Page 50 of Timid (Lark Cove 2)

The kiss turned from hot to scorching in an instant. I wrapped her up tight, forgetting her hair as my hands traveled up and down her back. When she didn’t push away, I went farther, molding my palms to the curves of her ass.

“Jackson,” she moaned into my mouth. Her arms clutched me like I was going to run away.

But I wasn’t going anywhere.

I poured everything I had into this kiss, not wanting her to forget it anytime soon. When I showed up at her camp tomorrow morning, I wanted her running toward me, not away.

So with her ass in my hands and her tits against my chest, I devoured her. I led the way and she followed, copying my every move like we’d kissed a million times. The strokes. The nips. The flutter of a tongue. It was magic.

It was . . . not the first time.

I broke away from Willa, panting for breath. She stood back and looked up at me with hooded eyes. Her lips were swollen and her hair mussed.

I’d seen it all before except it wasn’t from my dream. A night I’d forgotten came rushing back, fast, sending me rocking backward on my heels.

I caught my breath and scowled down at Willa. “When were you going to tell me that we’ve kissed before?”

“When were you going to tell me that we’ve kissed before?”

He remembered? Oh. Shit. I didn’t cuss much, but this situation called for a curse word, even if it was mental.

“Um, never?”

His jaw clenched. “Never?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “Maybe someday.” No, never.

Jackson shook his head, taking a few moments to put it all together. “That’s why you were pissed and avoiding me. Not because I called you Willow.”

“Right,” I admitted.

The timing was ironic. On the walk home, I’d made the decision to let go of our playground kiss. Since Jackson was oblivious to that night, I wasn’t going to hold it against him any longer. But just my luck, he remembered.

I’d been hoping to avoid this conversation for all eternity, but the look on Jackson’s face told me there’d be no getting out of an explanation.

What I really wanted to do was run upstairs and bury my red face in a pillow. This discussion was going to bring on a whole new level of humiliation, worse than even the going-to-school-naked dream I’d had for two months straight my junior year.

“I can’t believe you didn’t fucking tell me we’ve kissed before.” Jackson was fuming. “When was it? At a party? At the bar? I assume I was drunk. I never would have forgotten you otherwise.”

That actually made me feel a teensy bit better.

I didn’t get a chance to answer because he slammed a hand down on my banister. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me when I showed up here that first night?”

“You forgot,” I hissed, looking over my shoulder to make sure we hadn’t woken up my parents. My embarrassment fizzled away as my temper spiked.

Jackson didn’t get to be mad. He didn’t get to yell at me. He was the one who forgot!

I turned and stomped up two stairs, leaving him behind with a hair swish, but when my foot landed on the third, I spun back around and poked a finger toward his nose.

“Why didn’t I tell you? Uh, why do you think?” I asked with an eye roll. “Do you think that’s something I wanted to admit? That a guy who I’ve known for years, the one who calls me by the wrong name, randomly wanders into a park one night and kisses me? Then the next day, he doesn’t remember who I am? Golly gee, I wonder why I didn’t say anything.”

I whipped back around and pounded up the remaining stairs. With the pruning Mom and I had done on the flowers earlier, I could actually stomp without leaving flower carcasses in my wake.

“Willa, wait.” Jackson’s footsteps sounded behind me, but I didn’t stop. I kept going right to my always-unlocked door and straight inside, slamming it closed behind me.

“Grr!” My growl filled the dark room.

I kicked off my flip-flops, sending them flying across the loft in different directions. Then I whirled back to the door and jerked it open.