Page 40 of Catching Mr. Right

“What are we doing?” she asks as I lead her from the barn out into the night. To the right of us is a bonfire. Red sparks fly up into the sky and then fall dark. Children yell and giggle as they carve dark streaks through the field, the lights from their flashlights bouncing off trees and grass and rocks.

Her hand is snug in mine, her steps wide and unhurried. When I glance at her she smiles big. So big. I get this urge to have her inked into my skin. Just like this. With the wings and the wand and the tutu. We round the corner of the barn away from the kids and everyone else, and step into the shadows. I pull her to my chest, cup her face. Her pink hair slips through my fingers as I press my forehead to hers. “Ask me again.”

“Ask you what, Cas?” Our breath mingles, her chest pressed to mine. This time I don’t try to keep space between us. I want every part of her touching every part of me. I need her to feel what she does to me and know what I ache to do to her.

“Are you going to tell him you’re a vi—”

She puts her fingers over my mouth to shut me up. “Am I going to tell the guy I plan on spending the rest of my life with that I lied to him almost from the beginning? That wouldn’t be very smart.”

“Then ask me,” I tell her.

“Are you serious?” she asks. “I know this is a huge deal for you. I can’t ask you to do something you’ll be uncomfortable with.”

I slide my hand down the wall to her hip, slip it under her tutu and between her legs. She’s wearing a leotard. It would be so easy to push the thin cloth barrier aside with her panties and penetrate her with my fingers. “Ask me.”

She whimpers at my touch, her arms winding around my neck. Her mouth seeks mine in a slow kiss. “Cas, please have sex with me? Help me get the first time out of the way.”

“Don’t have dinner with him tonight,” I whisper against her lips. “Ask me to come home with you instead.”

She pulls away slowly. “I can’t. Not tonight. If I want him to fall for me I have to be available while pretending I’m not obtainable. That’s the only way he’ll work out how good we could be together. Isn’t that why we’re playing like we’re together?”

“Right.” I let her go, stumble back as I ruffle the hair at the back of my head. I’m starting to forget what is pretend and what’s real. Of course she would choose to spend time with him when she’s always been clear from the beginning that she’s going to land him by hook or by crook. It’s time to remember I’m only her fake boyfriend. And this was my idea in the first place.

“I better go,” she says.

“Yup.” I kick at a stone that bounces against the barn before rolling back in front of my boot. “Don’t want to leave him waiting.”

As she hurries back the way we came a tear away group of older kids run past me with glow sticks in their hands. Their raised voices grate on my nerves as I jump out of the way. I don’t want to go back in the barn and watch her tell him she’s ready to leave with him. I head to the kitchen instead. May as well start on tomorrow’s prep. Whatever it takes to keep my mind occupied and away from Mandy’s pink tutu and what she’s hiding underneath.

What she’s ready to give Sam Sweets.

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