Page 96 of Sunkissed Colorado

“Sure. Did you dance around holding this photo?” I held it up, examining it in the light. “I think there are kiss prints on here.”

“Shut up. There are not.”

“Oh, girl…” I sang.

Zandra pushed my shoulder, laughing.

We kept looking through the box. She got quiet when we found a few snapshots of her and Jessa, but Z told me about each one and smiled sadly at the memories. “I remember looking through this stuff, wondering if there was something to explain what happened the night she died. Some hint I’d missed about who her crush was, or who left those cruel notes and broke my window after. But there was nothing.”

“I’m sorry, Sunflower,” I said softly.

She dug around a bit more, pulling out anotebook. “I even still have my diary. If this were a who-done-it movie of the week, there’d be some clue in the margins to explain it all. But real life isn’t like that.”

“Whatdidyou write in your diary?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Nothing interesting.”

That sounded like a challenge to me. I snatched the book from her hands.

“Callum, put it down! I’m warning you.” She tried to grab the small book, but I jumped up, using my height against her.

“Callum is the sexiest guy in school,” I pretended to read, “and I wish he would sneak into my bedroom and rub his hot naked bod all over my sheets?—”

“I never wrote anything of the sort!” Z jumped in a futile attempt to steal her diary back.

I wrapped an arm around her waist, handing her the diary but not letting her go. “I would never actually read it. But there’s gotta be something about me in there. Right?”

“Nothing nice.”

“If I’d had a diary, you would’ve been in it for sure.”

“If you’d had a diary, it probably would’ve been nothing but a record of sex dreams.”

“Obviously,” I grunted. “And, as I said, you would’ve been in there.”

She glanced down, the way she always did when she got shy. A common occurrence when I talked about how much I’d always wanted her.

“I guess I did think about you,” she admitted. “I noticed you a lot. And it wasn’t all bad.”

“Yeah?” I pulled her closer by her waist, my grip loose and playful.

“But even if we’d been friends, I never would’ve tried anything. I had plenty of attitude, but I was shy when it came to boys.”

I bent to kiss her. “Such a good girl, and your parents didn’teven appreciate it. I think you should do something bad and rebellious to even the score.”

She reached around to squeeze my butt through my khakis. “Such as?”

“Get on your hands and knees on the bed,” I rasped.

Z pulled back and stared at me. Clearly trying to decide if I was serious, and if I was, whether she wanted to go along with this.

Several moments ticked by as I held her gaze. Because I wasdamnserious.

Then she rushed over to the door and locked it.

Two seconds later, she was on the duvet on her hands and knees. Eagerly awaiting what I might do next.

Nice.