Page 278 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11
I’d felt so torn up inside and now seeing his familiar face made me feel off-kilter.
“You’re shivering,” he said. “Here.” He shrugged out of his varsity jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.
Eli saw the jacket on my shoulders and turned away.
And suddenly I couldn’t even remember why I’d been so worried. Jacob was here at the party. Offering me his jacket. When the kiss thief had literally just said that I looked beautiful, but that I’d look even better in his jacket. There was no way he wasn’t my kiss thief.
I smiled up at him, all my worries about my list of ten guys and Mr. Halifax being the mascot disappearing. It was so easy to get lost in Jacob’s calming presence. “Great game today.”
He laughed. “It was a little rocky. But we made it through. Do you want another drink?”
I stared down into my empty cup. “Absolutely.” I’d downed my second cup almost as quickly as my first.
Jacob grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the bonfire.
I really liked holding his hand. I liked it even more when he kissed me in dark closets. I wanted him to kiss me again tonight. At the party. It would just put my mind at ease. I never wanted to think about the baker’s dozen list or Mr. Halifax ever again. God, Mr. Halifax. My stomach churned.
Jacob filled my cup up at the keg and handed it back to me. And for a few seconds, we just stared at each other. His brown eyes were so comforting. If I could just stare at him all night, I had a feeling all my worries and fears over the kiss thief would disappear for good. Especially once he kissed me.
“I feel like you’re about to jab me in the eye again,” he said.
I laughed. “Stop it. You had ice cream on your face. I was just trying to help.”
“In my eye?”
I laughed again and took a sip of my beer. But I kept staring at Jacob over the rim of my cup. It was strange for someone to look so familiar yet suddenly feel so different. Jacob liked me. He’d told me as much. For a few hours there, I’d let my imagination run wild with theories about Mr. Halifax. But just because my mom had slept with her professor didn’t mean I was destined to sleep with one of my teachers. My kiss thief couldn’t possibly be Mr. Halifax. Because it was most definitely Jacob.
“What was up with your kissing booth today?” Jacob asked.
I was suddenly embarrassed about everything I’d done. I liked Jacob. So why the heck was I kissing a bunch of guys on his team right in front of him? I’d gone from zero kisses to way too manykisses. And maybe making out with my teacher.No. Stop it.I hadn’t done that. “I was just helping out the team,” I said.
“By kissing them?”
I laughed. “No. By raising money for them.”
“I have to admit. It made me a little jealous.” He slowly took a sip of his drink as he stared down at me.
The way he was looking at me made my cheeks feel hot. I wanted him to look at me just like that forever. He made me feel desired even when he wasn’t making out with me in a dark closet. I swallowed hard. “Not much to be jealous of. I’m here standing in your jacket, aren’t I?”
He smiled and leaned in a little closer.
My heart hammered against my chest. This was it. He was going to kiss me. I was sure of it.
My eyes fell to his lips. This was how I’d dreamed my first kiss would go. It was never supposed to be in some snake-infested closet with a dark stranger. It was meant to be right here. With him.
I couldn’t even count how many times I’d dreamed of it happening at this party each year. Surrounded by bonfires and laughter and music. The smell of fall in the air and the taste of Axel on my lips.
I frowned.
No, not Axel.
Jacob.
The beer was messing with my head. And an image of Mr. Halifax appeared in my head out of nowhere, chasing away the one of Axel. I took a step back.
“Hey, you okay?” Jacob asked.
“Yeah,” I lied. That unease gripping my chest had come back in a rush.
