ago!”
“Who doesn’t kiss their homecoming date good night?” Lindsay teased. “I would have kissed him.”
“Of course you would,” Sable said. “You’d also kiss my homecoming date, or Grace’s, or Trixie’s…”
“True,” Lindsay said.
“Why wouldn’t you kiss him good night?” Brett asked.
“Because!” Sophie glared at Lindsay. “He was a friend, not a boyfriend. But if I had known what would happen by not kissing him, I would have done it. He told a friend, who told another friend, and by the end of the next day, the whole town knew I didn’t kiss him.”
“Aw, my poor virtuous girl.” Brett pressed his lips to hers. “I feel insanely lucky right now.”
“Don’t you ever forget it,” Sophie said sassily.
“But Shane did get his kiss,” Axsel reminded her. “I wasn’t even in high school yet, and by the time I was, their midgame kiss was legendary.”
“Midgame kiss?” Brett asked.
“The whole town was talking about me,” Sophie said. “What was I supposed to do? I had to shut them up.”
“Shane was the quarterback for our high school team,” Lindsay explained. “At the next game, Sophie marched out onto the field right after he’d thrown the ball—in the middle of the game—yes, middle—and she ripped off his helmet and kissed him smack on the lips.”
“Then she curtsied and sauntered off the field like she hadn’t just turned my brother’s world upside down,” Trixie said.
“No boys tried to kiss me after that,” Sophie said, feeling mildly embarrassed by that fact, even though there were no boys she’d wanted to kiss. “But I did get a standing ovation.”
Brett cradled her face in his hands and said, “I would have wanted to kiss you. You’re the gutsiest girl I know, and I love that about you.”
He lowered his lips to hers, and Axsel strummed his guitar loudly. “Hey, I’ve kissed your girl.”
“I thought I heard you were into guys,” Brett said.
“My sister has a history with gay men.” Lindsay winked at Sophie, who rolled her eyes.
“I am into guys,” Axsel said. “I was eight and Sophie was babysitting. She brought stuff to make Christmas cookies, and there was this moment I’ll never forget. She was smiling, and her hair was falling over one shoulder. She was just so beautiful, and I wanted to kiss her.” He shrugged and said, “It wasn’t a sexual thing. I mean. I was eight. But I kissed her, and she said, ‘Axsel, you’re really sweet, but you can’t kiss me.’ I said something like, ‘That’s okay. It wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be,’ and we went back to making cookies like it never happened.”
“You guys are dead set on embarrassing me, aren’t you?” Sophie leaned over and touched Axsel’s hand. He had the kindest hazel eyes, and while he could hang tough with the best of them, he had a gentle soul. “You know I love you.”
Axsel blew her a kiss. He began strumming his guitar and sang, “If you’re going to break my heart, just break it,” earning more smiles.
“Did you babysit everyone in this town?” Brett asked. “Your mom introduced me to at least three people you babysat, and you danced with one of them.”
“Just about everyone who was younger than me. I loved babysitting,” Sophie admitted. “I was always booked weeks in advance.”
“She was the best,” Axsel said. “She’d come armed with crafts or baking paraphernalia and would let me stay up late. And she used to practice for the school plays and pretend I was her audience. It was fun.”
