Smug Bastard - Stacey Marie Brown Page 0,20

my shoulders back, I faced the view again, the last bits of sun slipping away, my mind and body screaming for a drink.

And it was only day two with my travel buddy.

This was going to be a long ten days.

Chapter 8

Smith

Kinsley was quiet as she stared up at the clear night sky, one hand twirling absently through Goat’s fur. She was buzzed enough that sitting didn’t make her flinch anymore, her fifth or sixth beer cuddled between her thighs, her free hand picking at the label, dropping my gaze more than I liked to that spot.

We hadn’t talked much since leaving the lookout over the Grand Canyon, though my mind was loud and chatty enough, mostly with, What the fuck were you thinking, you stupid asshole?

I wasn’t thinking. Clearly. It was my only defense. That woman was driving me crazy, yammering on, and somewhere in my short-circuited brain, I thought it would be easier to just get it over with than to explain our convoluted and peculiar situation.

The plan was flawed. I will totally admit that. Horribly faulty, because now it made shit awkward and strained. I hoped Kinsley didn’t take anything from it. I mean, it was barely a kiss.

Meant nothing.

I took a huge sip of my beer, focusing on the flames in the fire pit, my hand scouring at my head as if trying to dislodge the nonexistent kiss that meant nothing. But my cock was not agreeing with me. I had kissed so many women. Slow and deep to fucking them with my mouth, but this tiny, quick kiss totally had me wanting more. It took everything I had not to kiss her again, consume her, drive my tongue into her mouth as my hands wrapped around the back of her head, knotting through her hair.

Holy shit. I exhaled, adjusting myself on the ground, pulling up one leg to hide my growing erection. I leaned against a log left in the campsite, taking a deep breath. It was all kinds of wrong. For so many reasons. Damn, I was an asshole.

The buzz in my pocket drove my hand to my pants, pulling out my cell, seeing the name cross the screen. Annoyance rolled my shoulders, and my back slumped deeper into the wood. What a fucking mess. And I seemed to be making every bad decision, which added to my hell.

Why did I think coming with her on this road trip would be fine?

Again, I didn’t think past the need to get away from my current situation, wanting distance to get my head on straight. This trip was supposed to be an escape. Figure shit out. In my decision-making, I didn’t imagine Kinsley being grown up… or hot.

Kyle’s call couldn’t have come at a better time. I used it as an excuse to take off, but now I was wondering if I plucked myself out of a fire and tossed my ass into an even bigger inferno.

“Who’s that?” Kinsley’s voice shot my eyes over to her.

“No one.” I turned it off, shoving it back into my pocket.

“Really?” Her eyebrows lifted. “Because it looked like you wanted to jump through your phone and strangle someone.”

I did. “Just business stuff.” Sort of a lie.

“Right.” She smirked, not believing me. She straightened her legs, tucking her hands in her light jacket. “Work is okay with you leaving for so long?”

“Had vacation time.” Indefinite right now.

“How did you get into construction?”

“Guess it was the only thing I did well and enjoyed. College or being behind a desk was never for me.” I liked being out in the open, the thought of being confined in tight places… I took a drink, trying to ease the instant tightness and panic bobbing up my throat.

We were quiet for a moment before she spoke again. “You simply left town. None of us knew what happened to you.”

“Life happened.” A derisive huff blew from my mouth. Life had fucked me for a long time. I hoped I could start to straighten it out, move on, but my past didn’t want to let things die.

She didn’t respond as she picked at her label, the tension sprouting up between us again. Dammit, I totally screwed everything up. Why did I kiss her? What possessed me? I needed to rip the band-aid. Just get it out there.

“So about earlier—”

“Forget it,” she rushed, looking everywhere but at me. “It was nothing.”

I exhaled, my head dipping. “Okay, yeah. Cool.” Good. She felt the same. Probably disturbed an older-brother type was kissing