And I kissed him back.
It felt right, like it was the exact thing we needed to do in that moment. His taste flooded my mouth as our lips and tongues met, his strong arms and hands pulling me tightly against him. Some small voice in the back of my head said something about it being wrong, but I ignored it.
I wanted him. I wanted him badly and always had. On top of that cliff, after following him up there, after he talked me down from my panic attack, I knew I was his. I knew I needed to kiss him.
After a minute, he pulled away, smiling softly.
And that voice came screaming back. The voice that kept saying, over and over, he’s your stepbrother
.
“Reid . . .” I said.
He shook his head, cutting me off. “We don’t have to talk. That was all I wanted to say anyway.”
I sighed. “It looks amazing up here.”
He began to strip off his gear. “You looked amazing on the wall.”
“Yeah right. I probably looked terrified the whole time.”
“Seriously. You looked like you belonged up there.” He paused and looked at me. “Still do.”
I wanted to tell him what I thought, wanted to tell him that when he climbed he looked like a shark swimming through the open ocean, but I couldn’t.
Instead, I said, “How do we get down, anyway?”
He laughed. “We’ll hike. It’s maybe another hour to get back down.”
I nodded. “Sounds good to me.” I began to remove my climbing gear.
“It’ll be a nice opportunity to watch that fine ass of yours.”
“I just got enough of looking at your ass to last a lifetime.”
“You love my ass. You can’t get enough of staring at me.”
I laughed and shook my head. “No, thanks.”
“Quit pretending. I bet under all that climbing gear, you’re soaking wet. Probably want me to fuck you right here on the side of the cliff.”
“Sounds dangerous,” I said.
But really what I meant to say was, please
.
“A little danger will only make you come that much harder.”
I blushed and looked away. “Okay, enough. Let’s head out.”
He tossed me a water bottle and stuffed the climbing gear into his backpack. “Follow me, college girl.”
We set off together down the trail, winding back toward the car.
As we walked, we joked and laughed and it felt like all the distance between us, the years and the miles, was melting away. The kiss and how badly I wanted more probably helped.
Out in the woods with only cocky Reid around, I felt more at home than I had in a long time.
Chapter Ten: Reid
I was on top of the world.
Maybe it wasn’t the highest peak I had ever climbed, and definitely far from the hardest, but Becca made it the best. Standing up there, the smile huge on her face, excited about her accomplishment, I couldn’t stop myself.
I had absolutely no regrets. I’d kiss her a thousand times more.
Even a day later, her kiss still lingered, long after her taste faded. I could still somehow feel her, as if her lips left a mark on mine. I felt stupid even thinking that, but it was the truth. Becca was the first girl to really get under my skin, even back then, even back when we first really saw each other.
I still remembered it. It was impossible to forget.
It was senior year, not too long before graduation. One of the guys in our class, some rich kid I can’t even remember anymore, decided to throw a huge bash while his parents were out in Seattle.
For us, that was a lifetime away. The big city was only a dream a very select few of us ever achieved. Even this rich kid’s parents weren’t all that rich, really more like upper middle class at best, but their house was decent sized and the kid got plenty of kegs.
Back then, the only thing I cared about was trying to fuck as many girls as I possibly could, and it turned out that I wasn’t half bad at it. As that night wore on, and I went from one room to the next, for some reason I couldn’t settle down. I had plenty of chances, plenty of girls were probably willing, but something made me keep wandering around.
That was when I saw her.
“You’re Becca, right?” I asked, trying to be cool. The truth was, I knew exactly who she was. I couldn’t stop noticing her, even when other people didn’t.
“Yeah. You’re Reid,” she said.
“And I’m Lindsey.”
I saw her friend for the first time.
“Oh, hey, Lindsey.” She giggled and I looked back at Becca. “So, can I get you a drink?”
“Sure, I guess.” She bit her lip and it made my dick stir like nothing else.
“Cool,” I said, and turned away to grab her a beer. When I came back, her friend had mysteriously vanished. “Where’d your friend go?” I asked.