Kiss King - Mickey Miller Page 0,110

figured out it was me and him, which they probably did.

I called the girls to let them know I was doing well and fine and that hopefully they can come visit in the summer. They’ll have a couch to crash on, and pretty soon we’ll be twenty-one and can go out to bars. I’m working and painting when I can, and just…happy.

Life couldn’t be much sweeter, and I finally feel like I’m in the right place moving forward.

Although, I admit there’s one man’s big arms I miss wrapped around me from time to time.

Okay, maybe I miss him more than time to time.

And…maybe it’s more than his arms I miss.

Maybe the dog lady at the park was right. Maybe Grant is a risk I can’t not take.

But even if I did, how would I get him back? I didn’t give him my new phone number and I’ve been ignoring his emails for the last few weeks as I try to get my head on straight in my new reality.

Right now, though, it’s time for one of my guilty pleasures: naked dishwashing while I sing my Red Lemons songs. Okay, not completely naked. I’m wearing Grant’s baseball jersey.

Hey, I’m weird, what can I say? But Grant’s jersey has to get used occasionally, at least.

I turn up my mix and start running the water to soak up the dishes. If you’ve got a chore to do, might as well have some fun.

His huge jersey falls down perfectly over me like a very short dress.

I put my hands into the warm, soapy water, and wonder what I should paint tonight. Like Grant said, great art, great athletes, great anything doesn’t happen overnight. I like to activate my subconscious and open up to the spirits of art in the evenings I’m not working at the bar.

The first notes of my favorite Red Lemons’ song come on, and it gives me tingles. I close my eyes, dance a little bit, and imagine.

I can’t help thinking about our epic Red Lemons’ night. Grant saw something in me that no one else had, he took me around to all these places he thought I would like.

We’ll never end up together forever—I don’t believe you can be with your true love any more—but we’ll always have that night at the Red Lemons concert.

My body warms up again, and my stomach actually clenches as the memory of a kiss I can never forget that fogs everything else. My heart races and I throb for him. He really is the king of kisses.

That kitchen kiss on my neck from behind while I was making the soup. He caught me off guard and I practically melted into the floor.

My goodness, I have some issues…

Washing dishes like it’s my favorite thing in the world.

Wearing a man’s jersey who I can’t bring myself to call back.

Probably doing something much more fun than washing the dishes in his jersey later tonight.

I should go to therapy and talk through this. But whatever. Maybe I’ll see dog lady again at the park. That was better than any therapy session.

Once the beat drops, I sing along with the lyrics of the song “Never This Easy”.

The very first time

I heard your voice

It was—

Stopping singing the song, I turn and a brick forms in my stomach as I process that there’s someone in the apartment, and I’ve been so far gone in my own world I didn’t even notice the door creaking or the soft footsteps until now.

Suddenly, there are strong hands on my arms, holding me.

I’m about to scream, but the sensation is too familiar. My body register’s his touch before my mind can consciously process it.

Then he reminds me how he made my knees shake up at the cabin. A vampire’s kiss on my neck that warms my entire body from the core.

A low rumble of a man’s voice that makes my body tremble from the inside out.

“Found you.”

My eyes widen, and I spin around, dizzy.

The sight of him is surreal.

“Grant?”

He grabs my arms and licks his lips. “Who’s Grant? I’m a thief.”

My limbs shake, and he presses me into the counter with his hips. I arch my back.

“What the hell…is happening…” I mutter.

He runs his hands down my side like I’m a foreign object. “I broke in,” he growls against my ear. “And I’m taking back what’s always been mine.”

His firm but gentle hand holds my head, and he points my eyes at him. “Which would be you.”

My stomach feels rock hard.

I’ve felt a lot of