Page 90 of These Pucking Boys: Part Two

His lips curl into a crooked smile. “I’d never. You have a bit of a smear here. Let me get that for you.” He uses his furry sleeve to wipe the corner of my mouth, but I’m afraid he’s just making it worse.

I grab his wrist, stopping him. “I have tissues in my purse.”

“Do I have red lipstick all over my face too?” Lachy asks.

Jake and Ryan turn to him and answer in unison. “Yes.”

My phone rings as I’m pulling the tissue packet from my purse. I hand the tissues to Lachy, then answer my phone. “Hello?”

“June, where are you guys?” Maya asks.

“We just got here.”

“Oh, thank God. I have to warn you, Wendy is pissed that you’re late.”

“Come on. It’s a Halloween party, not a wedding.”

“I know, but she saw your earlier posts trick-or-treating with your friend, and she almost had a stroke. She thinks you’re stealing the spotlight from her.”

“How did I do that?”

“The press is here. They always cover her parties. But you posted to social media first with your Halloween shenanigans. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but that’s Wendy.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Should we even bother going in?”

“You have to. If you don’t show up at all, it’ll be worse.”

“Is there a problem, Peaches?” Ryan steps closer.

I glower at him. He needs to stop calling me by my nickname.

“Who’s that?” Maya asks.

“That was Jake,” I lie.

“Really? It sounded like Ryan.”

“Nope. Okay, we’re coming in now. See you soon.”

I end the call but stop the boys from going farther. “Before we go in, please remember that I’m Jake’s girlfriend only. Nonicknames, no touching, and definitely no kissing.” I make a point of looking at Lachy.

“We know,” Ryan replies.

“Yeah, lass. Don’t worry.”

Jake moves closer and rests his hands on my ass. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll keep the lion and the scarecrow away from your picnic basket.”

He squeezes my butt, pulling me flush against his body. I can guess how he plans to do that. It wouldn’t be a terrible thing, hooking up with one of my boyfriends in Wendy’s house, if I didn’t want all my boyfriends to participate. Since we can’t do that, I’ll save the group activities for later.

Jake takes my hand in his and steers us into the party. The first thing I see is the photographer and camera person ready to document our entrance, and I remember that I never wiped off the lipstick smear. I stop in my tracks and turn to Jake. “Kiss me.”

He widens his eyes, but his surprise only lasts a couple of seconds before he cups my face and slants his mouth over mine. I part my lips, urging Jake to kiss me hard and fast.

“Get a room!” Ryan yells.

Jake and I part, but my lips still tingle from the obliterating kiss. I drop my gaze to his lips and grin, satisfied my plan worked. He has lipstick all over his mouth, which means I do too. Now I have a solid excuse for the makeup mishap and, hopefully, no one will notice if Lachy did a shoddy job cleaning his face.

“Ready now?” Jake smirks.

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