Page 57 of Bonfire and Bliss Bookstore

“Since your grandfather,” I say carefully.

“I think it was too hard.”

“I get that,” I offer. “Tally was so weird about the chair my dad used to sit in. She used to get so angry when Walker or Quinn sat in it.”

He nods. “My point is…you’ve always been part of the fabric of my life. Even if we didn’t talk for years, that distance didn’t erase the past. It never erased how comfortable I am with you. How much you mean to me.”

My entire body burns with a fiery warmth. “You mean a lot to me, too, Monty.”

He squeezes my fingers. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Are you very touchy in relationships?”

I keep my gaze forward as we walk. “Um, I don’t really know. After you—” I roll my eyes. “Not like we broke up or anything because obviously we weren’t dating, but—”

“Hey, you don’t have to explain. Our relationship meant a lot to me, too. Means a lot to me, too.”

“Right.” I swallow. “It’s just, I think I was looking for a connection like ours, but in a romantic relationship, and I could never find it. I tried.” I laugh. “Like, I dated a lot.”

He winces and I rush to explain. “It’s not like I slept around. I’ve barely done that. Well, not like barely, I’m not completely inexperienced. In fact, I’m very experienced. Very good. Ten out of ten, people would say.”

Oh my God someone stop me.

Monty watches me with that amused expression again. “Ten out of ten?”

“Please do something to stop me from talking.” Monty’s brows raise. “Oh God, I didn’t mean— Fuck. Now you think I’m trying to force myself on you and I swear that’s not what—”

Stopping on the sidewalk, Monty spins us both around so I’m facing him. I almost stumble, but he catches me. Then with a hand resting on my waist, he walks me backward, easing me against a brick building and cradling my cheek.

“I’m not thinking anything of the sort, Xuxuzinho. Breathe.”

I suck in a ragged breath and try like hell not to focus on his lips, which are infinitely closer to mine than they’ve been all day. But when I look into his eyes, they are all pupils—want, need, and lust blowing them out wide.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m just wondering,” he rasps, “if, on your perfect first date, you’d be the type of girl who would want a man to kiss you.”

“For research purposes?” I whisper.

His shoulders lift in a small shrug. “Sure.”

My breathing becomes more labored. “But we haven’t gone over what it takes to have the perfect first kiss.” I swallow. “There are angles and moments and—”

Monty leans in, his mouth twitching. “Angles?” He tilts his head just so. “Like this?”

I huff out a laugh. “Monty…”

“Come on, Xuxuzinho, play with me.”

I feel the words against my mouth; the teasing is so palpable I can almost taste it. A whimper slips from my throat and those eyes go from dark to ravenous.

Monty leans just that little bit closer and my brain short-circuits as he brushes his lips faintly against my own.

At the small gesture, I lose all sense and let my hands curl around his shoulders. They find the nape of his neck and my fingers reach out to grip the dark hair I’ve always wanted to touch. A growl rumbles from deep within Monty’s chest and I can feel the vibration between us.

And then finally, Jake Montgomery slants his mouth against mine and kisses me. His lips are pillowy soft, though his hold on my jaw is anything but. His grasp is both contrlling and gentle—it’s everything I’ve ever wanted. I’m so into this dominant side of Monty that I stick my tongue out and lick at his lips. He groans against my mouth and then opens his own, allowing our tongues to move together. My entire body goes hot and a flash of want so strong courses through me, I have to cling to him just to stay upright.