Bad Romeo (Starcrossed #1)(74)
Author: Leisa Rayven

Part of why I could never get over him is because only he can make me react like this. Every other man was like a match, igniting vague passion, but brief and unremarkable. Ethan is like a volcano. A never-ending series of ecstatic, bone-deep eruptions.

He presses me against the pillar, hands cupping my face, and that’s when it becomes too much. He’s too important, and the feelings I’m having are too big for my stitched-up heart. I push him away and grip his shirt, dizzy and unsteady.

“I’m sorry,” he says, breathless. “But … well … Jesus, Cassie, you can’t just say that you want me and expect me to not completely lose my mind. I know you can’t give me all of yourself right now, but I just needed to have one small part of you. A piece that wasn’t Connor’s, or the other guys’ you’ve been with. Just mine. And I hope Connor, and every other man in the room, saw that fucking spectacular kiss, because anyone who witnessed that could not deny that we’re meant to be together, especially not you.”

I step back and lean against the pillar, panting and trying to calm myself.

He’s right. That kiss pretty much destroyed any doubts I had about wanting him in my life again, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to make out with him in front of a roomful of my peers.

I’m so caught up in the moment, I don’t even notice how many people have their camera phones trained on us.

SIXTEEN

DENIAL

Six Years Earlier
Westchester, New York
The Grove

“Taylor, just stick it in your mouth.”

“Don’t rush me. I’ve never done this before.”

“Yeah, well, the best way to learn it just to do it.”

“I don’t know what the heck I’m doing!”

“Stop talking yourself out of it. Just wrap your lips around it and suck. It’s not rocket science.”

“Oh, my God, Cassie,” Zoe says as she rolls her eyes. “Either do it or hand it around. Other people want a turn, you know.”

She scowls at me as I regard the glowing joint in my hand. I’m tempted to just hand it over, but I don’t want to seem like the naive girl I actually am, so I put it between my lips and suck hard. I wind up inhaling a scorching lungful of pungent smoke.

Everyone laughs as I launch into a massive coughing fit.

Holt claps me gently on my back.

“Leave your lips parted a bit when you inhale,” he says while trying not to laugh. “That way you’ll take in some air with the smoke, and it’ll burn less.”

“You couldn’t have told me that before I did it?” I wheeze as he hands me his bottle of water.

He shrugs and smiles. “Where’d the fun be in that?”

I slap his arm as I take the water and drink.

“Try again,” Lucas says and waves his hand at me. “Do as Ethan says and take in more air, then hold it inside your lungs for as long as you can. That’s the best way to get a decent buzz.”

I do as he says. The smoke still burns, but I manage to hold it inside for a good ten seconds before exhaling.

“Nice,” Lucas says, and everyone gives me a light round of applause.

Jack takes the joint. “We’ll have you getting high like a pro in no time.”

“Awesome,” I say weakly as I grab Holt’s water again and take a long drink.

“I still can’t believe this is your first time,” Zoe says with disdain. “What self-respecting American teenager gets to the ripe old age of nineteen without getting high at least once?”

I shrug. “The daughter of the World’s Strictest Dad?”

Zoe screws up her face. “Cassie, that’s no excuse. Didn’t you see Footloose? The preacher’s daughter did everything but whore herself out after church. Having an overprotective daddy should have made you more wild, not less. Sheesh.”

For some reason, Jack and Lucas find her statement hilarious and crack up. It makes me smile. Zoe notices, and her face does a really strange dance between being pissed and happy. Happy eventually wins, and she grins at me as Jack passes her the joint.

Wow. Marijuana has a magical way of making mortal enemies like each other? Why isn’t this stuff legal, again?

Holt takes the joint from Zoe and squints as he inhales. His long fingers splay, and he sucks with pursed lips.

Beside me, Zoe moans. “Fuck me, Ethan, you have the best lips.”

He gives her a closed-mouth smile as he holds in the smoke, and I nearly choke trying not to laugh at the expression of lust on her face.

She has it so bad for him.

I know how she feels.

“Jeez, Holt,” Jack whines. “Do you have to hog all the girls? How about leaving some for the rest of us?”

Holt hands him the joint and shrugs. Then he turns and leans in as he grabs my head. At first, I’m shocked because I think he’s going to kiss me, which is weird because for the past few weeks we’ve been extremely careful to not show any affection in front of our classmates. But at the last second, he hovers his mouth over mine and exhales, and I realize he wants me to breathe in the smoke.

I inhale, my whole body tingling as he smiles while grazing his thumb super-slowly across my cheek.

Whoa. Fireworks under my skin. Tingly hot.

I can definitely feel the marijuana affecting me now. Everything seems to slow down and gain sharper focus, and for the longest time, all I can see is Holt’s face in front of me. He blinks slowly, and I can hear his lashes hitting his eyelids. Then he licks his lips, all slow motion and pink tongue. The thudding bass of a Barry White song starts up in my brain.

“Kiss her!” Jack yells before making obnoxious smacking noises.

Holt blinks, but by the time he looks away, my face is blazing hot and other parts of me, farther south, are even hotter.

“So what exactly is the deal with you two, anyway?” Jack asks, his voice tight as he inhales. “Are you actually fucking?”

Holt shoots him a withering glare before snatching the joint and handing it to me.

“You’re so goddamn classless, Avery. No, we’re not fucking.”

“Then what are you doing? Give us the horny details.”

“We’re not doing anything,” Holt says. “Change the damn subject.”

“I’d like to know, too,” Zoe says. “After Romeo and Juliet, we all thought you were screwing, but you hardly ever touch each other now that the show’s over, so we’re not sure. Clear up the rumors. Tell us what’s going on.”