Page 37 of No Summer Hotter than You

“A kiss.”

“That wasn’t a kiss. Give it some more umph and actually put your lips on me.”

I let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine.”

He leaned back over to me, and I gave him a half-peck on the cheek, mere millimeters from his lips. Before I could fully retract, Anthony caught me with one of his large hands behind my head. His cheeks were slightly flushed pink but not from embarrassment.

It was from simmering annoyance. I could see it in the hard edge of his eyes. He drew a long sigh into my face as his other hand came up to hold my face gently in his calloused hands.

“That was half-assed and you know it,” he murmured.

I could barely utter anything back before he closed the space between us. I tried not to whimper at the way his hard chest pressed against my now-erect nipples. Within a second, he placed a big, hot kiss against my temple and pulled away, leaving lingering trails of fire behind. It quickly ignited all over my skin, making me sweaty and bothered. Then he pulled away.

Anthony stood up tall with a triumphant smirk while my heart twisted and ached. This was all just to keep up our lie, I reminded myself. None of this is real.

“It’ll be the corner of your lips next time if you don’t come with me tonight,” he said.

A searing blush crept up my face. “Is that a threat?”

He threw me that charming, wide grin, and my stomach flipped and flopped. He casually walked out of the kitchen like he hadn’t just marked my soul. Before he stepped out of my house, he glanced over his shoulder

“With you, definitely.”

CHAPTER 15

anthony

It was that unexplainable chill I got whenever I caught Kelvin’s eyes on Shoua that made me uneasy. A man’s instinct, I suppose. I felt more and more protective of her the more I watched the way he observed her.

To remind him I was also by her side, I reached down to grab one of the legs of her chair and pulled her closer to me. The screech of the chair against the hardwood floor made everyone look up at me, surprised. Shoua’s brows shot to the sky while my parents watched me rather joyfully.

“You two are quite the lovebirds, aren’t you?” Auntie Yee said as she laughed.

Auntie Yee and Jonathan were able to make it to tonight’s dinner as well. My parents’ dining table could barely fit all nine of us. This was the first time I had seen Auntie Yee since Shoua and I declared our fake relationship. But my mom’s best friend looked completely unfazed to see her niece and me together like this. I assumed it was all probably thanks to my mom for explaining the situation and our act.

I shrugged and threw my arm on the back of Shoua’s chair possessively. “We are,” I said and grinned.

From across the table, I could see Kelvin blatantly glaring at me, and my smile pulled wider.

“Evelyn was telling us that you two will be taking her and Kelvin out on the town Saturday night,” Aunt Sue said.

“Yes, ma’am. My friend Tyson is visiting his parents from out of town for the month as well. He wanted to go out to the bars, and I thought it’d be fun to bring Evelyn and Kelvin along with us,” I answered.

I wasn’t sure whether to ask both Evelyn and Kelvin to go with us. My mom made me promise to be hospitable toward all her guests and show them a good time. And I was trying my best to, even though I was still worried about them.

Evelyn was all bark and no bite. However, Kelvin didn’t bark or bite aside from leering at Shoua and then glaring at me. He was an enigma. His presence cast a shadow over Shoua whenever they were in the same vicinity, and that made me felt like I should keep my guard up around him.

“Will it just be the six of you then?” my dad asked, glancing at Jonathan.

“No, I believe it’ll be nine of us,” he answered.

“I’ve asked Jackie and Alicia and her boyfriend to come with us as well,” Shoua said. She turned to Evelyn with a genuine look of excitement. “We won’t be the only women having to put up with these stupid men.”

She gave Evelyn this cute little smile, drawing my attention to her lips—plump, bright red, and wet. Shoua was trying to be cordial with Evelyn. But the other woman simply stared back without saying anything. The atmosphere became tense as their conversation dwindled to nothing as Evelyn stared at the empty bowl in front of her.

For dinner, we ate cold Vietnamese vermicelli bowls since today had been an unbearably hotter than it was forecasted. No one wanted to turn on the stove and make it any hotter in the house. I fucking love the balance of the bowls with fresh veggies, herbs, pickled daikon, carrots, and charbroiled meat. It’s light and refreshing, especially when the weather is hot.

“Sounds like you all will have a good time,” Aunt Sue said with a smile. She glanced at Evelyn. “You’re always holed up in your apartment and you hardly go out even though you’re twenty-eight. This will be a great chance for you to finally learn to socialize.”

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