Kiss and Break Up (Magnolia Cove, #1)(73)

“Does it matter?” I licked my lips. He had nice eyes. Dark, depthless, and framed in a thick layer of black lashes that matched his cropped hair and the stubble peppering his jaw and thick neck.

His thin lips met, then opened as he smiled, flashing me a glimpse of his teeth. “I suppose it doesn’t.”

I could hardly hear him, and I’d lost interest in dancing. I crooked a finger at him to follow me, knowing he would. I was probably a sure thing to him, and that was precisely what I wanted him to think. We moved to the stairs, and the sight of Raven talking to a caramel-skinned guy who sometimes rode with them had my ankle almost rolling.

He looked up, his brows rising and my name on his lips.

Not wanting to cause any alarm, I waved, smiling easily, then continued up the stairs.

“Know him?” the guy trailing me asked as we neared the top.

I grabbed the railing as a group of guys raced by, throwing themselves down the stairs and leaving us in a dust of laughter. “Raven? Yeah. You?”

He shook his head. “New to town. I haven’t seen you at school.”

“I go to Magnolia Cove Prep.” I took another swig of whiskey as we meandered by a couple of girls making out in the hall, then headed toward the upstairs living room.

The guy said nothing, and sick of calling him guy, I gave up the lame attempt at remaining mysterious. “I’m Peggy.”

His shirt pulled taut at his arms as he swung them and surveyed the half full room before looking at me. A smile bloomed as he said, “Todd.”

We sat on the floor by a long-arched window, and I listened as he told me about where he’d grown up and how he’d had to move here due to his mom’s job transfer. She was a nurse, and he was hoping to head to medical school after college.

“What about you?”

I’d kept drinking as he’d talked, my head spinning as I stared at plastic cups getting kicked around on the marble floor in front of us. I hadn’t wanted to know about his life, but as he spoke, I found his deep voice a nice fit for the numbing taking place inside my head.

“Me?” I asked, my head swaying a little too far to the left.

He frowned at the bottle between my legs. “You’ve had a fair bit of that.”

“It’s good.” I took another sip, then offered it to him. He declined by lifting his own bottle. “And I want to get into computer science. Design some games.”

He laughed. “Whoa, that’s awesome.”

“Yup.” I popped the word. “Can we make out now?”

Once again, he laughed, then coughed. “Oh, wait. You’re serious?”

I nodded, licking my lips as I tried to build the excitement by staring at his. I could kiss him. I wanted to. I planned to kiss a lot of boys before I ever let another one close enough to ruin me so completely again.

Setting his drink down, he glanced around the room, and I did too, but from our vantage, all I saw were legs and more trash rolling around on the floor.

Warm skin met my skin, turning my face, and then his forehead was almost touching mine, the scent of alcohol heavy on our breaths. “Are you going to remember kissing me tomorrow?”

My lids felt heavy when I blinked. “It depends how well you do it.”

Eyes blazed and then closed as his mouth melded to mine. He took the challenge seriously, his lips firm and coaxing mine into action.

A growl rippled around us, and the fact I’d evoked that sound from him already had my hand reaching for his face. Until another set of hands pulled me from the floor, and I clued in.

Todd hadn’t made that noise. It’d come from the furious cussing wall of man who was slinging me over his shoulder.

“Dash!” I screamed, ramming my fists into his leather clad back as he hollered at Todd.

“Do you have a death wish, motherfucker?”

“She didn’t say she had a boyfriend.” A pause, then, “I wouldn’t hold her like that too long. She’s had a lot to drink.”

Dash’s grip on my thighs only tightened, and I feared it’d bruise if he didn’t let me go.

My stomach sloshed, and my head swam. “Don’t tell me what to do, or I’ll rip out your idiot tongue and feed it to your ass.” Then we were bouncing downstairs as I continued to scream.

No one stopped him. No one even tried to help me. They all parted like the Red Sea, and it wasn’t until I was thrown into the back seat of his car and the doors shut that he said a word to me.

“It’s like you want me to wind up in prison.” The engine started as I slapped my hands around on the door, trying to open it. “Locked. You’re not getting out of this car until I let you out, so quit it.”

“Argh.” I flopped back onto the seat as he sped down the street. The world was upside down, streetlights and rooftops dancing by the windows. “What are you even doing?” I shouted the words.

“Taking your ass home.” His tone was more curt than usual, and I heard leather creak as though he was clenching the wheel too tight.

“I didn’t want to be rescued. I was having fun.” I forced myself to sit up, realizing that was a bad idea when everything took its time to take shape before my blurred eyes. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Yours, but apparently, it’s taking some time for you to get the memo.”