Page 69 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

Friday

I ran out of the hallway and back toward the stands. Everyone was cheering over the next match. No one turned toward me. No one looked even remotely suspicious. But I knew that someone at this party had just stolen my first kiss.

Seriously, how had this happened? Everyone remembered their first kiss. It was a huge life event. Momentous.

And here I was kissing some rando in a snake-infested closet. Why me?!

Gah!

I ran up the stands back toward Sophie. Jacob was missing. Was he missing because he had just been sneaking around dark rooms stealing kisses?

“Code Red,” I said as I slid into the empty spot on the bench next to Sophie.

“Do you need a tampon?” Sophie picked up her purse and started rummaging around in it.

“What? No!”

“Oh.” She tossed her purse back down. “Then why did you say Code Red? Everything is fine. Liam won before Jacob could stop the fight. Which is probably a good thing. Liam would have been pretty pissed at you if you ended all the fun.”

For a few minutes there, I’d completely forgotten that my stupid brother was trying to get himself killed in a boxing ring. “He’s okay?”

“He’s a champ. Just like Jacob.”

God, Jacob. My heart started racing. I pictured his six-pack abs. And then I tried to think of the abs I’d just molested in that closet. Were they the same?

“You okay?” Soph asked. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”

“I just had my first kiss.” Saying the words out loud should have been a good thing. But I was pretty sure I was having a heart attack. It had to have been Jacob, right? It was the only thing that made sense.

“Operation First Kiss for the win!” But then she must have seen the expression on my face because she pressed her lips together and stared back at me. She was probably waiting for me to elaborate, but I didn’t know how to form the words.

She cringed. “I’m guessing it didn’t go well?” she asked. “Let me guess...too much tongue, right? What is with highschoolers and all that tongue? Only grown men know how to kiss, I swear.”

“It was just the right amount of tongue. I think.” I didn’t know. It was my first freaking kiss! But it had been everything. Until I realized I had no idea who I’d just kissed.

“Then what’s the problem? Oh. Oh no. Did the incest feel too real? I was worried about that.” She shook her head. “Darn it. You two are so cute together too. But Jacob is practically your cousin...”

“So it was Jacob?” I asked. Phew. Okay, good. Really good, actually. I’d wanted it to be Jacob. Or Axel. God, my head was just a mess.

She gave me a weird look. “Why are you asking me? You’re the one that just kissed him.”

“So it wasn’t Jacob?”

Her eyes grew round. “I leave you alone for five minutes. What on earth did you just do?” It looked like she was holding back a laugh.

“Sophie, this isn’t funny. I don’t know who the hell I just kissed! That’s why I yelled Code Red!”

“What do you mean you don’t know who you just kissed? It literally had to have happened like three minutes ago.”

“Because I...he...” my voice trailed off. “Someone just...stole my first kiss in a dark closet.”

“Well, what were you doing lurking in a dark closet like a creepster?”

“Sophie.” I was seconds away from bursting into tears. I was panicking. I felt all sweaty. Was it a thousand degrees in here all of a sudden?

She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the stands. She kept pulling me until we were far enough away from the boxing match so she could hear me over the cheering. “Start from the beginning.”

“There was a line for the bathroom so I went into a closet.”

“To pee?”

“No.” How was she not getting this right now? “I was worried about Liam and just needed a minute alone. So I went into a random closet. And then I heard a hissing noise and panicked. I was trying to leave, but then someone came in and kissed me.”

“And how do you not know who that someone is?”

“Because it was dark and he didn’t say! I figured it was Jacob.”

“Why?”

“Because I told him I wanted to talk to him in private right before it happened. He probably followed me.”

Sophie nodded. “Okay. Well, did it sound like him?”

“He didn’t say anything. He just kissed me.”

“Did it smell like him?”

“What does Jacob smell like again?”

Sophie thought about it for a moment. “Kind of like freshly cut grass.”

“Right.” I nodded. I remembered now.

“So...did it smell like him?”

“I don’t know, I couldn’t remember what he smelled like, and now the smell is gone. But I did think it smelled like Axel’s cologne.”

“So it was Axel?”

“I don’t know. Axel carried me over his shoulder earlier, so his scent could have just...lingered. Sophie, I have no idea who I just kissed.” I started fanning my face.

“Tell me every single detail you can remember. And we’ll figure it out together.”

I nodded. “Okay. So I told Jacob I wanted to talk to him in private. And I also told Axel I was going to have my first kiss tonight.”

Sophie raised her eyebrows at me.

“Axel was definitely curious. He asked me three times who it was going to be with. And I told him not him.”

Sophie smiled. “I’m so proud of you.”

I had been really proud of myself too. But now I was just really confused.

“So...it could have been him. He knew I wanted it.” I shook my head.

“But he also didn’t seem to have much of a reaction when I told him I was going to kiss someone else.

So it probably wasn’t him, right? Or maybe it was.

Or maybe it was Jacob because he actually likes me? ”

“Well, they’re not the same height. How tall was the guy?”

“He had to lean down to kiss me.”

“You’re 5’2”. That doesn’t narrow it down. How thick was he?”

“I don’t know exactly. I didn’t touch it. But I felt how hard it was against my stomach while he kissed me.”

“Wow. I wasn’t talking about his cock, but good to know. Whoever it was...he was clearly very into you.” She winked at me.

“Then what were you asking?”

“Axel has long lean muscles. And Jacob is built like a truck. So did it feel like he had lean muscles or thick ones?”

“I couldn’t tell. But his abs were really nice.” And they both had nice abs...

“How far did you go exactly?”

“It was just a kiss! But he wasn’t wearing a shirt. And he was definitely just in boxers. Like how Jacob was dressed.”

“You mean how the whole football team was dressed.”

My heart sunk. “Yeah.”

“Are there any other clues? Describe the kiss.”

“He...um...grabbed my hands and pressed the backs of them against the wall.”

“Hot. So he’s definitely possessive. Keep going.”

I didn’t know how else to describe the kiss. Perfect? It had felt perfect. Up until the guy had disappeared. “It felt like he’d been waiting to kiss me forever. It felt...right.”

“Well, you’re hot. Anyone could have been dying to kiss you for a long time. Anything else you can remember?”

“I said Jacob’s name afterward when he went to leave. But he just walked out the door.”

“You said Jacob’s name and he didn’t stop? Hm.”

“What does hm mean? Do you think it was him?”

“I don’t know.” She threw her hands up in the air.

“Those clues were very confusing and contradicting. The only concrete evidence you have is nice abs and that the guy was in boxers. It legit could have been anyone on the football team. Or some drifter who took off his clothes, trying to fit into the party.”

“Sophie!”

“Most likely someone on the football team.”

I groaned and looked up at the ceiling.

O’Reilly started to announce the next match. “Axel Stevens in black boxers and Eli Jones in white boxers!”

I turned to look at Axel pulling on his boxing gloves.

I stared at his abs. Were those the ones I’d just touched?

Axel wasn’t looking at me. If he’d just kissed me.

..wouldn’t he be looking? To see my reaction?

But Axel was just focused on the match. He tapped Eli’s gloves and the bell dinged, signaling the start of the match.

O’Reilly jumped off the side of the ring to get out of the way.

“What if it was O’Reilly?” I whispered. “Or...Pavel the exploder?”

“Lucky girl.”

“I’m going to cry.”

“Don’t you dare. You just had your first kiss! And it sounds like it was very steamy.”

“But I don’t know who it was with.”

“A dirty kiss thief.” She waggled her eyebrows at me.

I hit her arm.

“And it’s an easy solution. You just have to make out with everyone on the football team now. To see who kisses like your kiss thief.”

“ That’s your solution?”

“Yeah. Maybe we can organize a kissing booth at the first football game next weekend? That would be so fun.”

“Never.”

She laughed. “Well, we might not have to. Jacob is walking over right now. We can just ask him if it was him.”

I stared in horror at Jacob walking through the crowd toward us.

He smiled at me. The way he always did. The smile gave nothing away. Not a single thing.

I ducked behind Sophie. “We can’t just flat out ask him if he just kissed me!”

“Why?”

“Because I should know! And what if it wasn’t him?” Seriously, who the hell had just kissed me? “He’s going to think I’m such a slut. I need to get out of here.”

“What?”

I didn’t wait for her to try to stop me. I ran in the opposite direction of Jacob. And I kept running until I reached the red and white striped curtain. I pushed it to the side and looked over my shoulder, back at the party. Axel had his gloves up, covering his face, as he stared at me leaving.

That’s what he’d wanted. For me to go home.

I felt my lower lip tremble.

Axel definitely hadn’t kissed me.

Knowing my luck, it had probably been the drifter.

***

The Uber dropped me off in front of our apartment building. I had no idea how I was going to successfully sneak back into the apartment without RJ’s help. If I just waltzed right in, Briggs and Porter would know. They’d definitely tell my parents.

I only had one option. I hit the button for the floor beneath ours and shot Liam a text to let him know I’d be waiting outside the Russian’s apartment for his help.

My phone buzzed with his response: “There’s a key under the mat.”

Was he serious right now? That was the most obvious place to hide a key. But sure enough, when I lifted the mat, there was a shiny golden key. I picked it up and slid it into the lock.

Whoever this Russian chick was, I was very grateful for her. But she should have picked a better person to housesit for her.

I closed the door behind me, kicked off my high heels, and grabbed them in my hands. I wanted to feel some semblance of relief. But my stomach was in knots. How could I not know who my first kiss was with?

I shook my head and wandered down the hall to the room RJ had destroyed. I dropped my borrowed high heels on the ground. There was no way I was bringing them up to my room. If my father saw me with another pair of high heels he’d ground me for the rest of my life.

My sneakers were still lying there so I slid them on.

I tried to focus on the laces, but my bottom lip started trembling.

Seriously...how had I messed everything up so badly?

There was a hole in the ceiling and I’d just given my first kiss to a stranger.

The ache in my chest was back. Stronger than ever.

I just wanted to climb into my bed and pretend this night had never happened.

But first I had to get to my bed.

I pushed the beanbag to the side and pulled the ladder beneath the huge hole in the ceiling.

I would also be grounded for the rest of my life if my parents ever saw this.

I pushed up the carpet and climbed through.

Hopefully no one would fall before I had a chance to help fix the floor.

Because now they’d be falling right onto a ladder.

It was a freaking death trap. I pulled the carpet back in place and slowly opened the door and looked both ways.

There was no one in the hallway. And I didn’t hear one peep. The coast was clear. Sometimes my mom wandered downstairs late at night to write. But maybe she’d fallen asleep early after... ew. No. I wasn’t thinking about RJ’s weird security footage.

I tiptoed down the hall and peered out into the living room. Everything was dark. Possibly even too dark for Briggs or Porter to see me. Maybe my luck was finally turning around.

I tiptoed toward the stairs. My foot hit the first step when the lights in the kitchen came on.

My mom was sitting there with a cup of tea and a knowing look.

Screw my life.