Page 30 of Gin and Bear It

His smirk turns my thirsty heat into mild rage. Just when I was feeling bad for him, he reminds me why I shouldn’t let my empathy take over.

“Our first kiss was back in high school,” I say before I can stop myself. God, I sound bitter as hell. It was back in high school. I was fifteen, for fuck’s sake. Who even cares about what happened in high school anymore?

I do, apparently. How mortifying.

Ash bites the inside of his cheek, then blows out a breath.

“Do you even remember?” I ask. If he doesn’t…

“Of course I do.” He looks at me as if I’m nuts, even though it’s a very reasonable question.

“Sorry for asking when you ignored me the next day and told me to pretend it hadn’t happened.”

“Well yeah, I’ve felt like a dick about it ever since, even though it was ages ago.” He rubs at a blurred tattoo between his fingers like he does it all the time. “Sorry for being an asshole to you back then. I was…I don’t know. A fuck-up and an asshole. A kid too embarrassed to look even slightly uncool.”

He meets my eyes and I think he’s going to say something more. He even opens his mouth for a second but closes it.

But he apologized and acknowledged it. Good enough. If we’re going to stay married this whole year without fighting all the time, I need to take my wins where I can get them.

“Thank you,” I say.

He nods, resting his hand on Pip’s back half. “You still want to?”

“Want to what?”

“Kiss,” he says. “Reclaim the moment. Get used to my touch.”

My heart races, as much as I don’t want to admit it. We need to kiss. Right? At least once. I don’t know how I’d feel if our first kiss was in front of all my friends.

“Just a kiss,” I say. “No making out.”

“Alright.” He doesn’t hesitate—he gently grips my jaw and tugs me toward him, pressing his lips to mine.

Oh god.

I’m so glad we did this in the privacy of my home, because if any of my friends heard the little whimper I let out, I’d die of embarrassment. I miss kissing and touching and I’m mad that he’s the one who’s giving this to me.

I’m even more pissed that I want to keep going. It’s literally the most chaste kiss, too, just a casual brush of the lips. But it makes my whole body tingle from head to toe, radiating from where he’s cupping my jaw.

He pulls back, still smirking like he knows exactly what he did.

Dick.

“I think we’re set,” he says.

“More than set.” I scoop up Pip, who digs his claws into the throw pillow. I gently extract him. “Anyway, it’s okay, right? We’re okay? For tonight? Meeting my friends?”

His smirk turns into a little smile. “Yep. When are we leaving?”

“Four forty-five.” I avoid his gaze. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I check it. It’s Waylon, asking to reschedule. I’m both relieved and slightly stressed at the sudden change in plans.

“Great, never mind,” I say. “Waylon’s rescheduled. They’ve gotten a bunch of cats at the shelter who need immediate attention.”

“So we did all of that kissing for nothing?” Ash chuckles, still giving me that heavy-lidded gaze. “We could keep practicing.”

“Uh, no.” My body is saying yes but she’s a dumbass. “I need to…do work.”

“Do work. Yeah.” He leans back on the couch, looking as satisfied as Pip does when he successfully tears open a catnip mouse.