The Last First Kiss (The Do-Over Pact Book 2)

by Rocklyn Ryder

  I kneel down in front of her so she doesn't have to crane her neck to look up at me, and I set the empty bottle of wine on the table so I can take her hands in mine.

  "But I came back for you," I tell her firmly.

  "The farther I got from you, the more everything felt wrong again.

  "I was headed down to Baja and one night, I was camped out in New Mexico watching the moon come up over the desert. It was incredible, Paige. I was exactly where I wanted to be, doing what I wanted to do, and I hated it. I never felt so far away from home in my life."

  "Paige, I haven't felt like any place has been home for me since I moved out of Mom and Dad's."

  Paige nods in understanding.

  "Yeah, you told me. I remember that," she says.

  "So Landsburg is home?" she asks.

  I shake my head slowly, "No, Paige, you are. You're my home."

  Her eyes go misty but her face doesn't light up like I'd hope for.

  "Baby," I love that she lets her hands rest in mine on top of her knees as I continue to kneel in front of her. I love that she doesn't flinch when I call her baby. "You're what's been missing. You're the thing I've been looking for that keeps me grounded and gives me purpose. You're my lightning rod, Paige, and--" I reach into my pocket and quickly drop the little box into her hand, "--and I know you've got a lot of reasons to call me crazy but I think deep down, you know this belongs on your finger."

  That went a lot better than I expected.

  I thought I was going to be a nervous wreck but I feel nothing but calm.

  This is totally the right thing for us.

  Now I just have to wait and see if Paige knows it as much as I do.

  Paige

  Holy shit.

  He just dropped a ring box in my hand.

  Is Spencer proposing to me?

  Damn right I have a lot of reasons to call him crazy. What the hell is he thinking?

  What the hell am I thinking?

  I should be throwing this box back at him and stomping out the front door while telling him off.

  How many late night talks did we have last summer? Sitting in the gazebo in the park. He knows my whole life story.

  He knows how poor we were when I was little, before things finally got better for my parents when we moved to Landsburg when I was eleven.

  He knows about Brad and about how hard I took that break up.

  He knows all about my party years through college.

  He knows all about the do-over pact...and why I'm committed to it.

  He knows what I want in life and he knows where I'm vulnerable.

  My head warns me that this could be a really mean trick.

  My heart squeezes tightly like it's afraid to beat for fear it might break.

  My hands turn the little burgundy box over and open it.

  It's my ring.

  The one I showed him from my Pinterest "hope chest" board one night when we killed a bottle of premixed margarita while watching the meteor shower from the roof of his van while it was still parked behind the Boat Dock Cafe.

  It's an cushion cut solitaire in a simple white gold band.

  The gasp is entirely involuntary.

  I mean, for starters-- Spencer just handed me a diamond ring and told me I'm his lightning rod, but this diamond isn't exactly summer-waiter salary sized. It's gotta be a couple carats.

  I should be freaking out and the fact that I'm not is freaking me out.

  "I-- Uh-- This-- "

  None of the words I make seem right.

  "Are you--" High? Terminally ill? Out of your freaking mind? A lot of possibilities come to mind. "-- serious?"

  Spencer is still kneeling in front of me, watching me like he expects me to run away.

  "I know you want to be married," he explains to me softly as he takes the ring box out of my hands, "I know you want a family and a home."

  He pulls the ring out of its cushion and holds it up for me to see.

  "And I know that everything in my life has led me to you and that without you, I am hopelessly lost."

  I let him slide the ring over my finger.

  "I know all about the pact and why you made it," he tells me. "I think you know I want you, Paige."

  "Spence."

  My brain suddenly-- fortunately-- reboots.

  "If this is some sort of--"

  He shushes me quickly.

  "I will take you to the courthouse as soon as they open tomorrow and marry you and we get you knocked up before lunch."

  He grins that obnoxiously adorable grin with the one dimple dotting his cheek. It's the grin that made me swoon when his eyes met mine the first time I saw him. It's the grin that makes my tummy do flips every time I see it. It's the grin that makes my brain go all fuzzy and start considering this crazy proposal of his.

  "Or," he goes on before I can say anything coherent, "we can wait. We can wait as long as it takes for you to be comfortable with walking down an aisle just to get stuck with me for the rest of your life. We can wait for as long as it takes you to plan your dream wedding. We can wait till we find our house and get it furnished and decorated just the way you want it.

  "I absolutely do not expect you to break the pact on another promise. But I gotta admit I really hope you don't hold out on me too long."

  That grin again.

  It's either very convincing or he drugged the wine, because I still have the ring on.

  "I love you," I whisper, "but you know how hard things were for us before Dad got the job and moved us here."

  Spencer nods and caresses my hand.

  "I know all my friends think I'm just spoiled and kinda shallow but you know how important it is to me to make sure that my own kids never know what that's like.

  "Spence, how are we going to afford a house? A nice house? A house that's big enough for a family and doesn't need to be completely rebuilt?

  "Adulting takes more than a haircut." I say, sadly shaking my head at him, "And this ring is gorgeous, but I'd rather spend the money on a house than start married life in debt over a piece of jewelry."

  "So that's a yes?"

  Damn that grin.

  And those gorgeous hazel eyes.

  And the dark waves that the short cut released, begging me to run my fingers through them.

  "I don't know, Spence."

  "The ring is paid for, Paige," he informs me seriously.

  "We will be putting down about forty percent on a new house, assuming we're staying in Landsburg and you still want something newer on a large lot."

  My jaw falls open.

  "And based on my starting salary, we should have no problem opting for a fifteen year mortgage."

  "Salary?"

  "You didn't think I cut my hair to save on shampoo, did you?"

  "You're not going back to work at the cafe?"

  I guess I thought that was his plan.

  "Hell no, Babe," Spence's face lights up and he pulls me out of my chair as he stands back up.

  "My wife likes nice things and she deserves them," he tells me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close.

  "I'm not your wife yet," I caution, even though I'm pretty sure I'm going to take him up on his insane offer.

  "Yes you are," he whispers, his lips dangerously close to mine, "the paperwork is just a formality."

  And then his lips are touching mine.

  Just like they did that night in September. Right after the Labor Day town picnic when we were packing up while Reagan and Molly drove a too-drunk-to-drive Bailey back to her house and left us unsupervised for twenty minutes.

  This time I don't duck.

  I let him press his mouth to mine and I part my lips against his.

  I move my tongue along his and let him take it from soft and curious to deep and hungry, losing myself in the taste of him, the smell of his cologne, the warmth of his chest against mine, the strength of his arms around my waist...the hardness of his cock pressing into my stomach in a way that makes
me ache to take this farther than I planned to go.

  Spencer

  "I'll walk you out."

  Breaking that kiss is the hardest thing I've ever done, but I swore months ago that I'd never push Paige to break her pact.

  I know how committed I am to making sure she gets the do-over she deserves but I need Paige to know this isn't an elaborate bluff. That I'm not going to change my mind as soon as she gives in.

  The worst thing in the world would be for her to look back on our first time together and regret it like so many other guys she trusted when they promised her a future only to bail on her.

  So even though the chemistry is off the fucking charts and I can feel her body yielding to mine without any pressure from me whatsoever, I back up and take a deep breath.

  "Oh. Yeah, sure," she says sullenly.

  The look on her face kills me.

  "Hey, Paige, baby," I take her back in my arms, this time to hold her tenderly, "you know I want you, right?"

  She looks up at me and nods but her eyes look unsure.

  "Baby, believe me," I drop my mouth to her ear, "my cock is so hungry to fuck your pretty little pussy. I've been thinking about it since the first day I met you-- remember?"

  She laughs nervously and wiggles in my arms just enough to make her breasts sway against my chest.

  Damn near makes me lose my mind.

  "You and all your girls were sitting at the big round table by the front window at the cafe?"

  She nods and her hair tickles my nose.

  It smells like lavender and something else, maybe rosemary.

  "And you walked up just as I was yelling about how nobody's still a virgin," she says with another nervous giggle.

  "You were blushing so hard when you saw me looking at you," I say.

  "I wanted to crawl under the table," she adds.

  "I could not get you off my mind from that moment on," I stop whispering and pull back to look her in the eye, "I have imagined you naked in so many positions I could teach the Kama Sutra some new things."

  "Oh."

  I love it when she blushes. She blushes delicately, just a soft pink that colors her cheeks and the tops of her ears. It's the way her eyes go wide and guilty when she blushes that really gives away what she's thinking.

  "This is not about sex, Paige. Believe me, I want to fuck you. I want to bend you over and I want to watch you riding me and I want to get on top of you and throw your legs over my shoulders but we have the rest of our lives to find all the ways that make you come."

  The more I say, the harder she breathes and the harder she breathes, the more her tits rub against my chest. My dick would really like to get between those beauties, but this speech is just as much for him as it is for Paige.

  She nods and looks up at me with a shy little smile teasing the corners of her lips that makes her look entirely less than innocent.

  "I guess I better start my yoga classes back up."

  She bats those long lashes at me and runs the tip of her tongue across her upper lip.

  Imagining Paige in yoga pants all down dog in the living room pulls a growl out of my chest as I nip at her ear.

  "Damn girl," I tell her, "I guess I better start working out too, I don't want you to be disappointed after I make you wait for me."

  Just like that, that feeling I've always had with her is back-- like we're old friends who've known each other forever. Joking around with each other while I walk her out to her car.

  We could curl up together on the hand-me-down sofa I picked up at the thrift store and watch a movie but as much as that sounds like a great way to end the evening, I know it'll be too much temptation for both of us now that we aren't dancing around our feelings for each other anymore.

  "I'll see you tomorrow?" I ask as I hold the door open on her little white BMW 3 series and wait for her to get settled in behind the wheel.

  She looks at the ring that's still on her finger, exactly where it belongs, and then up at me.

  "I guess so," she says hesitantly.

  "It wasn't supposed to be a question, Babe," I explain as I crouch down so I'm eye level with her, "I will see you tomorrow."

  She smiles and nods.

  "You need to tell me when I get to change your name, and we need to call your buddy Bailey about house hunting. Got it?"

  "You're really serious, aren't you?"

  "I've never been more serious in my life, Paige," I assure her. "Everything in my life has come into focus since I met you. I could never see my future before and now it's in perfect focus."

  "Spence," she shakes her head slightly, "I love you."

  Hearing that lights up my whole soul.

  "But I need some time to think about this. This is just-- so much, so fast."

  I try not to let her see how much that hurts.

  It only makes sense.

  While I've been off in the desert realizing I can't live without this woman, she's been going on with her life thinking she was never going to see me again.

  This might seem a little more out of nowhere to her than it is for me.

  But dammit, I know I'm not the only one that spent last summer falling in love while no one was looking.

  Paige and I are soul mates and she knows it as well as I do.

  "Whatever you need to do," I answer, "but believe me, Paige, tonight was the last first kiss you're ever going to get, understand?"

  In the dome light's dim glow, I see the blush creep across her cheeks again and the way she smirks makes me think she likes the way that sounds-- I know I do.

  "I'll see you tomorrow, Spencer," she tells me with a little sass back in her voice.

  Then she leans over and kisses me goodnight before I step back and let her drive off into the night.

  Damn, I can't wait for our last first everything else together.

  Paige

  Naturally, I drive straight to Abbey's house.

  "OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!"

  As soon as Abbey opened the door to my desperate knocks, demanding what the hell I wanted at ten o'clock on a school night, all I had to do was lift up my left hand and let the ring answer for me.

  Now she can't stop oh my Godding.

  "Ohhhh. Myyyyy. GAAAAWWWD."

  She yanks my hand-- and me with it-- closer to the lamp and holds the ring under the light.

  "Oh my God."

  Her initial exclamation has come down to an awed reverence as she turns my finger so the light bounces off the facets.

  "Shit."

  Well that's a new word.

  "I'm gonna need booze for this," she declares firmly, dropping my hand and making a hasty retreat for the kitchen.

  "Oh my God."

  I hear her break back into her mantra as she opens the fridge.

  "Paige," she gives me a cautious glare as she sets down a couple of glasses and fills them both from the opened bottle of wine she just pulled out of the fridge, "that is not a promise ring."

  "Nope."

  I grab the glass of cold white wine and try not to chug.

  "I didn't even know you were seeing anyone," Abbey says, sounding a tad hurt.

  "I wasn't."

  I almost laugh when I say it.

  "Well are you just here to sparkle and drink my wine or are you planning on filling me in?"

  Where do I even begin?

  "I don't know what I want to do, Abs."

  The shock and the excitement are starting to subside and now I'm sliding into adrenaline crash. The only thing that still feels real about my night is the way Spencer kissed me.

  "It looks like you know exactly what you want to do, Hon," my best of besties says sympathetically as she sips from her glass while eyeing the ring on my hand.

  Leave it to Abbey to take it in stride. But then, if I was looking for drama, I could have gone to Bailey's-- although who knows what guy she has over tonight. Or I could have gone to Molly's...but Reagan's already moved in with her and seeing as how Spence is his brother, I don'
t know how much I want to spill my guts to them.

  "Seriously, Paige," Abbey eyes her wine suspiciously and starts looking through her fridge-- hopefully for something better-- while she continues, "that's a pretty serious rock considering no one's seen you with a guy since before we-- OHMYGOD! PAIGE! Did you break the pact?

  "Now you have to fess up, who is he?"

  Now there's some drama from my normally subdued friend.

  "Oh Abs! For fuck sake--" I jump off the bar stool at her kitchen island and dump my stale wine down the sink.

  "Please tell me you can get a sub for tomorrow," I announce, reaching for her whiskey. "I don't know if can drink all this alone."

  "Should we be calling in reinforcements?" Abbey asks as she holds her glass out for me to pour.

  "I don't think I'm ready for that yet," I say.

  "OK, let's just--" she gives the bottle a skeptical glare, "-- go sit in the living room and talk, I'll make some popcorn."

  Two and a half hours later, I've swapped my unfinished whiskey for a diet soda, watched Abbey polish off a giant bowl of popcorn pretty much single handedly, answered all her questions twice, and am starting to realize I really like the way this ring feels on my finger.

  "Spencer? Seriously? OhmyGod. I just can't believe. This whole time we were all trying to set you two up while you guys were secretly hooking up behind our backs."

  "No hooking up," I say again, "We never even kissed until tonight. We just...kinda...were hanging out a lot."

  "Looks like you give good 'hanging out,' " she teases with a point at the ring.

  Abbey may have finished her whiskey.

  "No. Really, Abs," I insist, "he tried to kiss me at the picnic last summer but I ducked."

  "Ducked? Seriously?"

  Abbey struggles against the couch cushions to sit up straight. She puts the popcorn bowl on the coffee table and take a big swig of the water she got to chase down the popcorn-- and the whiskey. Then she fixes me with a steady eye and suddenly sounds very sober.

  I think it might be her teacher voice.

  "You and Spence have some off the charts chemistry, Paige, and you're telling me that this dumbass do-over pact we made got in the way of your chance to see where that could go?"