The Perks
of Kissing You
By Stephanie Street
Text copyright © 2018 Stephanie Street
All rights reserved
Also by Stephanie Street
Young Adult Novels
The Perks of Dating You (Perks Book 1)
The Perks of Hating You (Perks Book 2)
The Perks of Kissing You (Perks Book 3)
Dating: One on One (Eastridge Heights Basketball Book 1)
Save Me (Stand alone)
Us at the Beach (Standalone novella)
Contemporary Romance
Chasing Paris
Clean Historical Romance
Loved So Long: Brides of Carson’s Creek Book One
Loved From Afar: Brides of Carson’s Creek Book Two
For W. E. L. Just remember, stand strong and wait for the one
who is truly meant for you. Never settle for anything
less than the very best, you deserve it!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
Sample Chapters of Us at the Beach
Sample Chapters of Save Me
Chapter 1
Jamie
So, I liked kissing. Sue me. What was there not to like about it? Sure, some kisses were better than others. But most of the time kissing was an exceptional past time. I was a hot-blooded male. A teenager. I was supposed to love kissing. It was kind of an unwritten rule, right? Hormones and all that crap. Whatever, I never regretted a warm summer night engaged in some non-committal make out.
NCMO.
It’s what high school parties were created for. Hooking up. Mindless distraction. Soft curves. Lush lips. That pleasurable little sound girls made when I kissed them just right. I couldn’t get enough.
“Jamie, you are such a good kisser.”
I smiled even as my lips continued their assault. Music to my ears.
“Mmmm,” Jessica hummed, her hands straying from around my neck, down my chest to my stomach.
Whoa, there.
Hold your horses.
Kissing was fine.
Where Jessica was going? Not so much.
Picking up my hands from where they’d stayed completely still on Jessica’s hips, I snatched hers where they wandered just a little too far. She pulled back, just enough for me to see into her glazed eyes.
Sighing, I stepped back a fraction. We’d gone too far. Expectations escalated. Kissing for fun had become kissing for...something more. The stars in Jessica’s eyes told me that if I wanted to push things further than the front seat of my car, like maybe into the backseat of my car, metaphorically speaking, she’d be down with that.
If my internal clock was on point and it usually was in these situations, the alarm on my phone was about to go off. It would mimic the sound of a phone call vibrating in my pocket giving me the out I needed, a pre-arranged excuse to get me out of the clutches of female expectations. My mom needed me. My best friend, Dallin, was drunk off his ass and I was the only one who could rescue him. That one was only good if Dallin was on board. Tonight, it would be an emergency at home.
The hope in Jessica’s eyes shined just a little too brightly and as far as I was concerned, kissing was not going to turn into something more. Not just for tonight, although, I wasn’t a saint and had forgotten my own rules a time or two (or three). But things weren’t going to go anywhere tomorrow. Or the next day. I wasn’t calling anyone for a date. This wasn’t going to lead to a relationship.
Lifting my hand, I cupped her cheek. She closed her eyes and relaxed her face into my hand.
“You are so beautiful.” It wasn’t a lie. She was pretty. If I was in the market for a relationship, Jessica would be an appealing candidate. But since I wasn’t looking for anything that required regular dates, phone calls, and holding hands as we walked the halls at school, I needed my alarm as backup. I used to rely on Dallin, but he liked to mess with me. After getting my face slapped a time or two because my best friend thought it was funny, I turned to technology. It was much more reliable and didn’t enjoy watching me squirm.
Jessica sighed and I was tempted to kiss her one last time. But I knew better. We’d had our fun. Anything more would give her false hope. I was only interested in a little entertainment. And kissing was my favorite kind.
Like clockwork, my phone buzzed against my leg. I leaned in like I was going to kiss her, then paused, listening.
“I think it’s my phone.” I let my shoulders drop with feigned regret. “I better see who it is.” Digging in my pocket, I removed my phone, careful to keep her from seeing what was on the screen. The last thing I needed was to get called out for faking a phone call in the middle of our make out session.
I tapped the button on the screen to stop the vibrating. “It’s my mom. I better get this.” I held the phone up to my ear and said ‘hello’. After a few seconds of nodding, I held the screen against my chest and whispered, “You should go back to the party. I have to go. I had a great time.”
Jessica’s face fell with real disappointment and I gave her a kiss that was just a little bit more than a peck. For a split second, I was tempted to forget my own rules about commitment and indulge myself again in her full lips, but that was a bad idea.
“Are you sure? I could go with you, or-”
Yeah, that wasn’t happening. “No, no. Thank you. You’re sweet to offer, but it’s kind of personal.” I lifted my phone away from my body and put it back up to my ear. “Yeah, Mom. I’m here. I’m leaving right now.”
Jessica lingered and I had to hold back my eye roll. I hated it when girls did that. It was sweet and all, but the exact opposite of what I wanted. I pretended to listen to my phone while smiling and giving Jessica a reassuring wink. She still hadn’t moved.
With an annoyed sigh that I hoped she thought was for my mom who was likely dead asleep in her bed at home, I took a step back toward the party that still raged in the empty hay field that belonged to Seth Martin. Jessica finally started moving her feet. Thank goodness.
“Bye, Mom. See you soon.” I disconnected the nonexistent call and stuffed my phone back in my pocket.
My friends, Dallin Ralston and Bailey Campbell, were still exactly where I’d left them when Jessica and I headed into the woods- sitting on a fallen log in front of the bonfire. With a wave to a still hopeful Jessica, I turned my back to her and walked purposefully toward them.
“Wassup, playa?” Dallin teased knowingly while Bailey smirked from her perch beside him.
“Stop talking like that. You sound like an idiot.” I flicked that back of his head. “Come on, we gotta go. Emergency at home.”
Dallin elbowed Bailey’s side as they both snickered. I glanced up to see Jessica watching the exchange carefully. I gave her a tight smile as I kicked Dallin’s foot. “Let’s go.”
“You are such a Neanderthal sometimes.” Bailey rose from her seat to punch my arm.
“Dude is the NCMO King,” Dallin defended me. “They know what they are getting into. J
ust because they are foolish enough to think they might be the one to finally tame Jamie Barnes, doesn’t mean they don’t know exactly what he’s like.”
Bailey shook her head, her long auburn hair swishing against my sleeve. “You both are idiots. Girls don’t work like that.”
I refrained from correcting her. I had a long string of examples from this summer to contradict her. All I wanted was some kissing, it wasn’t like I was asking for more.
Besides, Bailey wasn’t a normal girl, I swear. I wasn’t even sure she’d been kissed before- ever. We were best friends and all, and I knew more than I ever wanted to know about Dallin’s romantic, and I use that term loosely, exploits, but with Bailey it was different. She knew everything there was to know about us, but when it came to boys and relationships, I had no idea how she felt or what she’d done or who she even liked.
It didn’t matter and I wasn’t about to engage in an argument right then. The longer I stayed the more suspicious Jessica was likely to get and leaving for a family emergency was the best way to keep her believing I wasn’t being an ass, therefore ensuring future encounters with other girls.
“Wanna play Fortnite?” I didn’t wait for them to respond as I headed toward my car.
Dallin groaned a little as he stood and stretched. “Why not? Rylee’s hanging all over Seth, anyway.”
Bailey’s eyes glanced heavenward where only I could see. I fought back a grin. Dallin had been moping around all summer about his recent crush, Rylee Jacks. But apparently, Rylee was more interested in Seth, the new starting quarterback. They’d been joined at the hip all night.
Bailey slung one arm over Dallin’s shoulder while pinching his cheek with her other hand. “Aww, wittle Dallin Wallin, you’ll feel much better when I kick your butt at video games.”
Dallin shrugged her arm off and wrapped her in a headlock. “Yeah, right, Bales. We both know that ain’t gonna happen.”
Shaking my head, I clicked the unlock button on my key fob, happy to be getting out of there before some drunk idiot got vandalism in his head and potentially damaged my baby.
Dallin slid into the backseat leaving shotgun for Bailey. She was our best friend and sometimes I had to remind myself she was a girl, but we were usually good about being gentleman when the circumstance called for it and leaving the front seat of my car open for her was one of them.
“My house?” I asked. We usually went to my house because I was the only child of a single parent and there wouldn’t be anyone around to bother us. Bailey’s house was full of younger siblings and Dallin’s parents weren’t keen on late night company.
They both agreed and I slowly drove away from the empty field where the party was being held. I learned last summer not to race across the open field when I hit a rock hidden in the tall grass and busted a hole in my BMW’s oil pan. That was a mistake that cost several hundred dollars and included a tow.
Once out on the main rode, I pressed the accelerator, picking up speed. Holding a hand out the open window, I relished the feel of the crisp evening air. Dallin opened his window and the cross breeze blew Bailey’s hair until it looked like she’d stuck her finger in a light socket. She quickly tamed her mane with the hair tie she always kept on her wrist. A few seconds later, she rubbed her hands over her arms like she was cold.
“Here.” Reaching into the backseat, I pulled a sweatshirt over the center console and dropped it into her lap.
Bailey
I gave Jamie a shy smile before lifting his hoodie over my head and slipping my hands into the arm holes. I’d been just fine next to the bonfire in my shorts and t-shirt, but the air had cooled significantly in the last hour or two and with the windows down, the breeze was chilly. I was grateful for the warmth of Jamie’s shirt.
It smelled like him and I didn’t even try to hide as I lifted the front if it over my nose, inhaling deeply. I’d made no secret over the fact that I loved the smell of Jamie’s cologne. He just smirked, his head shaking, when he caught me.
Ha. Just for that, I was adding this article of clothing to the stash I’d been collecting for the last few years. None of the others still smelled like him. Maybe I should start bringing them back one by one, tossing them in his hamper. Then I wouldn’t feel so guilty for keeping the ones he gives me that still smelled like him.
“I should just give you a bottle of my cologne for Christmas, Bales.” He leaned casually toward the center of the car, his hand resting easily on the gear shift between us. I knew from experience that if the windows had been closed, I’d be able to feel the warmth from his body and the air would be saturated with his scent.
I glared at him out of the corner of my eye, just barely keeping myself from admitting it wasn’t just the smell of his cologne I liked, it was the scent of the cologne mixed with the scent of him.
Yeah, I might as well admit I have a massive crush on my best friend, Jamie Barnes. It was kind of impossible not to. He was everything I’d ever dreamed I’d want in a boyfriend. Tall. Athletic. Handsome.
Handsome?
Who was I kidding?
Jamie was hot, hot, HOT!
Added to the physical attributes, which were significant, Jamie was the best friend, sweet, kind, attentive. The list went on and on.
He was also completely oblivious to my feelings, which was fine. I’d resigned myself to being in the best friend zone long ago. It just meant I had to work extra hard to hide my feelings and every now and then be completely open about some truth. Like the fact I enjoyed his cologne. When it became more than I could stand to watch Jamie work his make out magic on some other girl, I consoled myself with our friendship and rubbed my nose in his delicious scent all while reminding myself that those girls didn’t mean anything to him, but Jamie loved me. Maybe not the way I wanted him to, but he did care and there was always the hope that someday things could change.
Although, I didn’t really believe that.
We’d been friends for years and I wasn’t entirely sure he realized I was a girl. I mean, of course, he knew I was a girl, but I was convinced he still thought of me the same exact way he did when we were eight and jumped through the creek in our underwear with Dallin. In fact, they both still looked at me like that...for the most part.
Jamie pulled into his driveway and turned off the car. Dallin and I didn’t hesitate to jump out and make our way into his house through the side door that led to the basement which was basically an apartment for Jamie. His mom was some super famous author, but they still lived in our middle-class neighborhood. On the outside, the house was modest and well kept. On the inside, it was professionally decorated and tricked out with all the latest technology.
“Help yourselves, I’m gonna go change,” Jamie called over his shoulder after kicking off his shoes at the door and making his way down a short hall to his room.
“Here let me help you with that.” Dallin reached over and wiped the corner of my mouth with his thumb.
I smacked his hand as I dragged my gaze from Jamie’s broad shoulders and tight backside. “Stop it.”
Yeah, so, Dallin knew. It wasn’t super easy hiding my feelings all the time and Dallin had caught me more than once checking out Jamie when he wasn’t paying attention.
Dallin never said anything outright or asked me to clarify my feelings, but it was there between us and he got some kind of sick pleasure out of tormenting me. To be honest, I often wondered if he just thought I was appreciating Jamie’s hotness, strictly hormonal, since that was more along the lines of his own emotional abilities.
Whatever.
I absolutely loved Jamie’s apartment. He had a fluffy sectional couch angled in front of a big screen tv. In one corner, an oversized bean bag chair called my name. I stopped just long enough to grab a water from the kitchenette positioned in a different corner before launching myself into the center of the bean bag where I sank down just enough.
This was the life. Snuggling into the bean bag, I tucked my knees up to my chest inside Jamie�
�s hoodie. I could live right here for the rest of my life. I let my eyes drift closed.
I must have fallen asleep. Jamie’s voice reached me just seconds before he ran at the bean bag and jumped, landing right beside me on his knees. “Oh, no, you don’t!”
“Ugh, stop.” I swatted in his general direction, my eyes still closed, ignoring my increased heart rate when my hand connected with his washboard abs.
Think platonic thoughts, Bailey.
Easier said than done, especially when Jamie settled into the center of the bean bag, smelling fresh from a shower and curling his arms and legs all around me. I knew he didn’t mean anything by it. We used to sit like this all the time when we were kids and even now it was nothing for us to sit close during a movie. I’d woken more times than I could count on the couch with my head nestled on Jamie’s chest as it moved rhythmically up and down while he slept.
“I thought we were going to play a video game,” Jamie mumbled a few moments after laying beside me, his body relaxing with each breath.
I glanced over my shoulder to see his face tucked into my hair at the back of my neck, his eyes closed.
“I think Dallin’s already asleep.” The room was dim, the only light coming from the little lights mounted to the underside of the cabinets in the kitchenette.
Jamie snorted, lifting my hair with the force of it. “He’s such a lightweight.”
It was true. Dallin was always the first to fall asleep when we had sleepovers as kids. “He had a couple of beers.”
“Hmmm.” Jamie was falling asleep, too. The one arm and leg he had draped over me were heavy and comforting. “You guys can stay.”
I should get up. I should leave. Staying here was stupid on so many levels. Jamie didn’t think of me the way I wanted him to, the way I dreamed he would. Falling asleep wrapped in his arms and his sweatshirt was torture. Sweet torture. The kind I wanted to suffer daily. The kind I did suffer daily.
And it hurt.
It wasn’t Jamie’s fault, though. I knew it wasn’t, so I couldn’t get angry with him about it. I also couldn’t leave.
The Perks of Kissing You (Perks Book 3) Page 1