Untouched (Bay Falls High, #1)(40)

Mom rambled. Strung out. Looking for a fix. Coming off the crap that almost took her life. All of this I had seen before. When she’d get super mad, super sick, super mean, lash out, be paranoid… and then eventually just fall right back into it all.

“Are you even fucking listening to me?” she yelled through the phone. “Are you going to fucking leave me too? Knew you would.”

“Shut up,” I whispered.

“What?”

“I said…” I cleared my throat. “Shut up.”

“Real nice thing to say to me,” Mom said.

I stared forward and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Barr standing in the parking lot, leaning against his SUV, smoking a cigarette.

The stupid, cocky asshole.

Somehow making this happen.

And it wasn’t like I had a mother who would have an ounce of rationality to her.

She kept screaming into the phone.

Even as I hung up on her.

I wasn’t even sure if she was allowed to have her phone while she was at the rehab place. And I didn't want to know how she got access to it.

But I did want to know how Barr pulled this off. Who he really was. Who they all were.

And all it was going to take was one little kiss.





I walked toward Barr and he acted as though he didn’t see me. Just casually turning this head left to right. Smoking his cigarette.

Douchebag bad ass…

And I was going to kiss him.

I was going to kiss him so fucking hard he’d blow his load standing there and that would be that. He could push at me and I would push right fucking back.

This was now my time to send a message.

As I closed in on Barr, I licked my lips.

I needed to jump up at him. There was no reaching his lips, even if I was on my toes. The element of surprise wasn’t on my side. But that was fine. He was probably thinking I was going to smack him. Which he deserved too. That would come later.

I was maybe a foot from him when I reached for him.

I was going to grab his shirt and pull.

But Barr being Barr… he moved faster than me.

In one swift move he flicked his cigarette away, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and grabbed me by my waist.

He picked me up like I was a feather and turned, pinning me against the side of his SUV.

“Yeah?” he asked with his honey gold eyes ripping through me like a wave to a sand castle.

“Fuck,” I said.

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his.

They were soft, maybe perfect, but that didn’t matter.

I pulled back and then kissed him again.

Shit, no. Ti… no…

I went for a third one and Barr took over.

Fuck.

His hands raced up my body, holding my sides. Not enough to touch my breasts but close enough to leave me wanting it.

His lips parted and mine did the same to match him.

I tasted smoke.

It was disgusting.

Absolutely disgusting… but I wanted more.

The way he kissed was nothing I knew could exist.

My hands touched his broad chest.

Then I made fists and pounded to get him away.

Barr broke the kiss without hesitation.

I licked my lips again and tasted him.

“Warned you,” he whispered.

“I fucking hate you. And I will always fucking hate you.”

“I know that,” he said.

He moved at me, kissing me again.

This time it was harder. It was sloppier. It was…

Fuck.

I moved my hands to his face and clawed at his perfect cheekbones.

I wanted to rip all the rich assholeness out of him and step on it.

But he was so good at kissing.

I hated myself for thinking it was well worth it.

Because it wasn’t.

This wasn’t worth it.

This was my message to send. Not the other way around.

I broke the kiss this time, turning my head away.

I gasped for a breath.

The tip of his nose touched my neck and I lifted my shoulder.

“Get the fuck away from me, Barr,” I said. “You got what you wanted. Now fix what you did.”

Again without hesitation, he listened to me.

He dropped me to my feet.

But I was still stuck between him and his SUV.

He looked down at me.

I hated that he was so sexy. In that rich yet dirty boy kind of way. It was so gross that he smoked yet I was the dumb girl attracted to it. Against any and all judgement.

Not to mention everything he did and said.

My mind started to play the songs he had been playing on the piano.

There was a story behind his eyes.

But it wasn’t my story to get.

Barr lowered his mouth down and I put my head back, accepting the kiss.

Towering over me, his tongue dipping into my mouth. Dirty to clean. Mixing everything together.

He made fists and punched them to the side of his SUV.

Then he lowered his head and broke the kiss.

I smelled his hair.

Shampoo and cigarette smoke.

My knees were weak but I was still standing.

“I’ll take care of it, love," he whispered. “Now walk the fuck away before I do something else.”

“I’ll walk away on my own,” I said. “You were the one who begged for a kiss from the dirty, poor girl with the junkie mom. Remember that.”