A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) - Darynda Jones Page 0,100

downright X-rated flirtations, she saw him. Levi Ravinder. He’d clearly had too much to drink and had passed out under a tree away from the melee.

She couldn’t help herself. She strolled closer. At first, she just wanted to see if he was really sleeping. But as she got nearer, she realized he was actually watching her through hooded lids, his lashes making it almost impossible to see his shimmering irises.

She started to back away. “Sorry. I thought maybe you were passed out.”

“Not yet,” he said, watching her like a mountain lion watches its prey.

“Right. Well, if you’re okay, I’ll just—”

“Want some?” He lifted a small jug off the ground.

“Um, I have this,” she said, holding out her cup.

“You mean the beer you haven’t taken a sip of?”

“How did you—? Maybe. I just don’t like the taste.”

“You’ll like this.” He lifted the jug again, as though inviting her to get closer. To taste what he had to offer. As he lay sprawled on the ground, his shirt had ridden up. She could see his rock-hard abdomen and even the tops of his red boxers.

She stepped closer, and he held the jug up to her, his hold shaky at best. Since she couldn’t quite reach it, she knelt beside him and reached over him.

“What is it?”

“Sunshine,” he whispered, a playful grin lighting up his agonizingly handsome face.

But just when her fingers brushed across the jug, he moved it out of her reach.

She laughed softly and leaned farther. “Don’t you mean moonshine?”

“No.”

He moved the jug out a few more inches, and she barely kept her balance, almost falling on top of him. But he wasn’t going to let her off that easily. He wrapped an arm around her and caught her to him. She landed on top of him, and humiliation burned her cheeks until she realized he’d done it on purpose.

“You’re drunk,” she said, trying not to giggle.

“Not yet, but I’m getting there.”

He pulled her down to him, and even though she’d never kissed a boy in her life, she knew instinctively to put her mouth on his. To drink. To savor. He tasted like alcohol and cinnamon and fire, because that was what rushed through her veins and burst inside her.

She gasped from behind the kiss, and he grinned. Pulled her closer. Angled his head and slid his tongue deeper inside her mouth. She was so lost in the heady sensations washing over her, she hadn’t noticed his hand sliding down her back. Cupping her buttocks. Slipping between her legs.

She stilled and he stilled and it almost became awkward, until he asked, “Is this okay?”

Is this okay? Was he serious? All her schoolgirl fantasies were coming true in one fell swoop. Hell yes, this was okay. But she didn’t want to seem too eager. Too zealous. Too inexperienced.

She cleared her throat softly and whispered, “Yes. It’s okay.”

He kissed her again, then parted her knees with his to give himself more access, and she sucked in a sharp breath when he began to massage her through her jeans. Waves of pleasure crashed into her and around her and through her, the feeling so intense she feared she would climax right then and there.

“Wait,” she whispered against his mouth.

He stopped and squeezed her ass before resting his hand on it to give her time.

While she lay panting in a sea of desire like she’d never known, he seemed to barely be fazed. “Will you remember this in the morning?”

“Depends on how far we take it.” He said it with a wicked smirk, but she also saw a warmth in his eyes. A teasing sincerity. And something else. Hope?

“You Sunshine?” a boy asked. He stood over them wearing a red-and-gold letterman’s jacket.

Sun scrambled off Levi and smoothed her clothes. “Yes. Why?”

“Does he belong to you?” He pointed to Quincy.

“Oh no.” She ran to him. He was leaning against a tree, puking his guts up.

By the time she got him in the car, he’d passed out, and she almost groaned aloud. Her one chance, and Quincy had to give beer a try for the first time in his life, though certainly not the last.

She looked past the bonfire at Levi. He sat against a tree and took a huge swig of the moonshine. Then he looked back at her and raised the jug as though in salute.

She sought him out the following Monday at school. As a senior, she rarely saw him, so it took some effort to hunt him down. Not that she didn’t