by K. C. Crowne
Wrong, wrong, wrong, I told myself. Best friend’s kid sister – the one woman on earth you shouldn’t be thinking of that way.
“Yes?” Her voice cut through the still night air with all the cold precision of a scalpel.
“Thought you could do with a little refreshment,” I said, raising the whiskey I’d brought out for her and giving it a little swirl, the ice tinkling in the glass.
She turned her head enough to look at the glass, then flicked her eyes over to me. Grace sighed, then snatched the glass out of my hand and took a quick swig, as if she’d need it to deal with me.
Hell, I couldn’t really blame her.
“Something you want?” she asked, her tone as cold as the ice floating in my drink. “Believe it or not, I was actually having a peaceful moment out here.” Grace shook her head. “You’ve got a way of ruining those, you know? Doesn’t matter if it’s a girl stepping out of a party to have a moment to herself, or if it’s a wedding speech.”
“And there it is,” I said. Really, I should’ve already known that was what she was pissed about.
“And there it is,” she repeated, a mocking tone to her voice. “See, that’s what’s extra insulting about the Hayden treatment that you give me. You act like I’m the one who’s weird for being bothered.” She shook her head once more and took another sip, crossing her arm just under her breast.
A small part of me wanted to say something smart-assy. But even I knew when it was time to give it a rest.
“Hey, I’m sorry. It was obvious you were nervous up there giving your speech, and I made it worse by poking fun at it during mine. It was a dick move.”
“It was a really dick move,” she agreed, not missing a beat. “Why do you think it’s OK to act like that, Hayden? I’m up there pouring my heart out, getting overwhelmed talking about how much the day means to me, and all you can do is crack wise as usual.”
“Hey,” I said. “You gave me some good material – how could I pass it up?”
She narrowed her eyes, making it clear I was very close to the line.
“This is good whiskey,” she uttered. “Hate to waste it throwing it all in your face. Then again, maybe that wouldn’t be such a waste after all.”
“Listen,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
She said nothing, silence hanging in the air.
Grace wanted more than that.
“I’m sorry that I acted like a prick in there, using your heartfelt speech to crack a few jokes at your expense. That took a lot for you to get up there and let it all out like that, and I should’ve been more respectful.”
Grace’s expression remained tense, as if she were waiting for the other shoe to drop, for a smart-ass comment to follow it all up. When she realized it wasn’t coming, her look softened.
“Everyone was laughing,” she said. “That was the worst part, you know? It was like everyone was laughing at me.”
I raised my palms, my thumb and index finger wrapped around my glass.
“You’re right – I fucked up. You said something from the heart, and I made a joke of it. But you want to know the truth?”
She cocked her head to the side, confused. “Truth? What truth?”
“The truth is…that when you gave that speech, it kinda tugged at my heartstrings, you know? And I wasn’t the only one – not a damn dry eye in the house. So, when that mic got put in my hand and the spotlight was on me, all I could think was, damn, how the hell am I supposed to follow that?”
A withering look. “Are you serious?”
“I’m serious,” I said. “Serious as it gets. Your speech was great, and it was genuine. I’ve never been good at that sort of thing. Whenever emotions come into play, I always act like a jackass. My speech was no exception. So, I messed around. Sure, I got a few laughs. But I made you upset. Not worth it, really.”
Grace took a slow sip. As my eyes scanned her face, the silver light on her full lips gave her the appearance of a creature so beautiful, as if she wasn’t quite human. It was just that I found her so hot. No, it was more than that.
“So,” I said. “I figured a little of your drink of choice, whiskey neat, would smooth things over.”
She shook her head. “No idea how you remember details like that.”
“Same part of me that allows me to memorize every part of the circulatory system, I suppose. I also know why you drink whiskey and not vodka.”
Grace smiled slightly – not a huge one, but the biggest I’d seen since the conversation started.
“Because the first time I was drunk I threw up on your lap in the back of Aimee Chastain’s car.”
“Yep, back when you’d first moved to Colorado to go to school. And that’s only the part you remember. When she dropped us off, I led you to the bathroom of my apartment and held your hair back while you yakked your guts out. And you know what you said when I got you into bed?”
She smiled again. “I only know because you told me.”
“You said…” and here she spoke the words at the same time as me, “Hayden Frost, don’t you ever let me touch vodka again.”
Grace chuckled. “And I haven’t since. Just thinking about the stuff makes me sick to my stomach.”
Then the smile faded, a thoughtful expression forming on her face.
“That’s what so damn frustrating about you, Hayden. You’re a smart-ass, and kind of a prick. But there’s a softer side of you that you rarely let come out. Maybe you ought to try putting that foot forward instead of the shithead one.”
I chuckled. “Nah, I save that part of me for certain people, special people.”
“Special people, huh? Like your best friend’s sister that you’ve been tormenting since she was a kid?”
“You call it tormenting, I call it…showing affection, in my own way.”
“There’s other ways to show affection, you know.”
She was right. And as I stood there, the wind gently rustling the branches of the trees overhead, the moonlight playing perfectly off Grace’s stunning features, a certain other way of showing affection came to mind.
I knew it was a bad idea. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted it.
“Uh, Hayden?” she asked. “You OK?”
I didn’t say another word. Instead, I leaned in and kissed my best friend’s sister right on the lips.
Chapter 5
GRACE
What.
The.
Fuck.
They were the first words to pop into my head the second I realized what was happening.
Hayden Frost was kissing me.
And more than that, I liked it.
The moment I’d been secretly wanting to happen since I was old enough to be into boys was actually happening.
The shock was sudden, and my body tensed up. But that faded, as Hayden placed his hand on the small of my back and brought me close to him, and I fell right into the kiss.
I could taste the whiskey on his lips, feel his hardness through his slacks. I became wetter with each second that passed, and though it was difficult to hold a thought in my head, I was keenly aware of the fact that, if he wanted more, in that instant he could’ve had it.
Hayden could be a prick, sure. But there was good to him, too. And it didn’t hurt that I’d had a crush on him, as ill-advised as it might’ve been, since I was a kid.
After a few moments, his mouth opened, and his tongue moved against my lips. I could feel his cock against my hip.
But for some reason, the moment the tip of his tongue touched my lips, I snapped out of it. I realized how insane it was, and more than that, how wrong it was. My body tensed again, and I placed my hands on his chest, noticing how freaking solid it was, as I prepared to push off.
I didn’t get the chance. Hayden’s big hands fell onto my shoulders and he, gently but firmly, pushed me away from him. The look in his eyes was like none I’d ever seen on him before. Hayden was cocky, a smart-ass, and the kind of guy who did whatever he wanted and
didn’t give a damn if anyone had a problem with it.
But, in that moment, the look on his face was one of regret. As if he knew he’d done something wrong and couldn’t believe he’d let it happen.
It pissed me off. I couldn’t say why, exactly, but him kissing me like that out of nowhere and then not even having the spine to stand by his decision, made me mad.
“What the fuck was that?” I asked. After I spoke, I whipped my head toward the club, making sure that no one had seen what we’d done. Thankfully, the coast was clear. “Where the hell do you get off doing something like that?”
The regret vanished as if someone had flipped a switch and was replaced with the cocky smirk that I would’ve expected from the get-go.
“You’re sounding pretty pissed off for someone who fell right into that kiss the moment it happened.”
I let out a frustrated sigh. Thankfully, Hayden had the restraint to not tell me I looked cute when I was mad. That would’ve resulted in me giving him a sock right to the face.
But he seemed to sense how mad I was. Hayden closed his eyes and held up his palms.
“OK, so that was a bad idea. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the kiss was amazing. But that doesn’t mean it should’ve happened.”
“Wait, what the hell is going on here?” I asked. “You kiss me out of nowhere, and then you put on a big show about how it shouldn’t have happened? You’re giving me whiplash.”
I was getting angrier by the minute. “I don’t know,” he said, running a hand through his thick hair. “I guess I got caught up in the moment. But that doesn’t mean it was a good idea. In fact, it was a really, really bad one.” He held up his hand and glanced down for a moment, his eyes closed, as if a thought had occurred to him. “You know what? Let’s just pretend this didn’t happen. Go back in time, you know? I never kissed you, and that’s that.”
Now I was fucking fuming. Maybe he was right that it had been a mistake, but as he spoke, all I could hear was him rejecting me over and over again.
Maybe it was silly to feel that way, but to have Hayden kiss me only to turn around and act like he’d made the mistake of a lifetime – it didn’t feel good. Not one bit. He’d thrown more than a few barbs my way over the years, but that one managed to hurt worse than any of them. In that moment, I wanted to smack him right in his stupidly handsome face.
“You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to kiss someone and then act like it never happened. I didn’t ask for you to kiss me. You did it, and now you have to live with the consequences.”
I felt good saying the words – tough, even. As I said them though, I realized I had no idea what kind of consequences there ought to be.
“What,” he said. “You want to run in there and tell everyone that I kissed you? Might not be the best way to keep the drama to a minimum.” He seemed so confident and cocky as he spoke the words, and I could sense that he had good reason to think he was in the advantageous position.
“That’s not what I’m going to do. Not a chance I’m going to make a scene at my brother’s wedding by telling them the best man stole a kiss from his little sister.”
“Then it’s simple,” he said as if it were a done deal. “We pretend this never happened.”
The anger built up in me by the second. My hands tightened into fists, and it took all the restraint I had not to slam one of them into his jaw.
“You know what, Hayden?” I asked. “Fuck you.”
He arched his eyebrows and regarded me with an expression of total surprise. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me right.” I felt good and self-righteous by this point. “Fuck you. You make fun of my speech, you half-ass some apology, and then you kiss me. What kind if immature asshole acts like that?”
His eyebrows stayed arched, and I could tell he hadn’t expected me to lay into him like that.
“Listen, I just got caught up in the moment – that’s all.”
That’s all. Hayden might’ve been an expert when it came to triple bypasses, but right then, when he had the chance to say one thing that wouldn’t make me feel even worse, he majorly came up short.
“I mean, you’re gorgeous, Grace,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong. And you’re charming and funny and sweet. But you’re my best friend’s kid sister. Kissing you…it’s all kinds of wrong, yeah?”
I narrowed my eyes, launching a million daggers from my furious, disdainful glare.
“I’m going to give you one piece of advice, Dr. Frost. Unless you’re in the mood to have me knee you in the balls so hard you go cross-eyed, you might not want to say another word.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but I raised a finger.
“Not a single word. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back into the reception. You can fuck off for all I care.”
I didn’t stick around to see his reaction. Instead, I turned and stormed off, tears stinging my eyes.
I arrived back at the club just in time to see that Carly was about to throw the bouquet. She was up on stage, the spotlight on her, her back to the crowd of single ladies as she prepared to launch the flower bunch.
I should’ve been there among the other women, with a big smile on my face as I reached up, hoping to be the one to catch it. Instead, I made a stomping beeline to the ladies’ room, relief washing over me when I saw that it was empty.
More tears formed in my eyes as I heard the commotion outside, the women cheering as one of them caught the bouquet. It was one more reason to still be furious at Hayden. His selfish bullshit had caused me to not be able to enjoy my brother’s freaking wedding reception.
I wished I would’ve been more ready, wished that I would’ve had the presence of mind to realize what Hayden was doing before he’d done it. I could’ve turned my head to the side like I’d done on so many awkward dates before when a guy who I wasn’t into had moved in for a kiss. Maybe I could’ve laughed, told him “you wish” and played it off totally cool and calm. Hayden could’ve laughed too, made some comment about the whiskey going to his head.
But that’s not what happened. Hayden had kissed me, and the worst part was that I had liked it. If only I’d have backed off the second his lips had touched mine. Instead, I’d fallen into his kiss, let his lips linger on mine, felt the pressing urgency of his hardness against my body…
I shook my head and let out a sigh of frustration.
When I was ready, I made my way to the mirror and checked my makeup. Thankfully, I hadn’t totally ruined my eyeliner with the few tears that had slipped out.
Right at the moment I finished touching up my makeup, the door to the bathroom flew open and two women entered.
“Can you believe he’s single?” one of them asked after giving me a polite smile.
“I mean, not really. You know how guys like that are.”
I stepped out of the way and the two women, both young and pretty, took their places in front of the mirror and began checking their makeup.
“I know, I know. Guys like him think they’re freaking God’s gift to women.”
“But come on, he’s so freaking hot. And that accent – ohmigod.”
“Doesn’t hurt that he’s a doctor, too.”
Oh, shit. Whatever mystery there had been about who, exactly, they were referring to vanished at those words.
They were talking about Dr. Dickhead himself.
“I’m going to see if I can get close enough to him to have him notice me for a dance.”
The other woman laughed. “Good freaking luck. I’ve been trying to bark up that tree all night.”
“Hm. Maybe he’s got someone else on his mind.”
I had been playing with my phone as they spoke, trying to look like I wasn’t totally listening in on their conversation. But once the subject had been all but confirmed to be Hayden, I hurried out of there before I let slip some very unkind words about the man they were fawning over.
The rest of the party went on, and I spent all the time I could avoiding Hayden as h
e made the rounds, laughing and carrying on like he hadn’t just pulled the dick move to end all dick moves. I avoided eye contact with him, not wanting to see what his reaction might be if we were to lock gazes. Every now and then I heard his laugh, that loud, booming laugh that I’d recognize anywhere, and it set my teeth on edge.
Thankfully, the evening was wrapping up. I passed the remaining hours chatting with Ryan and the rest of the family. Before too long it came time to see the couple to the limo that would take them to their hotel.
The staff of the club passed out sparklers, and we all formed up along the sidewalk that led to the car. Despite how upset I was about the Hayden incident, I had to admit the scene was cool. The brilliant sparklers were an amazing contrast to the night sky, and when Ryan and Carly rushed from the doors of the club to the car, big smiles on their faces as the guests all cheered and waved their sparklers, I knew it was a sight I’d never forget.
The happy, now married couple climbed into the car and were soon off, the limo disappearing around the corner as we continued to cheer.
“Aw, such a gorgeous ceremony,” Mum remarked as she clasped her hands to her chest, the sparkler perilously close to her face.
Dad plucked the sparkler out of her hand before Mum accidentally put it up her nose.
“It was,” he agreed. “Just too bad that they’re going to have to wait a couple of weeks before their honeymoon.”
This was something I hadn’t heard before. “Wait,” I said. “What do you mean?”
The crowd around us began to disperse, some forming into small groups to chat, some making their way back inside, and others heading to their cars to call it a night.
“I was talking to Carly earlier,” Mum said. “Asking her if they were excited for the big honeymoon. And she told me that they’re just getting a room for the night downtown and that the actual honeymoon isn’t for a couple of weeks.”
“Carly still needs to complete the school year and clean up her classroom once her students leave for the summer,” Dad added.