Page 42 of The Best Wrong Move

Dom closes his eyes and brushes the tip of his nose against mine, our lips teasing one another, just a fraction of an inch away.

The heat of his breath finds the back of my throat. My heart hammers right beneath his.

Then he squeezes the curve of my hip and groans, like he’s trying to decide what to do next.

He kisses me once more on the lips, a feather-light kiss compared to the type we’ve just shared, and drops his head, pressing his forehead into my sandy shoulder.

“I didn’t realize this would be so hard,” he says, gripping my hip harder, as if trying to regain control of his next move.

I smile into his hair, biting my lip again while he still can’t see me.

“I should have known you’d be a phenomenal actress.” He pulls back to look into my eyes, searching for an answer, as if that wasn’t a statement, but rather, a question. I close my eyes for another kiss, but his lips stop short, hovering just over the top of mine, waiting.

“I’ve never been able to act before,” I whisper breathlessly into his lips.

Then I keep my eyes closed and force my smile away, hoping he leans in to kiss me one more time.

But, to my surprise, I feel him roll off me instead.

Chapter 27

I’m two mai tais in and Dom is starting to look more and more like a blurry combo of Zac Efron and Jason Momoa. At least, when it comes to his stature, and the intensity of his green eyes.

After the sun disappeared on the beach — and he left me thoroughly confused about what’s real and what’s part of this game — Dom suggested we grab a late dinner at Cliff’s again. This time just us, without his friends.

Now, the acoustic musician in the corner is playing a slowed-down version of“Brown Eyed Girl” while I watch the happy faces of everyone around us. With Dom sitting close by, no one has dared come near me or make a smartass comment about that clip. For the first time in weeks, I feel totally relaxed, knowing both he and Cliff would jump to my rescue if I needed them.

I turn to him, grabbing hold of his pie-tin-sized bicep.

“This is why I came here,” I announce.

He grins. “You came for the mai tais or the music? Both are pretty good, right?”

He takes my drink and pushes the straw aside, taking a sip. He’s been nursing a Kona Cream Ale all evening, but every once in a while, he steals a gulp of my mixed drink. If anyone else was doing that, I’d tell them to get their own. Even Rex. But for some reason, when Dom does it, I kind of like it. In fact, I kind ofloveit.

I laugh. “No.This.” I dramatically circle my arms around the room, then hold my hand out toward the soft waves rolling in under the moon, just past the bar’s edge. “I’ve never been to a place that so easily feels like...” I try to come up with the right word. “Well, for lack of a better way to say it, this all feelsfamiliar. But I’ve never been to this island before, so I don’t know how that is.”

The flames from the torches near our table are reflected in Dom’s eyes, making them flicker with firelight.

“It sneaks up on you, doesn’t it?” He smiles faintly, his eyes drinking me in, and I swallow hard. I don’t know if it’s the drinks or the ambiance in here, but he looks downright dangerous tonight. His darkened tan from our day of surfing is setting off the gold firelight dancing in his eyes.

“Cliff’s mai tais?” I giggle, holding the straw between my teeth. “Yeah. He makes them pretty strong.”

“Well, yeah, those too.” He laughs, and I memorize the sound so I can play it back in my mind later tonight. “But no, I mean this place. The whole island. There’s something about being here that’s always felt like home to me. It’s why I still call it home. Every time I leave, I just want to come back.”

“I was ready to get on a plane and not look back a few days ago,” I remind him.

“Why else do you think I asked you out? I had to keep you around, right?”

My stomach twists at the wordsasked you out. His hand grips the bottle, then wipes a drip of condensation swiftly up the side. The humidity in the air makes everything sweat here, even the drinks.

“I’m glad I agreed to come here with you that first night. Even if it was all just an act for Rex.”

I hold my breath, hoping he tells me I’m wrong. That he really just asked me because deep down he wanted to.

He leans over to take another sip of my cocktail, pushing the straw — the straw that had just been in my mouth a moment ago — aside with his tongue, while I try not to stare. His fingers are long and strong. I bite my lip and look away.

His mouth hovers over the rim of my glass, lips parting with a grin, as if reliving an inside joke in his head.

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