Page 68 of The Road to Finding Us

I open my lips in anticipation but his lips don’t reach mine. Instead, they kiss my tear-stained cheeks, making me realize I haven’t stopped crying. He kisses every tear away until each and every one is gone. His lips find mine again, tasting salty against my own. Where our last kiss was full of passion, this one is so tender it almost hurts.

Aspen pulls away then, resting his forehead against mine as we both try to calm our erratic breaths.

I don’t know how long we spend gazing at each other, getting our bodies under control, but I realize something. After this kiss, I could be doing the most ordinary of things and no matter what, I will still feel this heat, of his lips against mine. Of his mark on my life. My lips have been forever burned by his, and there’s no forgetting this moment in time.

Not like I’ve ever forgotten the feel of his lips against mine.

Not when he kissed me at twenty-one.

Not when he broke me at twenty-two.

And not now, when our rekindled flame is bound to burn out.

He pulls away, looking me straight in the eyes. “Be careful how you kiss me, Lily. You might lead me to believe you actually have feelings for me.”

He pulls his hips away, letting me slowly roll down the wall. Once my feet are planted on the floor, he takes all the heat from his body away. He strolls into the bathroom as if he doesn’t have a care in the world, winking once over his shoulder and then slamming the door.

Throwing my head against the wall, I let out an audible groan.

What the hell just happened?

34

Aspen

Present

“You know I’m still here, right?” I ask Lily, walking out of the hotel bathroom with only the white towel wrapped around my hips.

She stands in the middle of the room in nothing but a bra and a new pair of jean shorts. Her clothes from last night are now sitting folded on the counter in the bathroom, after being taken down off the shower rod.

Lily looks over her shoulder, her hand moving around in her duffel bag as her hips sway to the music playing from her phone.

I lift my hand in an inviting gesture. “You can keep going if you’d like, don’t stop on my account.”

“You’re disgusting!” she says, with a shake of her head and a hint of a smile. Then she grabs her bag and stomps toward the bathroom.

I spin to face the bathroom, pleasantly surprised—and hard—after noticing her eyes trail over my shirtless body, her heated gaze still sending tingles down my spine. “You know, Lily, it didn’t seem like you thought I was disgusting about thirty minutes ago when your lips were pressed against mine and your legs were wrapped around me.”

“It was a weak moment. I’ve been lonely. Don’t flatter yourself,” she replies from the bathroom doorway.

I grin, then walk across the room to my bag. “We’re leaving in five minutes,” I tell her, as I pull out a fresh pair of boxer briefs.

“We’ll leave whenever the hell I’m ready,” her voice echoes from behind the closed door to the bathroom.

“Five minutes, Lily,” I singsong, stepping into a pair of pants.

“Go fuck yourself, Aspen,” she teases.

After pulling on a shirt, I step closer to the door to ensure she hears my next words. “Why would I do that when I could fuck you?”

Even though she’s on the other side of the door, I hear her gasp, followed shortly after by a slap to the door.

There’s that feistiness.

The shower head turns on a few moments later, and I busy myself with cleaning up the room, finally ready to complete our road trip to South Carolina today.

“You’re here!” Veronica shoots out of the front door so fast, the screen door slaps against the siding. As soon as she gets remotely close to Lily, she throws her arms around her and pulls her into a hug.

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