The Unforgettable Kind

by Melanie Munton

  My body—and heart—seems to be incapable of pretending like he doesn’t exist, so that stipulation isn’t too unmanageable. Doesn’t mean I have to be all polite about it, though.

  “Fine. Any other rules?”

  He narrows his eyes. “No more calling anything that happens between us a mistake.”

  “No more kissing,” I counter. “That’s my rule.”

  “You kissed me, sweetheart.”

  “It won’t be happening again. And no more pet names.”

  His grin is so arrogant. “Fine, Samantha.”

  If it’s possible to flutter your eyelashes ironically, that’s precisely what I’m doing now. “Do I have your permission to leave now, Mr. Jennings?”

  He angles his face closer. “One last thing.”

  I swear, if he even attempts a kiss after everything we just said…

  “What?”

  The word isn’t supposed to come out all whisper-soft. But it does.

  “You have to admit that we’re friends.”

  “Seriously? That’s it? You have to hear me say that before you’ll let me leave this room?”

  “Surely that’s not asking too much, is it?”

  Maybe it is. What happens if I give in and say it? What will I be giving up? I already lost some of my dignity last night by throwing myself at my enemy. Will resurrecting a friendship between us rob me of the rest of my self-respect? After what he did years ago?

  That self-respect is about all I have left.

  He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear, his hand lingering on my neck. The heat of his touch, the way his thumb lightly caresses my skin, it’s distracting me from seeing reason. The air around us crackles with energy. The room becomes an incubator, encasing us in the hum of static electricity.

  I almost don’t want to say the words because then the moment will be over.

  I’m mesmerized by his tongue as it sensually slides across his lower lip. Then he takes it between his teeth, and I’m reminded of our kiss last night. I remember doing it, but I can’t recall exactly how his lips felt against mine or how he tasted. I suddenly want to remind myself—

  Yeah, the moment definitely needs to be over.

  Before I do something epically stupid. Again.

  “Fine. We’re friends.”

  His face falls for an instant before he masks his reaction. Does he not want the moment to end, either? He steps back, straightening his spine before I can come up with an answer. Looking pretty satisfied with himself, he opens the door and waves me through.

  “Then let’s get to work, friend.”

  It seems ridiculous, but that word just doesn’t sound right for us. I mean, we used to be best friends, but even that term is more intimate than mere friends.

  Friends is too…tame.

  I’m not sure it applies to whatever the hell we are now.

  Truthfully, I don’t think it ever really did.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Against the Wind”

  by Bob Segar and the Silver Bullet Band

  Back then…

  Kade

  By December, we were state champions and Mason was in pandemonium.

  Which, in Mason, meant we were on the front page of the newspaper, our pictures hung in every business in town, and there was a sign erected in our honor at the edge of town that read, “Welcome to Mason: Home of the Class 2A State Football Champions.”

  It also meant there was a party in some random ass field every weekend night. With a Gatorade in my hand and Brandi trying to attach herself to my side, I surveyed the current party before me. My fellow classmates sat on tailgates and hay bales with red Solo cups in their hands, girls danced to whatever beat was blaring from someone’s truck speakers, and a huge bonfire raged in the middle of it all.

  I was so not in Atlanta anymore.

  I’d made the mistake of speaking to Brandi one night at another party, when I’d reached the limit of my tolerance for watching Miss Lovey Dovey Sam and Trent McGrabAss. Now, I couldn’t seem to pry the girl off me. Especially now when she was at least five beers deep and starting to slur her words.

  Even though I had a reason to celebrate with a drink, alcohol held no interest for me tonight. It certainly didn’t have anything to do with the fact that Trent was well on his way to getting hammered, shotgunning beer after beer, while Sam only had a bottle of water in her hands.

  Had absolutely nothing to do with that.

  “Everyone shut up and raise your cups!” Matt drunkenly yelled, making everyone laugh. “I’d like to make a toast to our team because we’re a bunch of badass state champs!” Everyone hooped and hollered. “To us! And to my man Kade over there because we probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.”

  More cheers went up as everyone raised their cups to me, which felt awkward. I never did well with praise. Though I did deliberately seek out Sam, who was standing on the other side of the bonfire. To my surprise, her eyes were already locked on me. She gave me a slow, sexy little grin and tipped her water bottle to me. I saluted her back with my Gatorade…and my dick. Yep, that fucker was standing at full attention inside my jeans that were suddenly feeling tight as shit. The heat licking at my insides had nothing to do with the blazing flames before me.

  Nope, just the inferno in my pants.

  Trent obscured my view of Sam when he stepped up to the fire and threw his cup into it. “Now let’s get shitfaced!”

  Famous last words.

  Two hours later, everyone was either passed out on the ground, in their vehicles, or had gone home. Somehow, Brandi had wound up passed out in my truck, Trent was passed out in the backseat of Sam’s car, and she and I were the only conscious, sober ones left standing.

  In typical selfless Sam fashion, she grabbed an empty trash bag abandoned in the grass and started picking up the scattered trash. I found my own bag and helped her clean up.

  Don’t judge me.

  Boyfriend or not, I was desperate for any opportunity to talk to this girl.

  “Somehow it doesn’t feel right that the town hero is cleaning up other people’s messes.”

  She threw a handful of beer cans into the bag, the clanging sound drowning out the one word I hated: hero.

  “Scoring touchdowns doesn’t make me a hero.”

  “In this town it does.” She held her fist under my mouth, miming a microphone. “Kade Jennings, you just won the state championship. What are you going to do next?”

  I raised my arms and yelled, “I’m going to Disney World!”

  She let out that uninhibited laugh I loved, her blond hair falling around her shoulders, half cast in the gray moonlight, the other half in the orange glow of the dying fire. It gave her this kind of ethereal quality, making her appear almost otherworldly. She looked like a fantasy.

  Hell, she was my damn fantasy.

  “So, you and Brandi, huh?”

  I winced.

  I didn’t want her thinking there was anything going on there, though I wasn’t sure why I even cared. She had Trent, after all. Then I looked up and all thoughts of Brandi or Trent fled my mind, leaving my mouth as dry as a desert. Her ass was in the air as she bent over to pick something up, her tight jeans showcasing every mouthwatering curve.

  I managed to gather just enough saliva to answer her. “Not really. She just kind of…latched on.”

  “Well, just so you know, she might be the type to actually go for your whole barefoot and pregnant plan.”

  I shuddered. “Thanks for the warning.”

  “Just helping out a friend.”

  Yet another word I hated. That one was the bane of my entire existence.

  She tied the full trash bag and dropped it on the ground, exhaling heavily. “Between that and cleaning up this mess, I’d say I’ve done my good deeds for today.”

  I hesitated, unsure of my next move. I wasn’t ready to leave her yet. “I guess I should go check and make sure Brandi hasn’t puked all over my truck.”

 
She cringed, glancing back at our vehicles parked in the overgrown grass. “They can wait a little bit longer. It’s not like they’ll know the difference.”

  She rolled a wide log closer to the fire with her booted foot, sat down on it, and patted the space beside her. “Warmed it up for you.”

  Unable to hide my grin, I eased down next to her, trying to ignore the intimacy I felt seeping into the moment. If she only knew how many times I’d jacked off at night to fantasies of her on her knees, or bent over, or riding me like a rodeo queen, she’d be sprinting like mad in the other direction. Instead, I stared at the moon’s reflection on the pond waters before us, wondering how many skips I could get out of a nice flat rock over that smooth-as-glass surface.

  “I went there once, you know,” she said somberly, drawing my attention. Her eyes were downcast and contemplative, the toe of her boot drawing lines in the dirt. “To Disney World. I was two and Drake was five. I always wondered what my parents were thinking, taking two small kids who couldn’t ride any of the rides, and one who wouldn’t even be able to remember the trip. Just seems like a waste of money. I guess I should be thankful that we have that memory of all of us together before everything went to hell.” Then she laughed at herself, sitting up straighter. “Sorry, I’m being a total downer. Any good concerts coming up?”

  “My mom cheated on my dad.”

  Her wide eyes snapped to mine, swarming with questions and curiosity. I wasn’t planning on blurting that out to her tonight, or any night. But she’d opened up about her situation when I knew it must have been painful. Returning the gesture only seemed fair. Plus, I had to do something to wipe that look of anguished longing from her face. If I couldn’t erase that pain for her, I at least wanted her to know that it was a shared pain between us.

  “My dad used to work long hours at a plant in Atlanta,” I went on. “And when he was home he mostly slept or worked on football stuff with me. I guess she got sick of it, claimed she did what she did out of loneliness, and started having relationships with other men on the internet. It wasn’t long after that she started seeing them in person. My dad found out when he caught her in a lie about where she was going one night. She told him everything.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Funny, though. She never sounded real sorry about it.”

  “And that’s when you guys moved here?” Sam asked, her voice soft and soothing.

  I nodded. “Yeah. Dad needed out of the city after they filed for divorce. Luckily, a spot opened up at the plant here.”

  A minute ago, I couldn’t take my eyes off Sam, but now I couldn’t force my gaze back to her. I was afraid of what I might see there. I wanted her to feel something for me. But seeing it for myself, knowing I couldn’t do anything about it, would only make everything harder.

  “Do you still talk to her?”

  A cricket chirped in the distance, joining in the cadence of bull frogs, reminding me how far away we were from my old life.

  I shook my head. “Not really, no. The only thing she said to me before she walked out was that she needed to focus on herself for a while. Like she didn’t have a son who’d been depending on her his entire life. She hasn’t called me since we moved here, and I probably wouldn’t answer if she did. I don’t think she ever really wanted to be a mother. It makes me wonder what my dad ever saw in her.”

  “Someone once told me that powerful emotions can make people do crazy things.”

  I smirked. “Sounds like a smart guy.”

  “I really think he is.”

  Her delicate hand suddenly found its way on top of mine, her fingers squeezing my own in a comforting embrace. My eyes finally connected with hers again, my heart thumping a jarring staccato beat. What I saw on her face wasn’t pity or even sympathy.

  It was simple understanding.

  “I’m sorry, Kade.”

  My finger was rubbing circles over the back of her hand before I even knew what I was doing. “It’s not even the hurt I feel over what she did that bothers me the most. I mean, yeah, the betrayal stung like a bitch, so I can’t imagine how it’s been for my dad. But the worst part has been…”

  I struggled to come up with the right word, but Sam beat me to it.

  “The disappointment.”

  Our eyes were glued to each other as she finished my sentence.

  “You were disappointed that she wasn’t a stronger person. That she didn’t put her own family first.”

  My breaths turned shallow, my insides roiling with emotions. She just stole the words right out of my mouth, saying exactly what my brain couldn’t articulate. All I could do was nod and keep a firm grip on her hand, her touch anchoring me in the moment.

  I suddenly got the overwhelming urge to act on my worst fear. My fierce desire for her had been haunting me for months, stirring temptation deep inside until all my self-control felt like it was hanging on by a thread.

  I wanted to kiss her.

  And I honestly didn’t know if I was going to be able to stop myself.

  That was my biggest fear. Because what kind of person would that make me?

  I couldn’t help it.

  I leaned in.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Love Bites”

  by Def Leppard

  Sam

  Oh, God. He’s going to kiss me.

  I couldn’t breathe.

  I didn’t have a name for whatever impulse had driven me to grab Kade’s hand. But I did know that my pulse had quickened from the moment our skin made contact. He was warm, either from the fire or from his natural body heat. Either way, I selfishly wanted to get closer to it. To sit here until all my ugly, hateful thoughts about my father faded away into obscurity.

  But now Kade looked like he was about to kiss me, and my mind suddenly went blank.

  What should I do? Push him away? Kiss him back?

  Lord knows I want to.

  He leaned forward, slowly closing the distance between our mouths. My stomach did flips as his hand moved to my shoulder. With the gentle coaxing of a timid lover, he pulled me toward him, inching closer on the log. My lips parted of their own volition, my other hand resting on his chest. I couldn’t even tell if I was about to pull him in or push him away. It was like I had no control over my own body anymore.

  That’s when Kade’s own words came back to me.

  Some emotions can be so powerful that they take control of you. They can make you forget what you should do, and only leave room for what you want to do. Some people aren’t strong enough to fight against that, I guess.

  I pushed against his chest just as his lips were about to graze mine. “No. I can’t.”

  Squeezing his eyes shut, he practically lunged to the other side of the log. He stabbed his hands through his hair, as if he were punishing himself.

  “I’m sorry, Sam. God, I’m so fucking sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  I knew.

  I’d been thinking the same thing for months now.

  But we just couldn’t. And that hurt.

  “I can’t…be him, Kade. I can’t be my father. I don’t want to be weak. We’re better than that.”

  He was already nodding his head before I finished speaking. “I know. I didn’t mean to put you in that position. I don’t want either of us to ever feel like that—to become those people. Forget I ever did that, please.”

  “I just…” I felt like I needed to explain myself further. “I’ll never cheat. I want you to know that. For some reason, I need you to know that I’m not that type of person. I never will be.”

  His head shot up, his hazel eyes piercing me, searing me with their intensity. “I know you’re not, Sam. I don’t want you to think I’m that type, either. I—” He shook his head. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  Well, whatever it was, it wasn’t something I wanted to be ashamed of. And if that wasn’t confusing as all hell…

  I couldn’t tell him any of that, though. It would only make this more complicated and possibly
more painful. Why did this have to be painful, though? We’d never before established boundaries in our relationship. Up to this point, it kind of felt like we’d been tiptoeing around each other. Maybe if we laid it all out there, drew those lines clearly, we wouldn’t have to tiptoe. We’d know everything outright, and it wouldn’t leave anything to question.

  “Kade, I like you a lot. Maybe we can just be—”

  “Don’t,” he gritted out through clenched teeth, more edge in his voice than I’d ever heard. “Don’t give me that ‘just friends’ line. I know what just happened was wrong and it can’t happen again. But don’t make your mind put me in the friend zone if you have to force it. I don’t want that.”

  I threw my hands up, holding the threatening tears at bay. “Well, what do you want from me? That’s all I can give you, Kade. A friend is the only thing I can be for you right now. So, it’s either that or we can’t be around each other at all because I have a boyfriend.”

  His lips thinned.

  “And I want you in my life,” I continued. “Maybe I shouldn’t want that. Maybe I should just avoid you, but I don’t know if I can. I don’t want to see you at school and not be able to talk to you.”

  “So, I’m supposed to be what? You’re buddy?” he spat. The apologies from a moment ago evaporated from his voice. “Your emotional fluffer? The guy you turn to for help with your relationship problems or something? Because I can’t do that, Sam. Don’t ask me to do that.”

  I sucked in a deep breath. “No. We’ll only talk about things we like. Our interests. Like we always have. We’ll do things only we like doing. We’ll have rules, draw lines that we can’t cross.”

  He looked tortured. More tears rose to the surface.

  “You’re the only one who seems to…get it.” My words sounded like a plea even to my own ears. Admittedly, I was on the verge of begging. “You get me, Kade. I can’t tell you how much I need that.”

  I was about to take back everything I just said when I heard how selfish it sounded. But then his eyes softened, the lines around his mouth relaxing. He stared at me for a long time. So long I could practically see the wheels spinning in his head. I just wished I knew what they were telling him.