Page 35

“Can I kiss you?” I blink in shock at Zie’s unexpected question.

“What?” I cough. “Why?”

Squirming in my seat, I look anywhere but at the three boys lounging around on my bedroom floor. Axel sighs, getting up to drop onto the bed beside me.

“Maybe because he wants to?” He smirks.

“Surely you could just kiss your girlfriend if you feel like kissing someone,” I point out. Zie jerks his shoulders in a rueful shrug.

“We broke up.”

“Why?”

“She may have found me kissing her friend.”

The other boys laugh, but I frown.

“That’s not nice.”

“Trust me, you’re right. The friend was an awful kisser. The girlfriend was way better.”

Again, the other two laugh, but this time I can barely hold back my own chuckle even though I want to snap that these girls have names. The corners of my mouth twitch and Zie knows he’s got me.

“So can I?” he presses.

“No.”

“Awww, why not?” he whines.

“Because I don’t want to kiss you.”

“Still? After all this time, I still can’t get you to kiss me?”

“What can I say? I have better standards.”

“Burn!” Kaiden laughs.

“You’re going to have to kiss one of us eventually, you know,” Axel tells me. My heart races at the possibility.

“I don’t know actually. I”m pretty sure that who I kiss and when is down to me. Unless there’s something about your girlfriends’ willingness to participate that you’re not telling me,” I snap tartly. I cringe at how uptight I sound even to my own ears.

“I don’t have to force anyone to do anything,” Axel growls, his eyes going dark with menace. He hates any perceived slight against him being anything other than absolutely perfect. “And I’ve done a hell of a lot more than kiss.”

I squirm uncomfortably at that statement, completely believing him. When he says things like that, the small age gap between us feels like a huge chasm.

I sigh.

I really hoped I would have been kissed by now. I have enough guys ask me out, but always after the first date (with not even so much as a goodnight kiss) they seem to go cold on me. I don’t understand why.

“I think you should kiss all three of us.”

I gawp in surprise at Kaiden’s statement which breaks the tension. He has to be joking, right?

“Erm, why?” I ask.

“So it’s fair. You have to treat us all the same, babygirl.” He gives me that special grin – the one I swear he only ever uses on me – and my stomach somersaults at his words. I almost find myself nodding. When he turns that charm on me, I can’t say no to anything Kaiden says.

“And, it would give you more experience,” Zie points out. “Guys like that.”

His pointing out the obvious and insinuating that I need the practice, riles me up. I scowl at him and he holds his hands up defensively.

“You all want to kiss me?” I ask, gobsmacked. I have no words.

“Well, I wouldn’t say no.” Kaiden grins and winks at me. Somersaults again.

“You know I do,” Zie adds. “I’ve asked enough bloody times.”

There’s a pause. A beat of silence that lasts too long.

Things are just starting to get awkward when Axel finally speaks.

“Yes, Peony. I want to fucking kiss you. Now put us out of our misery and get those sexy lips on mine.”

I wipe my sweaty palms on the thighs of my jeans, convinced that they can hear my heart pounding even over the rush of blood roaring in my ears. I swallow nervously.

Do I want to do this? I’m not sure. But how the hell do I get out of this?