Page 3 of Barron's Second Chance
The air rushed out of Eden in a relieved puff. “Me, too,” she quickly told him.
Elation flooded her that she could finally admit her feelings for him, thrilled that he felt the same.
Without another word, Barron framed her face in his hands before bending down to place his warm, soft lips on hers.
An explosion of goosebumps prickled out on her skin at the contact. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the mechanics of the kiss when all she wanted to do was throw her hands in the air and do a happy dance.
Eden slowly moved her mouth against his. She had seen a lot of kisses in movies and knew that you had to move your mouth against theirs.How did the tongue come into play?
Ohhh…
Barron’s tongue felt soft and slimy against hers. Not unpleasant, but the texture of another tongue in her mouth was a bit of a surprise at first.
“Okay?” Barron asked against her mouth. “Do you want to stop?”
Eden shook her head. No fricken way was she stopping this dream. Eden tilted her head and covered his lips with hers, feeling more confident and wanting to impress Barron. This time, when her mouth opened and she felt his tongue stroke against hers, she gave a delighted shiver. Barron curved his arms around her waist, and she instinctively wrapped hers around his shoulders, clasping her hands behind his neck. Their kiss became more and more intense as they enthusiastically ate at each other’s mouths.
They ended up staying behind the curtain for a lot longer than two minutes. They only came up for air when their classmates got bored and yanked the curtain back. They all got a good show of her arms around Barron's neck, his hands on her ass, and their tongues deep in each other's mouths.
From that day on, the two of them weren’t only best friends. They were officially boyfriend and girlfriend, much to the delight of their moms. Their crush quickly turned into love. Eden knew they were End Game, no matter what the future held. Just like Barron promised.
2
Heartbreak
Somethingwaswrong.
Eden was on the third week of her seven-week vacation with her mom. It was the summer break before her senior year in high school, and they were visiting her grandparents, who had recently relocated to Pensacola
Eden hadn't wanted to go. What seventeen-year-old wanted to spend their summer break hanging with their mom and grandparents? She wanted to be back home in New Haven, spending it with her best friends. And Barron. Her boyfriend of three years.
The moment she and Barron admitted their feelings for each other - the evening of Brad Templeton’s fourteenth birthday party - they had been inseparable. If they weren’t together, they were in constant contact. Texting, calling, or video chatting.
So that was why Eden found it peculiar that she hadn't heard from her normally devoted boyfriend in two days. She knew that his cousin, Simon, was visiting and that Barron planned on spending it hanging out together and introducing him to their friends.
Something was wrong.
At the start of her trip to Florida, Eden talked with Barron every day, multiple times. However, something began to feel off toward the beginning of their third week apart. Barron was distant, almost eager to get off the phone with her.
When she confronted him, he excused his behavior by saying that Simon was keeping him busy, so she hadn't thought anything more of it. She missed him desperately, though, and was having serious withdrawal symptoms from being unable to be near him or talk with him whenever she wanted.
But the last thing Eden wanted to be was a clingy girlfriend. So she had accepted his excuses at face value.
Then, towards the end of the third week, he stopped picking up her calls altogether and declining her video chats. Her texts were answered sporadically, but they seemed impersonal.
Barron: I can't talk tonight, sorry.
Barron: Everything's fine. Simon's just nonstop.
Barron: Kinda tired tonight. Raincheck?
Barron: Yeah, miss you too.
Even more concerning, Sofia - who had no trouble keeping in contact with her while she was away - had informed Eden that she hadn't spoken to or seen Barron. They were both good friends, so it wasn't unusual for Sofia and Barron to hang out if she wasn't present.
He wasn't with their other friends, either. In fact, Sofia informed her that she had seen Barron and Simon hanging out with Brad and his crew.
Brad was captain of the football team. He was king of the "in" crowd, which included most of the jocks and the cheer squad. Yes, their high school really was that cliche. Sure, he was cute, but he was nothing compared to her boyfriend.
