Never Standing Still (The Never Duet #1)(17)

I wiggled in his arms, trying to escape, but after struggling and writhing, I came to understand that his very strong arms weren’t going to let me go until he was good and ready. So, I did what any self-respecting woman would do in my position: I begged.

“Riot, no. Please put me down, please!” He was holding me near one of the bigger plumes of water, teasing me, inching me closer to the strikingly cold water. “Please, please, please….”

“What’ll you give me to let you go?”

“Anything!”

“Anything?”

“Anything. Please,” I continued begging. Then his mouth was pressed right up against my ear.

“You’ll kiss me?”

My breath, which had previously been fast and frantic, stalled in my lungs. I could still hear the laughter of all the children playing around us, could feel the mist of the cool water being sprayed up into the air, but mostly, I felt my heartbeat pounding in my chest. He wanted to kiss me.

“Kal?”

Oh, my. He’d used my nickname. My head was nodding before I realized it and he was quick to respond, setting me down on the ground again, and then placing his hands on my waist, spinning me around. We were chest to chest, my wet shirt pressed against his, and my hands came to land on him. My eyes flitted down to the wet t-shirt hanging on his pecs and my hands absently roamed over him.

His finger came to my chin, tipped my face up to his, and again he was silhouetted by the sun. Then, even though I didn’t think it possible, he stepped even closer to me, sliding his hand up my jaw and back into my wet hair, gripping the back of my neck.

He was serious about this kiss.

My hands slid around him, running over his rib cage and I pulled him in to me.

His face moved down, slowly coming closer to mine, his eyes darting back and forth between my lips and my eyes. I couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t see anything, and was numb to the cold water lapping at my feet. All I was aware of was his hands on me and his mouth moving toward mine. When he was just a breath away, my eyes closed and I prepared to feel his lips on mine.

What I felt, instead, was a wave of frigid water splash onto my face.

I was startled and I sputtered, trying to breathe through the water running down my face. I laughed, only because I didn’t know what else to do, but when my eyes opened I noticed Riot was just as startled and drenched as I was.

I looked to my left and saw two small girls, both with empty buckets, staring at us and giggling. I laughed again, because obviously these two girls had doused us with water. Suddenly Riot took off after the little girls, chasing them, threatening in a totally non-threatening way to get them back. The girls were laughing, running away from him, and he was chasing them slowly enough to never catch them. Every few feet he would bend down, scooping up some water in his hand, and throw it in their direction.

It was, possibly, the cutest thing I had ever witnessed.

I stood there, dumbfounded, as Riot, wet shirt and all, chased two giggling girls around a fountain.

He circled around again, the girls screaming and laughing, and as he ran past me, he splashed water at me again. So, I sighed then I took off after him.



We were both spent, soaked, and quiet. We had found a patch of grass right along the waterfront, lain down, and set out to let the sun dry us. My eyes were closed, face warm, and I could tell I had the most ridiculous smile on my face. I remembered Riot’s face when he realized I’d joined forces with the little girls, whose names I learned were Gracie and Amelia. We spent the good part of an hour chasing and splashing him before their mom had told them it was time to go. Five minutes into our water fight, Gracie and Amelia’s mom had told them to “leave those poor people alone, girls. They didn’t come here to play with children.” Riot had very politely told the mom that he didn’t mind playing, and that he needed help dousing me besides.

So then it was on.

I could hear people on bikes whizzing by, dogs barking, people talking, the heavy footfalls of joggers, and it was a calming symphony. I was absolutely relaxed, carefree, and happy, lying there on a patch of grass in the middle of the city with Riot.

“You almost kissed me,” I heard Riot rasp from his spot next to me on the grass. I suddenly went from absolutely relaxed to acutely aware of the zings of electricity his voice sent through me. I had almost kissed him, but only because he was about to kiss me, and his lips were so close, and so full….

“So?” I choked out.

“I was just pointing it out. Technically, I think you still owe me a kiss.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Well, letting you go was contingent upon the kiss you promised me. I let you go, but you never kissed me, therefore, ergo, heretofore, you owe me a kiss.”

“Heretofore?” I giggled.

“Are you laughing at me now?”

I didn’t answer, but I did continue to laugh.

“You wound me,” he said, pretending to be offended.

“I think that if there’s anything that happened today that should wound you, it should have been those two little girls totally owning you.”

“I went easy on them.”

“Sure.”

I heard movement next to me and turned to see Riot rolled to his side, elbow propped up, with his temple resting in his hand, looking at me with a smile in his shiny caramel eyes. “So, do I get to keep you for dinner?”