Bad Romeo Christmas: A Starcrossed Anthology (Starcrossed #4)(77)

Jack freezes for a second, shock and disbelief on his face. Then, he breaks into a blinding grin. "Seriously? You love me?"

Zoe gives him a wary look. "Yes, and if you dare make a joke out of this, Jackson Avery, I'm going to rip off your balls, and I'm not talking about those hideous slippers."

"Oh, sweetheart." Jack leans down and kisses her tenderly. "I couldn't make a joke right now if you paid me. I've been in love with you for years, you beautiful idiot. I was just waiting for you to realize you loved me back."

He kisses her again, and for the third time tonight, I feel like the epitome of a third wheel. I have no idea why people feel comfortable enough to make out in front of me, but I wish like hell they'd stop. It's bad enough I'm here without Angel. Having to witness everyone else having mouth sex is goddamn torture.

"So I guess that means you're not kissing me at midnight, then, Zoe?" She moans and grabs Jack's ass. "No? Okay, then."

I leave them behind, and when I get back out into the ballroom, Marco is on the dance floor making a speech. There's only a couple of minutes left before the countdown, and I'd like to find my friends before then.

The phone buzzes in my hand, and I breathe a sigh of relief to see Angel's name.

"Hey, beautiful," I say. "I'm so glad you called me back."

"I got your message." She doesn't sound angry anymore which I'll take as a good sign.

"Good. I'm so sorry about earlier. I was a total dick. I had no right to say those things to you."

"It's okay. I shouldn't have defended Julian so much. He is too flirty considering I have a boyfriend. And after our fight I got to thinking you were right. If a girl was all over you like that and sent you flowers, I'd want to rip her tits off."

"Yeah?"

I can hear the smile in her voice when she says, "Yeah. You're mine, and I'll fight anyone who tries to take you away from me."

"Ladies and gentlemen," Marco says, "the magic hour is upon us, so grab your loved ones, and let's count down to the new year! Ten! Nine! Eight!"

Shit.

The whole crowd joins in, and I hold the phone close to my mouth and yell so Angel can hear me. "They're doing the countdown! Hold the line, okay?"

I push past people as I try to find my friends. It would suck if I didn't get to them in time.

"Seven ... six ... five ... four ..."

At last, I see Elissa, Liam, Cassie, and Ethan over by the windows. I do my best to hurry, but people keep getting in my way, and by the time I make it to them, the countdown is done.

"HAPPY NEW YEEEEEEAR!"

People clap and cheer and scream so loudly, the noise is deafening, and even though I'm only a few feet away from Elissa, she can't hear me call her name. When I get close enough to tap her on the shoulder and wish her a happy new year, she's already macking on Liam like there's no tomorrow. Cassie and Ethan are no better.

I sigh and look around. "Happy new year to me, I guess." All around me, mobsters are kissing policewomen, Harley Quinn is kissing Batman, even Sonny and Cher are having a passionate reunion. Everyone seems to be getting their new year's liplock except for me.

I put the phone back up to my ear. "Angel? You still there?"

"Yes," she says. "I'm deaf, but I'm here. What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing. Just standing in the middle of a huge tongue orgy. Not feeling left out at all."

She makes a sympathetic sound. "Aw, honey. I'm sorry."

"You should be. I'm the only miserable * who doesn't get to kiss someone tonight."

"Now, that's not true. You kissed Zoe a few minutes ago. Surely that counts."

My whole body tenses. "What did you just say?"

"I said, you kissed Zoe. Looked like a good one, too. If you love me, you'd better make sure mine is better." Goosebumps crawl over my entire body when she adds, "Now come find me, and bring your sweet, talented mouth."

Everything seems to go into slow motion as I turn and search the crowd. My heart pounds double time when I see Sexy Uhura standing a dozen yards away in the middle of the dancefloor. She smiles and pulls off a dark wig to reveal bright auburn hair, and I'm so goddamn happy to see her, I get a lump in my throat.

She beckons to me with one finger, and that's all I need to unfreeze my limbs. I stride over to her, cape fluttering behind me, and when I reach her, I cup her face with both hands and kiss her like I've never kissed her before. It's the perfect image of the hero finally getting the girl.

I grunt as she sets my whole body aflame with a single touch, and when our mouths open and tongues slide, the fireworks inside me put Times Square to shame. Unlike when I was kissing Zoe, this one I feel in every single molecule.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask as I cup her f*cking gorgeous face. "You don't finish for another week."

"There was a fire on the set. Production is delayed until they can rebuild it. I got in this afternoon."

"So, you've been lying to me on the phone all night?"

"It wasn't lying so much as misdirecting you. I didn't want to ruin the surprise."

"So, the boat trip –?"

"Happened a few days ago."