Ashley

Kris Argent's kisses were time-stopping. That's how I felt as soon as his lips touched mine. Like the world had stopped moving around us just so we could exist in our tiny bubble a little longer.

There were no rushed movements, none of those frenzied actions like the ones I'd read in my romance books. No. Kris took his time. Each stroke of his lips slow and deliberate like he couldn't imagine being anywhere else, but here.

He cupped my jaw, his fingers fanning my neck while his thumb caressed my cheek. Tiny sparks danced across my skin at his touch, making me forget everything from earlier. All thoughts about Dylan, Shane, and what happened at Oakwood High vanished. The only thing that mattered was Kris and his mind blowing kisses.

I wrapped my arms around him, fingers finding their way into his silky hair as he gently pushed me onto my back and hovered on top of me. A low groan rumbled from his chest when I accidentally pulled on his locks. He parted from me for a second, giving me just enough time to suck in a breath before his lips were on mine again. This time with an urgency that knocked the air right out of my lungs.

He tilted my head to the side, deepening the kiss. His lips moved over mine in a rhythm that sent my heart soaring and made heat unfurl low in my abdomen. Kris nipped at my bottom lip and my grip tightened on him as his tongue darted out to soothe the pain. A moan escaped me when he repeated the motion and my body arched up, seeking more.

More of his warmth. More of his kisses. More of him.

But Kris suddenly pulled away, his chest heaving and eyes hooded as he stared down at me. "That should work... I think."

I blinked at him, still dazed by his kisses. I didn't even remember what we were talking about. "Yeah?"

Kris lied down on his back beside me, staring up at the ceiling. "It's...it's getting late. We should go to sleep."

A tiny flicker of disappointment flared in my chest at the sudden dismissal. Maybe he didn't like it as much as I did. God, I was such an idiot. I shouldn't have suggested doing more. What was I even thinking?

Now things were going to be all awkward and it would be my fault. I cleared my throat, pushing those thoughts aside.

"Yeah. Goodnight Kris," I mumbled and turned to the other side so that my back was facing him. There was no way I was going to look him in the eye after what I just pulled.

"Goodnight," Kris replied. There was some shuffling behind me and then the lamps were turned off, plunging us into darkness.

It didn't take Kris long to fall asleep and start snoring softly once the lights went out. But I stayed awake, completely losing track of time as I stared at the glow in the dark sticker someone had pasted on the opposite wall.

And for once in my life it had nothing to do with my insomnia and everything to do with the man sleeping beside me.

***

It had been six days and seventeen hours since Kris Argent had kissed me. Yes, I was counting. Why? I wasn't sure.

Maybe because one single kiss had blown my mind and completely rewired my brain chemistry. Oh my God, why did he have to be such a good kisser? Why couldn't he be a mediocre kisser like Dave from my old neighborhood?

Looking back, kissing Dave wasn't the wisest decision of my life. It was sloppy, his lips were chapped, and it felt like I was kissing a cardboard cutout. But I was desperate to kiss a boy before entering high school like all my other friends had and Dave was there.

But that wasn't the point. The point was that Kris was nothing like Dave. He was nothing like any boy I'd kissed before. I could be getting a little too ahead of myself, but his kiss felt like it was straight out of a romance novel.

The sparks, the heart flutters, the heat pooling in my belly? It was everything I'd ever read in books. And now that I had experienced it first hand, it had to be with my fake boyfriend.

My fake boyfriend who disliked kissing me so much that he straightaway went to sleep after and never brought it up again.

The next morning, I had woken up alone in the attic and when I'd gone downstairs in search of Kris, I found him chatting with his friends in the kitchen. He had smiled at me like he always did and offered me coffee.

That's it. That was all I got from him. No mention of the earth shattering kiss whatsoever.

Ugh, it was so frustrating! I had no idea what was going through his head and I couldn't even discuss it with April and Nicole. If they saw me this freaked out over a simple kiss, they would be suspicious and I would blow our cover.

I groaned and banged my head on the table when I got distracted by the memory of our kiss again. It was like my brain had shoved all other information aside and decided to focus on that sole memory. It was driving me nuts.

It didn't help that Kris and I had both been busy these past few days and hadn't had the chance to meet each other face to face and talk things out. As a result, not only had I been scatterbrained for the entire week, I'd also completely lost my ability to focus.

I'd come to the library in the hopes that seeing everyone else study would make me anxious and help me focus on my work. I was writing a paper on Jane Austen's Emma and every time I read Mr. Knightley's name, all I could think of was Kris. There was literally no correlation between the two but my brain had associated the letter 'K' with Kris, and by extension the kiss. I was such a goner if I couldn't focus on one of my favorite classics.

Shutting the book, I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. This wasn't working. I needed to talk to Kris and get a sense of where we stood now. Until then, my brain would not cooperate.

Thankfully, Kris and I had decided to meet at the Argent's residence later today for our study session. I would confront him there and resolve this once and for all.

I glanced at my watch to see that it was already four in the evening. There was no point wasting any more time at the library knowing I wouldn't be able to focus anyway. I might as well get an early start and go home. I could use some alone time to mentally prepare myself for the embarrassing confrontation that waited ahead of me.

Heaving a sigh, I started packing my stuff. With our midterms fast approaching, Kris and I had made a schedule for our study sessions so we could get enough time to prepare for both the midterms, the presentation, and the finals. With his games in the mix, we had very little time to cover a lot of syllabus.

I pushed my chair back and stood up, slinging my bag over my shoulder. Prof. Moore had suggested a few reference books that could help us prepare for the midterms. And from what I'd learned while I was asking around about him, that usually meant he had used those books for making the test.

This could very well be false information, but there was no harm in checking those books out. If it turned out to be true, it could help Kris and me very much. So, with that thought in mind, I opened the notes app on my phone and went in search of the reference books.

Once I found the books, I headed in the direction of the check out. Usually, there was always a long cue at the checkout desk, but today seemed to be my lucky day. There was no one except the pretty redhead manning the desk.

My gaze locked with her and I smiled as I approached her. I placed my books on the counter, pushing them toward her. "Hi, I would like to take these three books please."

The pretty redhead, Evelyn as her name tag read, returned my smile. "Sure. Can I see your card, please?" she asked.

I was digging through my bag for my library card when I felt a presence behind me. I peeked a glance from the corner of my eye and my mood soured. It was Shane.

Just what I needed on an already frustrating day. The well of my luck must not be that deep seeing as it dried up faster than dew drops under the sun.

Shane met my gaze and flashed me a grin like meeting me was the highlight of his day. Sadly, I didn't feel the same. In fact, I worried that my day would get ruined further.

Ignoring him, I fished out my card from my bag and handed it to Evelyn. As I waited for her to put in my details into the system, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Again, I ignored it, but Shane didn't get the hint. He kept tapping on my shoulder. Repeatedly.

Whatever happened to ignoring each other when we weren't working on the project?

When I still didn't pay attention to him, he leaned in to whisper in my ear. "Psst, Ashley."

I glared at him over my shoulder. "What?"

"Do you have a minute to talk? It's important," he said. "We could go to the café ten minutes away from here. They have those pastries you like—"

I sighed. I really wasn't in the mood for his games right now.

"No thank you," I said.

"Oh, c'mon. It's not a big deal. It'll only take a few minutes—"

"Excuse me, you need to keep your voice down. This is a library," Evelyn said, her hazel eyes narrowing on Shane and shutting him up. She then met my gaze and smiled as she pushed my books along with my card toward me. "Here you go."

I flashed her a grateful smile. "Thank you."

I didn't bother to put the books in my bag and headed straight for the elevator, eager to get away from Shane. But he was never the one to accept a no for an answer.

From the corner of my eye, I saw him haphazardly dump the books in his hands on the counter before following after me. I cursed under my breath as I increased my pace. The elevator, thankfully, was on the same floor as me and the doors slid open as soon as I pushed the button.

Hurrying inside, I pressed the button for the lobby. Just as the doors were about to close, a hand appeared in between, stopping them.

"Did you really have to run like that?" Shane asked as he stepped into the elevator as well. "I just wanted to talk."

"And I didn't. But who cares about that right?" I snapped.

Shane scowled. "Do you always have to be such a..." he caught himself before he could finish the sentence, and heaved a sigh. "Look, I know you don't trust me, but I swear this isn't an act. We... ended things on a bad note and I just wanted to clear the air between us."

You ended things, I wanted to say, but didn't.

"And you had this sudden realization because?" I asked, raising a brow at him.

It was ridiculous if he thought he could 'clear the air' between us. The time for that had passed long ago. One moment we were the most popular couple in high school, set to be prom king and queen, and the next moment, he broke up with me in the cafeteria. Loudly and in front of everyone.

A day later, he blocked my number and all my social media accounts so I couldn't reach him. I tried approaching him in school to talk about the breakup only to realize he had no interest in making amends. Shane would walk away whenever I so much as looked in his direction. Two weeks after that, I heard rumors of him dating Juliette.

So yeah, there was nothing to talk about and no air to clear.

He shrugged. "I don't want things to become awkward every time we run into each other. Besides, we are working on a project together. We might as well use this opportunity to talk things out, put everything behind us, and call a truce."

"A truce?" I scoffed. "You literally accused me of stalking you. Isn't that what you'd said that day at the café? And now you suddenly want to be friends?"

"I was angry that day, God," he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

I didn't respond, not knowing what to say. Maybe if our breakup had been amicable and not an emotionally draining shit storm, I might have agreed to meet with him. But right now, I couldn't trust him.

Not after what Kris had told me about his conversation with Shane. For all I knew, this could be a part of his big scheme to ruin my life again.

He sighed when he realized I wasn't falling for his words. "Just think about it, okay? We can meet some other time," he said, stepping out as soon as the elevator doors opened in the lobby. He took a few steps forward before turning around to face me.

"I met someone from our school the other day. He knew something about the... what happened with you," he said and my shoulders tensed.

Why was this happening now? Why were so many people related to my past showing up now? Wasn't senior year enough of a punishment already?

"I'm going to meet him soon and see what he knows," Shane said, his brown eyes serious. "Let me know whenever you're ready to talk."

A new fear bloomed in my chest at his words as I watched Shane walk away. Who was this new guy Shane was meeting now? And what did he know?

I wanted to ignore Shane's words, forget that I even met him, but I couldn't. Throughout the ride back home, Shane's words kept bouncing in my head.

Could this be the same guy Dylan was talking about? Jason something. Dylan did say that Jason knew me and Shane. And that he had told him a lot about me.

But that could literally be anyone from Oakwood High. By the time I graduated, everyone knew about me and everything that had happened.

Well, they knew half-truths, but they sure had a lot to say about it. This person Shane was meeting could be from the same crowd. And he would have his own version of the 'truth'. Something he had heard from someone else, forgotten a few details, and added some of his own to fill in the gaps.

That's how gossip worked. I knew it better than anyone else.

And yet, I couldn't help but feel anxious about the whole situation. It made me wonder if I should meet up with Shane so I could get the information from him and calm my over-thinking mind.

Just when I thought I'd gotten my fresh start, my past was starting to catch up and I feared it would snatch everything I'd built once again.