Page 27 of Choose the Bears

“I can’t.” I met the gaze of everyone here steadily and then repeated what I was saying. “Someone’s first kiss shouldn’t be from a dare. I?—”

“I don’t mind.” Lucas said that too quickly, with too much emphasis, and he pushed his glasses up his nose. “I mean… It’s OK, Imogen.”

“It’s not.” I got up abruptly, downing the rest of my drink before moving over to the stove to stir the potatoes. Piercing them with a fork, I saw they still had a way to go to boil, but I wasn’t the only one who entered the kitchen. The shy guy with the blushes wasn’t here as Lucas joined me. He sat his butt against the kitchen counter, watching me the entire time, forcing me to turn and face him. “What did you say last night?”

“You were upset, hurting. I didn’t want to kiss you like that,” he told me. Small sounds from the others made clear they were unaware of this situation.

“But a dare is better?” I set the fork down deliberately, feeling a terrible kind of tension inside me. It was the one that rose every time I was about to do something dumb. I moved then, closing the gap between us, setting one hand, then the other on either side of him. “It should be an amazing thing, beautiful.”

“Like it was with Mike?”

In a way, that was true. I’d felt like I was teetering on the edge of something, ready to jump off. Into adulthood, becoming a woman, everything, and Mike was right there with me.

Sort of.

His eyes were hazy, blinded by intoxication, making me wonder if it was me he was lurching towards or just any girl-shaped figure. Right then, it hadn’t mattered. I just wanted to jump, to get swept up in something bigger than me, a passion I read about in books but never saw in real life. Would I find it if I kissed him? I had to know, and so I had pressed my lips to his, trying to ignore the bitter taste of beer, the sloppy feel of his slack lips moving against mine. We’d kissed and kissed, and then we’d?—

“Not really,” I admitted to Lucas. That was so much easier to admit now. “That’s why you want to wait, until it’s with someone who actually means something to you. You’ll see some girl someday, and as soon as you lock eyes with her, you’ll know she’s the one. It’ll be amazing, and you’ll?—”

I had this whole speech inside my head, promising Lucas something I never received. But I wanted to. I’d wanted love at first sight and something overwhelming and amazing all at the same time. A storm that would tear me from all of the never-ending greyness of life, infusing it with passion. My speech died in my throat, not because I didn’t have the words, but because Lucas stepped in right then.

“Luc…” Asher growled, my first and only warning, because Lucas’ hands went to my jaw, tilting my head upwards so my eyes met his.

“And what if I found her?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, because apparently this dare was for him, not me. He swept in, smelling of pine trees and sea breeze, my tongue almost able to taste the salt, right before hismouth brushed against mine. His perfectly sensible advice from last night was shoved aside as I felt this.

This was the kiss I was supposed to have. Gentle at first, just a brush of his lips against mine, and when I didn’t pull away, he went in for more. Firm and growing with confidence, I wondered at his words. This couldn’t be the first time he kissed someone, not as his hands went around my waist, tugging me close. Someone was saying something, calling his name and mine, but I couldn’t hear it, not when there was this.

My hands went around his neck, holding him right where he was. One kiss bled into another. Was this what other people felt? How could all the grumpy, tired couples I saw come through my checkout treat each other like that when they had this magic at their fingertips? Every fibre of my being came alive, not just my lips as his parted mine, his tongue searching. The moment it touched, something would happen, my heart knew. The spark he’d struck would roar to life, burning me up. Perhaps that’s why the sounds grew louder, Asher forcing himself between us.

“Imogen.” His eyes burned with blue fire as he stared at me, making me shamefully aware of the way I was sucking in breaths, my lips throbbing in time with my heart. “The potatoes are about to boil over.”

I knew exactly how they felt, but there was no dial to turn down inside my body, so I was left to move blindly, finding my new colander and setting it in the sink. I dumped the potatoes into it, draining them before going to the fridge, only to find Lucas already there. He pulled it open and handed me butter and some milk with a small smile.

“Thank you,” we both said at the same time, forced to snort in response.

“As first kisses go, that was pretty damn perfect,” Lucas said finally.

“I… Ah…” I fought to put a sentence together, to say something, but my brain was offline as my body took control. My feet wanted to move, stepping closer to him. All good things in life were there, I just knew it, if I could just… The chill of the open fridge door finally filtered through. “I’m glad.”

God, that was lame.

“So, is everyone good with stew and mashed potato?” I asked, finally bringing my attention back to the room, and with it came a rush of shame. These guys had to have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars helping me and I’d… I’d pashed one of their friends with little care for the display I was making. Kyle stepped forward and I anticipated a look of disgust or irritation, only to see him smirk.

“We’re good with whatever you feel comfortable with, Imogen.”

Chapter 15

Kyle

Watching our fated mate kiss Lucas had me feeling more hope than I had business feeling. We all knew how this went. People grieved in different ways and each woman, each child, took a different path through the process when they came to us. Imogen was on her journey now, and she needed the same thing every other woman we’d helped did. Patience, support, a helping hand when needed, but not this. I shook my head, Ash’s growl reminding me of this fact, but it was only just filtering through.

Because watching her kiss our sleuth mate felt so damn right.

There was surprise in her response, and there was only one reason I could think of to explain that. If I hadn’t despised the prick she was with before, I did right now. For all intents and purposes, it was as if this was her first kiss too.

The first time with a guy who actually gave a crap about her.

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