Kissing Perfect (At the Party)

by Lauren Barnholdt

  Actually, it was a fucking amazing kiss. But I’m here with Kaci. And Kaci’s hot. Much hotter than Brynn. Well, not really. I mean, Kaci’s hotter in a more obvious way. But Brynn. Brynn is sexy. And adorable. And she does this thing where she bites her lip when she’s thinking that drives me crazy. Not to mention how she went along with the whole Brewster-Campbell thing. Which was kind of awesome.

  I wonder again about what she’s doing with Aaron right now. Is he yelling at her for trying to steal his bike? Did he see us kissing? Does he want her back? Are they getting back together? I should have given her my cell phone number before just taking off like that. What if she’s in trouble or something? Obviously she can’t be in a very good mental state if she was about to steal some dude’s bike.

  “What’s wrong?” Kaci asks after a minute or two.

  “Nothing.”

  “Why aren’t you kissing me back?”

  “I am.”

  “No, you’re not,” she says. “I was kissing your neck and you were just lying there and then finally I moved to your lips and you turned your head away from me.”

  “I did?” I didn’t even realize I was doing it. “Sorry.”

  “So are we making out or not?”

  “Yes,” I say. I turn my head toward hers. But I can’t kiss her. How can I kiss her when all I can think about is Brynn? I have to find her. I have to go and get her. I have to figure out if she felt even half of what I was feeling. I know it’s crazy, but…I’ve never felt this way about a girl before, and I have to figure out what it means. “I’m sorry, Kaci,” I tell her. “I have to go.”

  “You have to go?” She sits up in my bed and tosses her hair behind her shoulder, and looks at me incredulously. “But we’re at your house.”

  “I know,” I say. I’m off my bed and sliding my feet into my sneakers. “I’ll drive you wherever you want me to, but I have to go.”

  She looks confused, and then finally, realization dawns on her face. “Oh, my God,” she says, her mouth dropping open. “You met a girl.”

  “What?” I’m at my dresser now, looking at my reflection in the mirror. For some reason this whole seeing Brynn again thing is making me nervous. I pick up my cologne and spritz a little on my neck.

  “Josh Noth met a girl,” she says gleefully, clapping her hands. “Who is she?”

  “Brynn DeLeo.”

  “I don’t know who that is.” She frowns. “Oh, wait. I think she’s in my lunch.

  Brown hair, kind of mousy?”

  “She’s not mousy,” I say, “She’s gorgeous.”

  “Wow,” she says, “You have it bad.” She sighs and launches herself off my bed.

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “Are you mad?”

  “No. Just bring me back to the party.” She grins. “And make sure I’m invited to the wedding.”

  Brynn

  He wants me back. Aaron Randolph is standing here, telling me he wants me back. He’s saying that he can’t live without me, that he’s been thinking about me the whole time we’ve been broken up, that he can’t imagine his life without me. Okay, he’s not saying all that. I won’t get into all the boring details, but basically he just said,

  “Brynn, I’m sorry and I want to get back together.”

  Which is what I’ve been praying for this whole time. So then why can’t I get Josh Noth out of my head?

  “Listen, I’m sorry,” Aaron says. We’re sitting in his car, outside of Emily Mulally’s house, and he grips the steering wheel. “I just…. I got too caught up in myself.”

  “Ya think?”

  “Yeah. Anyway, so are we good?”

  “I mean… we’re…. I want to get back together.” But as I say the words, I’m not even sure that they’re true. But that just has to be my hormones talking. Just because I was kissing Josh Noth doesn’t mean that there’s anything going on between us. Josh Noth kisses everyone. Seriously. Last year at the Junior Carnival there was even this joke going around that they should set up the charity kissing booth with Josh Noth in it, since he was getting kissed so much anyway that he should at least use his skills to make some money for a good cause.

  “So then we’re all set?” Aaron’s asking. “Let’s go to dinner or something then.”

  He puts the key in the ignition.

  “Don’t you want to stay at the party?” I’m looking toward Emily’s house longingly because maybe Josh is in there. God, what is wrong with me? I like Aaron.

  Aaron is my boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend. Boyfriend. Whatever, Aaron is the one that’s here. Josh is the one that kissed me and then left. Although it’s not like I tried to stop him. God, why didn’t I try to stop him? I wanted him to be the one to suggest staying with me. And when he didn’t, I felt like I needed to pretend I didn’t want him to stay.

  But I did. More than anything.

  “No,” Aaron says, “I don’t want to stay at the party.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Aaron says. He starts the car. “And besides, we’re going to have to talk about how you were cheating on me by kissing Josh Noth.”

  My mouth drops open. “I wasn’t cheating on you,” I say, “You broke up with me.”

  “Please, Brynn. We were broken up less than twenty-four hours and you had your tongue in some other guy’s mouth.” He’s right. My tongue was in Josh’s mouth.

  Ohmigod. It’s making me all… hot thinking about it. “But that’s okay,” he says, “You’ll just have to make it up to me.”

  “Wait,” I say, “You broke up with me and I’m supposed to make it up to you?”

  “Brynn,” he says, “You need to realize that if this gets out…” At first I don’t get what he’s talking about, and then my mouth drops open in shock.

  “Are you… are you still worried about that stupid poll? About stupid student body president?”

  “It’s not stupid, Brynn,” he says. “Student body president can lead to college president, which can lead to local assembly, which can lead to a Senate seat.”

  I stare at him. “So if people find out I kissed Josh Noth, then you won’t get a Senate seat?”

  “Brynn, what is this obsession with Josh Noth? He’s kind of an idiot.”

  “No he isn’t,” I mumble, looking out the window. And then I realize Josh has nothing to do with this. Well, he does because I can’t stop thinking about him. But regardless of who else I kissed, I need to realize that things with Aaron are over. He’s a jerk. And I deserve better.

  “You know what,” I say, “I… I have to go.”

  I open the door to his car and step out onto the pavement. I think about going into the party to try and find Josh, but I don’t know what I would say to him, and I don’t really know where else to go, so I just start walking toward home.

  “Brynn,” Aaron says, driving his car next to me. “Don’t be silly. Get in the car, and we’ll go somewhere and talk about this.”

  “No,” I say, “Go away.” The air is staring to get a little chilly, and so I untie my hoodie from around my waist and slide my arms through.

  “Brynn,” he says, “Seriously. I swear to God, I’ll leave.”

  I don’t say anything, and then finally, he pulls away. Whatever. I don’t care. All I can think about is Josh Noth.

  And then suddenly, there he is. His car is pulling up behind me, and he’s rolling down the window. “Hey,” he says, and he’s smiling at me, that perfect smile with his amazing green eyes, and then he’s pulling over. “Do you need a ride?”

  I walk over to the car, lean against the driver’s side door, and think about it. I want to be with him more than anything. But does he feel the same way?

  “I don’t know,” I say, “I’m having fun walking.”

  “But Mrs. Brewster-Campbell,” he says, “Shouldn’t we get you fed? I’m sure you’re starving after your long night of almost-thievery.” He’s stilling smiling, the cutest smile I’ve ever seen, and my knees get weak.

  “What wi
ll we eat?” I ask.

  “Something very posh.”

  “Like McDonald’s?”

  “Exactly like McDonald’s.”

  He takes me there, and we order Big Macs and fries and sit outside on the benches, something I could never do with Aaron because he doesn’t like transfats and also because he’s afraid of bugs.

  “So,” Josh says, “The thing with Aaron…”

  “It’s over,” I say.

  He nods. “And the thing with us?”

  My heart beats fast, and I turn to him. “I didn’t know there was a thing with us.”

  “Brynn,” he says, and my heart speeds up. “Look at me.”

  I look at him, and he’s so gorgeous I have a hard time keeping my eyes on his.

  The connection between us is just too intense. And then his lips are on mine and they taste salty from the French fries and perfect and good and the kiss is amazing, even better than the first one. “How many girls have you kissed right here, on this bench?” I ask after I pull away.

  “On this bench? Just you. Now on that bench over there…” He trails off, a grin pulling at the side of his lips.

  “I’m serious,” I say, “I can’t be with some kind of kiss slut.”

  “I’m not a kiss slut,” he says, shocked. But then his face turns serious. “Brynn,”

  he says, “I swear, I can’t even think of kissing another girl right now. I know I hardly know you, but… something… I don’t know, there’s something between us. And I hope you feel it too.”

  I do. And so I kiss him again.

  Don’t miss the rest of the AT THE PARTY SERIES, Telling Secrets, Falling Hard, and Getting Close, available now….