Page 24 of Brick Wall

Annie

I ’m not sure why I’m shaking, why I’m so upset. I need a minute of absolute silence and darkness to recharge. It’s why I volunteered to step into the shed to begin with.

I place the key into the lock and step inside, expecting the familiar musty smell to fill my lungs instead of—cedar and whiskey? Weird.

I shut the door without turning on the lights. I move forward and bump right into a wall.

“Fuck,” a curse slips out of me.

Warm hands cover both my shoulders to steady me, and the light flicks on, and all I can see is the brick wall in front of me. Sebastian.

“I’m sorry. I told Ryan not to get involved, and he never listens to me.” Words spill out of me quickly in a nervous ramble. Fuck, he’s going to think I set this up.

“He didn’t.” His hands are still on my shoulders, holding me up. “I’m responsible for this. ”

“What?” I’m so confused.

“I overheard your conversation with Ryan.” He admits with a slight blush on his cheeks, which I quickly emulate.

I’m instantly embarrassed. I’m about to apologize, but he takes one hand off my shoulder to form a stop motion with his hand while also stating the words.

The hand then falls to his side, not returning to my other shoulder. I feel sad about the loss of heat.

“I’m a little confused here. Help a guy out.” He moves a step forward, almost boxing me in. “Why would you think I’m not into you?”

This entire conversation is so high school, but I know communication is essential, so I answer.

“You might as a friend, but I’m not your type.”

“And I told you this?”

“Well, no,” I fumble.

“Am I your type?”

“Yes,” I quietly admit in a breathy whisper. “But I don’t want my brothers to force you into anything.”

“Do I seem like a man that would be forced into anything?” He takes another step forward, and that familiar scent of cedar and citrus fills my lungs with happiness and desire.

“Well, no,” I reply, unsteady.

“Just to be clear, I like you, and I apologize if I ever made you doubt yourself. You are smart, beautiful, kind, and funny. I love being around you and look forward to seeing and talking with you.” He takes his large, warm hands, gently placing them on my face and cupping my cheeks. “And you are exactly my type.”

Before I can think, his lips crash down on mine.

His mouth is warm, and all I can taste is whiskey, peppermint, and all him.

The kiss is slow at first, a little explorative, but then it picks up as I match his speed.

I can’t believe Sebastian Goodick is kissing me.

No, he’s not just kissing me; he’s devouring me.

I wrap my right hand around his neck to pull him in further to me. I need more, and apparently, so does Sebastian.

He takes another step forward, pushing me against the shed door without breaking our lips.

I move my head to get a better angle, but it’s enough to break the spell. Sebastian pulls back enough for me to internally moan.

“Fuck, sorry, I kind of lost control.”

He must see something on my face with that comment because he backpedals. “I mean, I’m not sorry for the kiss, but I’m sorry I lost control there.” There’s an awkward pause, and he adds, “Did I hurt you?”

Only when you stopped.

I shake my head no because I am physically fine. I just need to catch my breath. That kiss was intense and unexpected.

I sit down on the concrete floor because my legs are a little wobbly.

“We need to get back to the awards,” Sebastian says, but he sits down, albeit awkwardly, beside me. His words say one thing, but his actions say another. I’m going to go with his actions in this case because it does not look like Sebastian is getting up too quickly to return.

Do we really need to go back?

“I’m not sure what my brothers told you about tonight, but it’s not a real award ceremony.”

“They only told me it was an end-of-the-year party, and that all the Moores would be in attendance.” The way he looks at me when he says the last bit so seriously makes my cheeks heat because his words sure sounded like I came for you; at least, that’s what my inner teenage girl is thinking.

What were we talking about? Oh right. The awards.

“The award ceremony is whatever my brothers make up, like the most enthusiastic counselor or the most likely person to fall out of a canoe,” I say with a laugh.

“Do they know?” His eyes bug out and his tone is dead serious.

“No,” I say with a laugh, “and don’t worry, Todd Dinglehammer wins that award every year. I think people push him now every time he’s near a canoe.”

He gives me a light laugh, but it’s clear his mind is elsewhere. I wonder if he’s thinking about that kiss. My core heats in response.

I don’t think Sebastian will make another move tonight, though. I’m not sure why. It was a great kiss. Top tier. I hope I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed that.

“I saw the award list, and you are in the clear. It’s mostly teenage counselors who get it, anyway,” I add in case he was nervous about going on stage, although probably not because a football stadium has many more people than a minor camp party.

“But you are right,” I say while standing up and wiping myself off. “We should probably get back. I need to bring over the wine before the ceremony begins.”

Sebastian gives a hearty chuckle. “Don’t bother,” he says while placing his hand on top of mine when it reaches the wine box.

“There’s plenty of wine,” he clarifies .

“What?!” I accidentally raise my voice by three octaves. “How do you know?” I try to say more evenly.

“Because I passed your brother with a huge box of wine in his hands on my way over to the shed. He’s all set.” Sebastian chuckles at the end of his sentence.

“Oh my God! I can’t believe he played me again. Nope, no, it actually doesn’t surprise me at all. I can’t believe I fell for his trap…again.” I take a deep breath and then continue, “I’m sorry about my brothers, actually just Ryan.”

“It’s not a big deal; like I said before, it was my idea. I wanted to be here with you.” There’s heat in his eyes as he says those words, and I melt a little.

I’m staring back at Sebastian, probably with heat in my eyes, too. I automatically think of that kiss again. How do we go back to that kissing thing?

We are staring at each other, and I need to look away, but I can’t. However, he clears his throat and looks away instead.

“We, uh…” Sebastian stumbles over his words. “We should probably get back, even if the awards don’t matter. Maybe make your brother confused by our arrival, if anything.”

“Yeah, sure,” I say, opening the shed door.

My brother isn’t the only one confused.

At the end of the night, I’m still not sure where we stand, but before I fall asleep, my phone pings with multiple dog surfing videos.