1. Chapter 1

His lips were so close, I could almost taste them. My heart was stuck somewhere in my throat as his tongue darted out and slid across that plump lower lip that captivated me in the strangest ways.

"Kiss me." It was a demand that made my heart clench tightly in my chest, almost like it would stop and never start again.

My eyes shuttered themselves, so I wouldn't have to see. For some horrible, sick reason they wouldn't stay shut. When my eyes opened again, it was to see his hand in her shiny blond hair as their mouths came together in a sensual dance I'd been dreaming of experiencing for years. Only, those weren't my lips he was tasting. It wasn't my hair that he gripped so tightly in his fist that I could imagine exactly what it would feel like.

It was, however, my heart that cracked wide open at having to witness their kiss so closely. Knowing you're invisible to the one person who holds your heart in their hands is bad enough, but he didn't even realize I was there in the same space with them. I'd come up here to escape another one of my mother's dark rages. Everyone thought she was so sweet. The town baker, who made fabulous cookies and cakes and sold them with a smile on her face every day, couldn't possibly be a monster at home.

She didn't use to be, not until my father died. Now, my only solace was to come to Jack Carter's farm and hide away in his barn. It was slightly embarrassing that he knew about my crush on his grandson. Nothing near as painful as watching Max kissing Cheyenne. She'd never been outright mean to me or anything, but I was just as invisible to her as I was to Max. That was saying something, considering she and I shared three classes, and we were on the volleyball team together.

I rubbed my hand over the center of my chest, where everything felt far too tight as they continued kissing. Each smacking sound that came from them, every moan, and heart-wrenching sigh made it feel even tighter until the barn door opened, and Jack stuck his head inside, calling out my name.

"Posie, you in here?"

Max and Cheyenne quickly pulled apart, their attention going to Jack, whose eyes travelled from them to my own.

"What's going on, Pops?

"What in the hell are you doing in my barn, boy?"

Max seemed stunned by his grandfather's angry response to seeing him there. "Don't answer. I can see for myself what you thought you were doin'. This ain't a hotel for you to bring your latest girlfriend to."

Cheyenne gasped at the implication that she hadn't been the only one. Truthfully, I didn't know if that was the case, as this was the first time I'd run into Max here.

"You two need to go," Pops insisted before his eyes ghosted back to mine briefly, the worry there tore at my heart. Unfortunately, that one look made Max turn my way. His eyes grew wide when he finally noticed me there in the corner with my sketchbook and my headphones on. His eyes quickly shifted down to Cheyenne, who was still clueless to my presence.

"Shit," Max huffed before he grabbed his girlfriend's hand. I was so jealous of her hand. If I closed my eyes and imagined it was me in her place, I could almost feel the heat of his touch against my palm. When the tear fell down my cheek, I couldn't even move to brush it away without drawing more attention to myself. Instead, I allowed it to fall unhindered without looking up to see who may have noticed.

"Pops, I didn't know," I heard Max say.

"Just go, boy." After a few minutes, I heard the engine of Max's old Chevy rev. It was odd that I hadn't heard him when he arrived, but then again, I'd had my music cranked up pretty loudly when I first came to hide out in the barn. Jack sat beside me as I thought about it, and he patted my knee.

"Bad day, Posie?"

The nod of my head was the only answer I could offer because my throat felt like it was too tight to form a response. Jack sighed and then reached over to swipe away the tears that ran down my cheeks, but it did no good. The tears refused to dry up.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"What in the hell are you apologizing for?"

I shook my head back and forth, not knowing how to answer that. "I didn't hear them come in. I came to get away and," my eyes dropped to the sketchpad in my lap, "try to forget."

"What did she do, Posie?"

I shook my head again. "I'm sorry that I didn't say anything to them when I realized they were here, but they didn't see me, and by the time I noticed, it would have been embarrassing." We sat there in quiet for a moment before Jack pulled me into his side and let me cry. "No one ever really sees me, so I just stayed invisible, Jack." The admission was so quiet, I didn't know if he really heard me or not.

"Posie," he started to say when the door of the barn slammed shut and I wasn't sure who had been there. "Sweet girl, seeing you like this breaks an old man's heart." Jack held me like that for a while before he stood and held his hand out to help me up.

"Come on, let's go get you cleaned up and I'll make you some supper before you have to go home."