I threw my arms around his neck, purse still in hand, half to keep me from buckling and half to get closer. His embrace tightened and he blew a soft breath through his nose and the warm air rolled across my face and all I could think about was some foggy memory of just a few minutes ago of Maddy saying that I was in denial, and me being in denial about it.
Then he pulled away. Just… stopped.
“What happened?” I panted. “Why’d you stop?”
“That’s all you get,” he said, his voice low.
I blinked at him. “What? Why?”
“Because I said so,” he said, looking at my lips. “And no means no.”
Then he unwrapped my arms from his neck, held my cheeks in his hands, gave me another forehead kiss, and left.
I stood there, holding Maddy’s purse, staring after him.
“Justin!”
“I’ll see you next week. Call Maddy to come pick you up.”
I gawked. “Just so you know, that kiss doesn’t count!” I yelled. “It has to be open-mouthed.”
“Oh, I know.” He grinned at me over his shoulder while he scanned his wristband to let himself back into the building.
I crossed my arms. “What exactly is your strategy here? To make me beg?”
He stopped in the open door. “Would you? Beg? It might help.”
I gasped. “I hate you.”
He started laughing. “I don’t think so. Good night, Emma.”
And then he left me in the side parking lot at Great Wolf Lodge.
CHAPTER 25 JUSTIN
Emma: In case you’re wondering, you are the asshole.
I typed into my phone, grinning.
Me: I think what you meant to say was that I am an exceptional kisser and you miss me very much.
She typed for a long time, but only a quick message came through.
Emma: You are an exceptional kisser. But you are still the asshole.
I was in an uncomfortable hotel bed at a water park. My mom went to prison today and I officially took custody of my three siblings. And I still smiled myself to sleep.
CHAPTER 26 EMMA
What is it about getting rejected that makes you want them more?” I asked, typing into my charting computer. We were at Royaume at the nurses’ station on the Med Surg floor.
“You’re still talking about this?” Maddy said from the computer next to me. “It’s been over a week. And anyway, he didn’t reject you, he just didn’t kiss you as much as you wanted, which shouldn’t be a big deal since he’s not a lifestyle match and all that.”
She smirked, and I narrowed my eyes at her.
“That must have been some kiss if you keep thinking about it,” she mumbled.
It was.
I’d played it over in my head a thousand times. The turn, the pull into his chest, the split second where his eyes had locked with mine before they dropped to my mouth.
His lips were so soft. I’d liked that he’d smelled like toothpaste and Downy, like he’d just washed the hoodie he’d been wearing. I’d liked how tightly he’d held me to him. How his arms had felt wrapped around me. But mostly I kept thinking about it because the way he’d grabbed me and kissed me felt like he’d been waiting all day for a chance to do it. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized I’d been too.
The kiss was a sure thing. I knew it was coming. But it was one thing to expect something, and something very else to long for it. I’d been longing for his kiss. I’d been hoping he’d kiss me the whole time we were at the mall. Every time we were somewhere that gave us a few seconds alone and out of sight, I’d been wishing he’d lean in.
“You okay?” Maddy asked.
I’d stopped typing and was staring blankly at my screen.
“Yeah. Fine,” I said, picking up on the chart where I left off. “I just think Justin and I have some sexual tension we need to work out.”
“And how you gonna do that?” she asked, giving me a look.
I gave her one back. “How do you think?”
“You think he’s gonna be cool with a hookup? I don’t get the sense he’s a one-night-stand kind of guy.”
“All guys are one-night-stand kind of guys,” I said, typing.
