Page 54 of The Love Trick

My appetite is nonexistent, but she might be hungry.

“Okay, well, it… I… I don’t know why I kissed you like that. It just seemed like the right thing to do in the moment.”

“I see…” Addy’s voice trails off. She takes a long sip of wine, and runs her fingers over her red-tinged lips. “How about we play a game of truth or dare?”

Uh oh. I don’t like this.

“Or we could just talk,” I choke out. “Your games always end with me doing something stupid—like streaking across the neighbor’s yard.”

She giggles, her lips curling into a relieving smile. “We were young and dumb college students when that happened. I’mnotgoing to send you streaking.”

I huff. “Fair enough. Go ahead.”

“Okay, truth or dare.”

“Uh, truth?” I offer, taking a sip of wine.

“Why did you kiss me last night?”

Of course, that’s how she’s doing this.I run my hands through my hair. “I already answered you. I really don’t know.”

“Hmm,” she says, sipping on her wine again. “Okay, your turn.”

I dare you to kiss me again.The intrusive thought makes my heart pound harder in my chest. “Truth or dare,” I say.

“Truth.”

“Okay…” I try to come up with a question that’s worth something, and I think hard about everything that’s transpired over the last few days.Got it.“What did you say to me the other night when you were drunk and we were dancing? It was something about college.”

She furrows her brows again. “I don’t remember.”

“Well, this is going well.” I chuckle, and right as I do, her cheeks grow red. “What?”

“I remember now.” Her eyes meet mine.

“Well?” I’m on the edge of my seat—hypothetically speaking, of course.

“I had the biggest crush on you in college.” She diverts her gaze to her glass. “I know how silly that sounds, but you were pretty muchallI thought about back then.”

I nearly choke on the air I suck in. “Wow.”

“Wow?” She frowns. “That’s it? Did you know or something?”

I shake my head. “No, I … I had no idea. I always thought you weren’t into me.” My head starts spinning as I set my glass down, and it’snotbecause of the wine. I want to ask Addy if she’s been into me at any other point in time, but that’s not how the game works. “Your turn.”

“Truth or dare, Blaze?” She holds my gaze.

My heart pounds in my chest. I’m terrified of what she might ask me if I saytruth.I suddenly feel like I’m twenty-one all over again, contemplating telling Addy I’m in love with her. I never did it. I couldn’t bring myself to say the words, terrified of rejection and losing her.

“Blaze?” Addy snaps her fingers. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” I say. “Haven’t done that one yet.”

She narrows her eyes. “Okay, well…” Addy rolls her lips, and my eyes drop to them, hanging there, dying to taste the wine on her tongue. And it’s as if she reads my mind. “I dare you to kiss me again.” Her eyes burn with a fire I’ve never seen before, and my body moves of its own accord before my brain can stop me.

My lips collide with hers, and this time, neither of us hesitates to lose ourselves in this moment. I’m all over her, slipping her wine glass from her hand and knocking it over in the sand. I cover every inch of her mouth, like my body has been desperate to make up for a decade of denying my feelings for her.

Addy threads her fingers through my hair, pulling me impossibly closer as she parts her lips for me. I trace my thumb along the curve of her jaw, relishing in the softness of her skin as I deepen the kiss, pouring all of my hidden feelings into this moment. She tastes like raspberries and summer heat, a mixture that I could get drunk on forever.

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