Page 65 of Set It Right
His scruff scraped in the opposite direction, lips touching the same spot again. “Right there. It gets darker as the summer goes on.”
“I don’t think I ever noticed it.”
Of course he had. He was Cormac. My first best friend. He knew me, even after all the distance we’d put between us—the silence that had stretched for far too long. The same boy who’d always been there. Who raced me to the river and back and convinced me I might win, even when his legs were twice as long. The same one who could make me laugh, even with tears flooding from my eyes. Who gave me hope when it was really hard to find. The person I’d missed the most, even when I was so angry at him I told myself I never wanted to see him again.
When he didn’t say anything, I opened my eyes. He was close, staring down at me instead of the natural beauty around us. And not just at my freckle—all of me. His eyes roved, taking their sweet time.
We’d hugged each other a lot. We’d been close, but never this way. I’d never been in his lap, in his arms, and we’d never kissed. Not even sweet, brief ones on the cheek.
We were never this. We were kids and innocent and loved each other, but this was a line we hadn’t crossed. I’d thought about it. Of course I had. But the time had never been right. We’d been too young, and then I’d been too sad. But now…
I leaned closer, so close his face blurred. And he didn’t move back. His breath hitched, and I held mine as I grazed my lips over his.
“Zara,” he murmured.
“Cormac,” I replied, the syllables pulling our lips together again. His were just as soft and warm as I thought they would be. And when I kissed him with intent this time, he finally let his breath go and kissed me back.
Tentative at first, like he was bracing for me to change my mind. I hooked my fingers into the fabric of his T-shirt and kissed him again, soft and slow, learning his shape.
When my tongue slid along the seam of his lips, he made a low sound in his throat, and his hands slid up my back, holding me where he wanted me.
I smiled into his mouth. I couldn’t help it. Kissing Cormac Kelly made me happy. Excited in a way I hadn’t been in a long time. Like I was overflowing with bubbles.
He noticed my smile, felt the shape of it against his lips, and his curved to match mine.
“You’re smiling,” he husked.
“So are you.” I licked his bottom lip, getting to know the taste of his happiness…and oh, was it sweet.
His fingers drifted back up into my hair, cradling the back of my head as he deepened the kiss slightly. He was being careful with me. Holding himself back. As if he were afraid he’d scare me away.
There was no danger of that.
The breeze skimmed across the lake and through my shirt, but I was warm everywhere he touched.
I shifted on his lap, angling closer without thinking, and his breath stuttered, his hands tightening at my waist.
“Zara,” he breathed again, a warning and plea wrapped into one.
“Kiss me, Cormac.”
I tugged on his hair, pulling him down and myself up. I met his lips with my teeth, nibbling and then biting, tugging, until he growled and wrapped my hair around his fist. His tongue slipped into my mouth and finally,finallymet mine.
Heat bloomed low in my stomach. The first waves of sweetness gave way to something different. Needier. Insistent. It wasn’t teasing anymore. Cormac was kissing me like hehadto, and I could barely keep myself still.
His palm molded over my side, thumb brushing just beneath the hem of my shirt. I arched instinctively, wanting more of him, wanting—
His hand shifted, sliding over the fresh ink on my hip, and pain flared, sharp and bright.
I gasped, jerking slightly. “Ah—”
He froze.
The warmth vanished as quickly as it had come, his hands lifting like he’d touched a live wire.
“Shit.” He pulled back, eyes wide, scanning my face. “I’m sorry. I forgot—your tattoo.”
“It’s okay,” I said quickly, still catching my breath. The sting throbbed under my skin. “It’s just tender.”
