Page 84 of Teach Me How

“It’s not like that every time.” He pushes a lock of hair behind my ear, giving me a lopsided grin. “I didn’t sleep with her. Do I get credit for that?”

The idea of him sleeping with her or any other woman sends an electric charge of anger through my stomach. And right then and there, I decide I’m not going to set him up on more dates. Some day, he’s going to pull his head out of his ass and find himself a good woman. Unless one of us is willing to make drastic changes, that woman won’t be me. That idea fills me with anger and frustration in ten different shades. I would never get in the way of Skyler finding happiness, but I won’t be the one to hook him up.

My heart can’t take it.

“It just didn’t work out. No harm, no foul.” His voice is soft.

“Okay.” My gaze drops to my feet. There are plenty of things I’d like to say, but it wouldn’t make either of us feel any better. It wouldn’t fix things.

He plants his hands on either side of my cheeks and angles my face toward his. “I really want to kiss these lips right now.”

Warmth glows in my tummy. “People would see.”

His gaze is locked on mine. “What people?”

“My brother, for one.”

He keeps his hands on my face, glancing over his shoulder. “They’ve moved on.”

Sure enough, they’re gone. And while there’s a steady flow of foot traffic, we’re standing back behind the stands. Nobody’s really looking at us. And damn it if I don’t want to feel those lips on mine. “Okay, just one quick…”

My words are cut off when he bends down, crushing his lips against mine. My lips are still parted and his tongue slides right in, swirling fiercely with mine. A quiet moan, almost a whimper, gets caught in my throat and he pulls back.

His thumb drags across my lower lip, and he raises his eyes to meet mine. “It’s not always like this.”

I can’t tell if he’s talking to himself or issuing me a warning. But I already know that. I’ve experienced your run-of-the-mill love with Jonah, and the chemistry between Skyler and me blows that off the face of the earth.

It’s going to be hard to compare.

56.

Skyler

These little touches are completely innocent.

That kiss wasn’t, but the brush of my arm along hers is.

And if I put my hand on the small of her back, it’s purely to make sure we aren’t separated in the thick crowd.

The relationship between us is confusing at best. We never put a full stop on our little experiment or the agreement to stay exclusive to each other. I’m assuming that blind date of hers was a signal that it’s time to move on. But since we haven’t officially parted ways, I’m working on a pitch to abandon Harvest Fest in favor of my bedroom. She’s looking cute and cuddly in a flannel shirt and tight jeans that hug her ass. My fingers itch to touch her body, but we know damn near everyone in this crowd, and that would certainly get tongues wagging.

And if word gets around, Josh will hear about it. He’ll want answers, and I’ve never been good at lying to him.

So instead of sticking my hand in her back pocket like I want to, I settle for innocently guiding her through the thickest parts of the crowd.

Sure, we could have skirted around. Taken a less busy route. But going through the heart of the thoroughfare means I have no choice but to hold on to her.

Nobody could blame me for that.

Still, if I wasn’t doing anything wrong, then I wouldn’t feel that pang of guilt when Reese’s mom, Lisa, finds us in the crowd.

Her gaze drops to my hand, which is planted on Reese’s back. I immediately let it drop and Lisa turns to Reese, too excited to focus on what my hand was doing on her daughter’s back. “Reese. I have been looking everywhere for you.”

Reese looks distracted. “We haven’t made it ten feet. These crowds are ridiculous. I don’t remember Harvest Fest being this busy.”

I bite back a smile.

Lisa is looking back over her shoulder. “Why don’t you come over to the stage, honey? The worship band is about to get started.”

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