Page 33 of Dotted Lines (Runaway 5)

I gasped and sat up, scrambling out of Karson’s hold. Tent. We were in the tent. We were in his . . . bed.

He stirred, cracking open his eyes. Then he stretched an arm over his head and the movement caused his shirt to ride up, revealing a peek at those washboard abs. “Morning.”

“Morning.” I gulped and looked down at myself. Still clothed. Then last night came rushing back.

The Cadillac. The stars. The beers.

The kiss.

We’d come back to the tent after Karson had kissed me.

Oh my God. Karson had kissed me. A lot. He’d kissed me a lot, a lot.

My fingertips drifted to my swollen lips. Holy. Shit.

Karson Avery had kissed me. I held back a squeal.

The shock on my face must have woken Karson up completely because he sat up, his eyes on alert. “Clara.”

“You kissed me.”

He nodded. “That’s all that happened.”

That’s all? It was a kiss. A freaking kiss. Something I’d wanted for months and months and months. “I remember.”

“Are you—”

“Good. Great! I’m great. Except I have a headache.” Though I couldn’t tell if the spinning was because I was experiencing my first hangover or because of the kiss.

“Yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I do too.”

What did we do now? There was no way I’d be kissing him again until I brushed my teeth. My mouth was dry and tasted . . . blech. Beer breath was awful. Though I didn’t have a mirror, my hair was most certainly a mess.

Aria was going to take one look at me and . . . know. Oh my God. My stomach pitched. She was going to know. There was no way I’d be able to hide my puffy lips and this perma-grin from my sister. My secret crush was about to be the talk of the junkyard.

My head throbbed as I forced myself to unsteady feet. “I’d better go.”

“Clara, wait.”

I didn’t stop moving. “Thanks for the, um . . . see ya.”

Leaving him in the tent, I hurried outside and into the bright morning sun. I winced as my temples pounded but dragged in some air and put one foot in front of the other. When I passed the Cadillac, I kept my gaze on the path, refusing to let myself look at the hood.

The hood where Karson had kissed me.

What did this mean? This was a good thing, right? Karson. Avery. Kissed. Me.

Except at the moment, I kind of wanted to hurl. Pressing a hand to my stomach, I hustled to the truck, hopped in and gathered my towel and shower supplies.

“Morning.” Aria was on her bed with the novel she’d had last night.

“Hi. Sorry. I was in the tent. I, uh, fell asleep.”

She shrugged. “I figured. I crashed early. This book wasn’t good enough to stay up late with.”

I ducked my chin, hoping to keep my face hidden until I could assess the damage. Luckily, my hair was hanging everywhere like a curtain. “I’m taking a shower.”

“’Kay.”