8

8

KADE

FLASHBACK 1

THREE YEARS AGO

Three tents are pitched. One for me and my friends. One for Luciella and hers. And far away from the group of eighteen-year-olds – bar Base and Dez being twenty – are Mum and Ewan.

She is here.

Not that I’d ever have the balls to talk to her nicely.

Ever since we were fifteen, I’ve gone out of my way to piss her off.

Points for maturity.

Me and Base sit on the log in front of the fire, him passing me the joint when Mum and Luciella aren’t looking, while the girls attempt to make their own fire.

I train my eyes on a certain dark-haired specimen while my friend talks about his weekend in Moscow. Stacey laughs at something Tylar said.

She’s not even funny.

“Fuck being in a relationship,” Base says as he looks at people kissing. “It’s hard to find loyalty.”

I snort, looking away when her eyes find mine. “You have the biggest choice out of us all since you fuck both men and women.”

He passes me the joint, blowing out smoke. “There’s a difference. I’m sexually attracted to both, but emotionally and romantically, I could only ever date a woman. Does that make sense?”

“It does.” Base took ages to come out and say he was bisexual, worried we’d view him differently, but we all got drunk and celebrated instead.

“It doesn’t mean I have a bigger choice. Like, no offence, mate, but I wouldn’t go near you. You’re too tall and I reckon you’d be dominant. I’d fuck Dez though, but don’t tell him I said that.”

I chuckle. “I won’t.”

For the next five minutes, Base texts on his phone while I people-watch. The guys have coolers filled with beer outside the twelve-man tent, and some of them are chatting with the girls.

“What about you?” Base eventually asks.

I frown, opening another beer. “Me?”

He nods. “I’ve never seen you with anyone. Me and Dez spoke about it a few times. We reckon you’re a virgin.” He winces. “That sounded bad. I don’t mean it that way. You just don’t spare anyone a glance.”

I go silent, wondering if I should stand up and walk away before I punch him or admit that I’ve never been attracted to anyone, or had the urge to kiss or fuck or anything like they do. I’ve never had a one-night stand like they all have.

I used to be embarrassed about it, but I guess I don’t really give a fuck anymore.

It’s not like I’m completely devoid of sexual arousal – my hand does a good-enough job without emotions or the feeling of someone else doing it.

No – one person is on my mind. She’s my sister’s best friend and she hates me.

My eyes search the campsite until they land on her, sipping her drink and staring at the barely lit fire. I’ve figured out a lot about her by watching what she does. She’s not very sociable, doesn’t talk that much. She’s a fantastic dancer. I may have walked in on her stretching at the studio once, and the image of her bending over has imprinted on my mind.

She has a few tattoos. Nothing drastic. She suits them.

She smiles at something Dez says, and my hand grips my beer. As much as she looks innocent and sweet, she’s annoying; steals cigarettes out my mouth and walks away, rolls her eyes when I correct her, even if I’m right. She’s called me every name under the sun, and it makes my day ten times better.

I shouldn’t look at my sister’s best friend the way I do, but when Stacey Rhodes walks into the room, you can’t not look.

She glances at me again, but this time, I stare back, feeling the cool air against my neck.

Base nudges my shoulder, and I break her gaze. “So, are you?”

I look at him as he sparks another cigarette. “Am I what?”

“A virgin?” he asks. “You can tell me. I’ll help you get laid.”

I grind my teeth. “Fuck off.”

Base laughs through the smoke. “Relax. I’m not trying to make fun of you.”

I hum and stand up. “Don’t ask me that again.”

He raises his hands. “Fine. Anyway, we should tell the girls to sit with us,” Base says as he follows me to the tent to grab another beer. “Their fire is pathetic and I’m liking your sister’s ass. That’s allowed, right? Or do you have rules?”

I scoff. “You can do what you want with Luciella, but don’t give me any details. I mean it. And hurt her, I’ll strangle you.”

He laughs then tips his beer towards the girls. “And Stacey. She seems to get hotter every time we see her. How is that even legal?”

Tossing my friend into a fire could be passed off as an accident, right?

I huff when the girls join us, sitting in a circle around our fire. Music plays, people talking among themselves, and I focus on the flames.

Through the fire, I see her again. This time, she’s already looking at me. There’s a jolt in my stomach, then a flutter.

I don’t know how to stop feeling this way.

When they all decide to play a game of dares, I huff and contemplate going to the tent to sleep. I lean my elbows on my knees. “I’m not playing dares when my fucking sister is here.”

Dez speaks next. “Right. Why don’t we have a rule that you need to go into one of the tents to complete the dare in two minutes? That way it’s more private.”

“Sorry to break it to you, but I last a lot longer than two minutes,” Base says, smirking as he drinks his beer. “But I can make an exception if it’s a certain blonde.”

“Shut up, Sebastian,” Luciella retorts.

They argue back and forth until she gives up, and Tylar makes the first dare for someone to down their beer. The next is for someone to take their top off, and the third is for Dez to run around the campsite naked.

“I dare Luciella to kiss me,” Base says, and I drop my head at his desperation. “Let’s go, princess. I hope you’re ready for two minutes in heaven.”

“What happens if I say no?” she asks, crossing her arms. “I can’t kiss him!” My sister looks at me. “Tell them I can’t!”

I shrug. “Do what you want.”

She levels me with a deadly look of betrayal before her nostrils flare. She gets to her feet and follows Base into the tent. He zips it up, and someone starts the timer.

To pass time, I sit on my phone, scrolling through social media. I click on a certain profile. I want to follow her, but she’d probably block me.

I click on her tagged photos, angling my screen so no one can see. Hanging upside down on an aerial hoop, Stacey wears a red bodysuit, showing off her incredible flexibility.

I screenshot it.

The tent unzips, and I click off my screen. Base gives us the thumbs up, and Luciella looks like she wants to kill someone.

Dez and Tylar are dared next, then three others. The dares get a little more intimate, and the timer gets longer to a point that I kind of panic.

Stacey hasn’t been dared to do anything with anyone, and neither have I.

“Kade,” Tylar says, grinning.

My soul leaves my body with the look she gives me.

“I dare you to make out with Stacey.”

I nearly drop my phone.

“What?” Luciella sounds disgusted. “Are you joking right now?”

“You just kissed Base,” Tylar says with a wave of her hand. She tilts her head at Stacey. “Go on then.”

“I’m going to bed,” my sister says with a grimace.

“You want me to keep you warm?” Base asks.

She fakes a smile. “I’d rather burn in hell, but thanks.”

Everyone laughs, but I stay silent, watching the flames and wondering if it’s possible to disappear. Breathing heavily through my nose, I glance at Stacey getting to her feet.

Oh shit. This is happening.

Nope. I can’t fucking kiss her.

I know I’m turning the brightest shade of red, hands shaking.

I watch the girl I’ve obsessed over since I was fifteen strut towards the tent with no care in the world, her hips swaying, hair falling down her back – frozen until Base taps me.

It’s only a kiss. I’m fucking old enough to handle a kiss.

I’ll know what to do. I’m not going to make a cunt of myself by messing up. She’s probably kissed loads of people, and this is nothing.

I think I’m going to pass out.

I follow, thankful for the music playing – it drowns out the thoughts going wild in my head. Stacey goes in first, and I zip the tent up again once I’m inside.

Without hesitation, Stacey sits, facing me. “We can pretend if you want. I know you’d rather be doing this with anyone else. I won’t be offended. Really.”

Well I’m fucking offended.

The view I have is delightful as her dress rides up her thighs, but before I can pitch in my shorts, I drop down to my haunches, mirroring her. “If you’re scared, you can admit it.” I don’t know how I manage to say that without throwing up. “Do you want to pretend?”

She clears her throat, fidgeting her fingers. “We have two minutes. I think thirty seconds have already gone by.”

I nod. “Okay.”

“Okay,” she counters. “Is it a full kiss?”

“Tylar said ‘make out with Stacey’.”

I want to move the strand of hair from her face, but I fist my hands instead.

“Don’t laugh,” she says, chewing on her lip, “but I haven’t done this before.”

I inwardly sigh in relief, inching my body forward until our knees touch. “Neither have I.” Stacey’s gaze widens, but I continue before she can talk. “Just close your eyes.”

“Don’t lie to make me feel better. We all know about your reputation.”

I narrow my eyes. “Meaning?”

She raises a shoulder. “You know what I mean.” Then she shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Any reputation I have like that is a lie,” I say, turning the setting of the torch to a soft glow. “A lot of people talk shit about me to get themselves seen or to get a story. I’m in the same boat as you here. Okay?”

She swallows, and I watch her throat move. “Okay,” she quietly responds.

“Close your eyes and stop being nervous,” I say as my entire body fights a tremble.

Her eyelids close, dark lashes, thick and long, settling under her eyes on the soft skin. “Don’t laugh if I do it wrong.”

For a second, I look at her, as if I haven’t a million times already, allowing myself to study each freckle close up, her perfect cheekbones, the way her dark hair curls around her face and cascades around her. She licks her lips, and my eyes are drawn to the act. They’re naturally plump, a deep shade of pink, and she always bites the bottom one.

My breaths are heavy through my nostrils as I lean forward, closing my own eyes. Heart racing to a dangerous rate, my nose glides against the side of hers until our lips are aligned, and I hesitate.

I’m going to fuck this up. Heat is radiating around us, and I can’t fucking breathe. There’s a pain building in my chest.

Panic slams into me, and I ease back an inch, about to tell her we’ll just pretend to everyone. But Stacey pushes forward and presses her lips to mine, and the world stands still, time halting. “Broken” by Lovelytheband fades, and so do the giggles and chatter of the group nearby, until it’s just me and Stacey.

Her palms slide up my chest to rest on my shoulders, and I bristle from the touch, unsure how I feel about it. She notices the way I freeze mid-kiss and removes her hands. “Sorry if I…”

I grab her before she can shy away, pull her back to me and reciprocate the kiss. It’s firm yet gentle, and as I go in for a second, more relaxed kiss, her tight grip returns on my shoulders.

I’ve wanted to do this since I was fifteen but never had the balls to approach her. As hot as she is, she’s terrifying when it comes to cursing me out. In all honesty, I think she’d run in the opposite direction if this wasn’t a dare.

The thought annoys me.

We tilt our heads in sync, and the kiss deepens to a point that I suddenly need to part my lips and taste her tongue, to touch her with my hands, to discover how delicate her face feels under my palms, but I don’t want to scare her off. Instead, I kiss her bottom lip, then the top, sucking lightly each time. She bunches the material of my top into her fists.

I don’t like touch. It makes me feel uneasy, but my hand has a mind of its own as I feel the sharpness of her jawline, gliding my fingers up until they’re brushing into her thick hair.

Stacey shivers in my hold, and I want her to do it again, to show that she can react to me. It’s addictive.

She drags my bottom lip between her teeth, sending blood to my cock.

My thumb strokes the soft skin under her eye, and just as both of our lips part, and I feel the heat from our mouths and tongues, Base – the dick – calls out, “Time’s up!”

Neither of us stop. Stacey moves her hands to both sides of my face and kisses me harder, coming closer until my fingers curl at her nape. A tingling sensation shoots to my chest and triggers something animalistic in me. She whimpers as I possessively snake my arm around the small of her back and pull her to me.

“Keep going,” she orders, panting against my mouth, and I nod, breathing heavily.

She’s so warm and comfortable. No bad thoughts are running rampant in my mind, telling me to get away from her.

Everything is calm. Everything is quiet. Everything is okay.

The tip of my tongue darts against hers, and I groan accidentally, yanking her even closer as her legs part around my knees so she’s nearly in my lap. She tastes just as I expected. Sweet and fruity, with a hint of mint to cover the smoke she has now and again. Stacey Rhodes tastes fucking divine. Addictive.

I eliminate any space between us until she’s sitting on me, causing heat to build at the base of my spine. Harder than a rock, I try to keep her at a safe distance, so I don’t freak her out.

Her fingers bury into my hair, tugging it as her tongue moves against mine. She’s devouring me, and I’m letting her. Hungrily, we swallow each sigh we drop, and I’m getting fucking harder. Especially when she brackets her hips at my waist.

I can feel her smile against my mouth.

And then… butterflies. I have fucking butterflies while kissing someone. What the fuck is wrong with me?

“Hey,” Base says, hitting the fabric of the tent. “Will we keep playing without you?”

Stacey pulls away first, falling from my lap, and I’m certain I hear her squeak. “Oh shit,” she mutters. “We’re coming!”

“Too much info, Rhodes.”

From what I can see, her pupils are dilated, her cheeks flushed, and her chest is rising and falling uncontrollably.

I want to kiss her again, but as she gets to her feet and hurries out without giving me any words, the bubble bursts, and the moment is gone.