“Sorry?” I pulled free of his grip on my dress, crossing my arms.
“What the hell was that back there?”
“A kiss. Where’s yourgirlfriend?I’m sure she’d be glad to show you what it’s like.”
Finn’s nostrils flared. “He’s a kid, Ember. And you’re leading him on.”
I laughed. “Eli is far from a kid, Finn, and I’m not leading anyone on.”
“You know damn well that’s a lie.”
My chest was on fire, my skin hot to the touch. I was so angry at his audacity and yet I expected it. I bet on it.
I craved it.
“It’s not a lie,” I combatted. “And I’m not sure where you get off thinking you know so much about me.”
Finn took a large step into my space, the move so quick I backed up without my brain firing off the signals to my body at all. It was instinct, prey being cornered by a predator. My back hit the wall of the building, fingertips pressing into the brick, heart leaping into my throat as Finn brought his face within inches of mine.
“I told you once and I’ll tell you again — no one in the world knows you like I do. And I know you’re leading him on. Want to know how?” Another inch of space destroyed — along with my composure. “Because I tick the same twisted way you do, Firefly. I beat to the same fucked-up drum. And that kiss back there?” He pointed toward the end of the alley. “That was all a show. For me.”
I bit my lips together, shoving against his chest even as my voice sputtered out weakly. “You wish—”
“I don’t have to wish, love. You wanted me to watch? You wanted me to fume? To chase after you? Well, you got what you asked for. I’m here. Now,” he said, pressing in another centimeter, just enough for my breath to catch in my throat. “Look me in the eyes and tell me what you really want to saybecause I know it isn’t that you’re over me and moving on with that cuttlefish.”
My labored breath betrayed my arrogance. “Real mature.”
“I think we’re done pretending we’re that, aren’t we?”
I skirted the wall, slipping past him as I rolled my eyes. “Eli’s nice. And interested. And, perhaps the best bonus of all, he doesn’t have a girlfriend.” I gave a tight-lipped smile with that. “Speaking of which, maybe you should focus on Gisella and stay out of my business.”
I turned with those words, ready to sway back inside and leave him there fuming. I had no idea what game I was playing at. I couldn’t untangle my emotions, all of them blurring together until I wasn’t sure if there were ten different strings or if it was just one very long string in a very complicated knot.
Was I angry or was I excited? Did I hate him or love him still? Was my heart racing from the adrenaline of revenge or from the anticipation of his next move?
I didn’t get the chance to figure it out.
Because I took two steps and then a hand caught me by the elbow, spun me hard, slid into my hair, curled around my neck — right where that lapwing tattoo was — and pulled me in.
Finn kissed me.
And every nerve in my body detonated at once.
My lungs collapsed, something between a gasp and a moan rumbling out of me as my hands found his shirt and gripped the fabric tight. I was already kissing him back before my brain even registered that it was happening — before the consequences could catch up, before I remembered the cameras, the crew, Gisella.
ButGod, he felt the same.
His hands were still strong and sure where they gripped me, one fastened around the back of my neck and the other sliding in to frame my face, his thumb hard on my jaw. His lips were stillwarm and firm, his tongue tasting like a thousand memories as it swept inside my mouth and eviscerated any other thought.
It was just a kiss, and yet it was a sensation overload.
Everything was right again — even though what we were doing was so, so wrong.
I melted into it, intohim, my fingers curling into his shirt and pulling him closer. Two years evaporated like boiling water turning to steam, all the bad blood whisked away on the next whip of cool sea breeze against our skin.
This was why Eli could never measure up — why no one would.
No one felt like Finn Pearson.