mouth wider and I slide my tongue in as far as it will go, running it along the inside of her mouth, tasting her, breathing her in. Her

hands move around my midsection to my back and she holds onto

me.

I want to stop it, but I’ve lost all control. I move my hand

away from the wall and the other away from her back and quickly

glide my palms down her side to her thighs. Spreading my fingers

around her legs, I pick her up and she latches onto me, crossing

her ankles behind my back.

Her bottom lip trembles as I gently nip at it and I’m

reminded of how innocent she is and how I’m the only one she’s

ever trusted to touch her like this. And that’s got to count for

something. Because Callie is the most stunning, incredible, kind,

loving person I’ve ever met.

It has to mean something that she cares for me.

Callie

I forgot what it was like, how scary it is, but equally as

wonderful, to be touched, felt, held by him when he’s letting go of

his pain. At first I have no idea what’s going on. One minute we’re

talking about sushi and the next he’s dragging me away from the

beach. I start to ask him why, but he silences my thoughts with a

brush of his lips and all thoughts about life—about

everything—vanish. He’s kissing me and not pulling away and that

has to mean something, like we might have just stumbled forward

from our standstill.

He tastes like mint and need, as he overpowers me with his

tongue. His scruffy face is like sandpaper against my skin as I

clutch onto him, wanting him to touch me all over and terrified by

the thought of him ever letting go. I’d latch onto him endlessly if I could, so I know he’ll be okay—we’ll be okay.

He has to be thinking the same thing too because he picks

me up and presses me close to him. My legs are like magnets and

attach to his back. He lets out a deep, throaty groan and I’m

shocked by the images that flash through my mind, back in the

garage, nervous, but eager to be with him in every way possible. I

want to breathe, be alive again.

I open my mouth wider and his tongue seeks every square

inch of my mouth. I’m shaking from head to toe and it only gets

worse when he nips at my lip, dragging his teeth along the inside

of it.

“Kayden,” I moan and fasten my arms around his neck. I pull

him against me and he crushes us against the side of the building.

His hands start to stray down my body and my hips curve into him.

Smothering heat sizzles off our bodies as our tongues melt and

twine together. A shot of ecstasy shoots up between my legs as I

feel his hardness pressed against me and the sensation amplifies

when his hand cups my breast. I forget where we are and how hard

it is to exist sometimes. I just want him. So badly. I want him to

hold me forever.

But then his lips are leaving me and he sets me back down

just as quickly as he picked me up. We slam to a standstill again

and I try not to fall apart. My lips feel swollen, my lungs are

heaving ravenously, and everywhere his hands touched, brushed,

and grazed tingles, and all I can think about is doing more with

him.

His emerald eyes are glossy and he pants erratically, looking

away from me to the beach and out to the side of the building. “I

shouldn’t have done that.”

I shake my head and place a hand on his cheek. “Kayden,

look at me.”

He blinks his eyes against the sunlight and then forces his

eyes to meet mine. “Callie, I can’t be doing this. We need to be…

we need to be just friends.”

“Just friends?” I frown because I don’t want to be friends. But

at this moment it’s not about what I want. It’s what he needs.

“That’s what you really need?”

He nods his head, with his jaw clamped tightly. “For now…”

He swallows hard as he stuffs his hands into his pockets, the

muscles in his lean arms wound tight. “And this isn’t about you. I

promise.” He’s not looking at me, but just over my shoulder. “It’s

me.”

I bite at my lip, considering my next words carefully.

“Whatever you need, Kayden. I’m here. You can talk to me.”

He conclusively meets my gaze and there’s a spark within his

pupils that I haven’t seen since we reunited. “I know that.”

A smile touches my lips, and daringly, I reach forward and

lace my fingers through his. “Let’s go get something to eat, before

Seth ends up throwing a tantrum. He’s been complaining the last

hour about how hungry he is.”

Kayden nods, his fingers twitching as I stroke my thumb

across the palm of his hand for reasons that are unclear to me.

“Okay.” He fakes a smile and I hate that he’s faking it in front of

me. It means he’s closed off, and I don’t want that. I want him to

trust me like I trust him. I owe him that much.

I owe him a lot more.

I owe him everything.

* * *

An hour later we’re seated out on the deck of a restaurant

that’s right by the ocean. The air smells like salt and there’s a light breeze that kisses my cheeks and blows strands of my hair into my

eyes. The sun is lowering and the heat is a little bit more bearable.

There are a few people sitting at the round wooden tables

scattered around the deck, but for the most part it’s quiet.

The four of us are sitting silently as we read our menus.

Kayden’s seated next to me and he has his knee resting against

mine. I’m not sure if he notices or not, but I don’t dare move,

afraid that he’ll move it—pull away again.

“So how about some sushi?” Seth jokes, shattering the

silence. “Or some crab.”

Luke rolls his brown eyes as he pops his knuckles. “I think I’m

going to go with a burger.”

Kayden is biting his lip and I watch him as he reads over his

menu, fantasizing about his mouth back on mine. He has his hand

tucked under the table and he keeps flicking the rubber bands on

his wrists over and over. By the sound of the snap, it has to hurt,

but I don’t dare try to stop him. If that’s what he needs, then it’s

what he needs.

“I think I’m going to have the same.” Kayden closes his menu

and places it into the middle of the table beside the ketchup and

mustard rack.

It goes silent again and Seth starts texting on his phone

while Luke stares out at the beach to the side of us. The waiter

finally comes and takes our orders and brings us our drinks. We sip

on our straws quietly, with the rush of the waves filling up the

empty miles of space between our thoughts.

“That’s it,” Seth abruptly says and pounds his hand down

onto the table. All three of us jump, startled, and Kayden almost