Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I do know that for the first time in my life, I’m bummed that Missy showed up.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
Kenni
Twenty-three years ago…
“You can’t be that weird band geek going into high school who has never been kissed!”
I give my best friend a bored look as I wipe down my flute that apparently makes me a weird band geek. Or maybe it’s the fact that they’d already lost their virginities by my age and I haven’t even been kissed. In my defense, between school, band, and no one being able to get past my sister and best friend, how am I supposed to kiss anyone?
Daddy with a shotgun has nothing on Missy and Sadie.
“I love Drew Barrymore and she’s a hottie, but you will not be the walking version of Never Been Kissed,” my sister adds, shaking her head as she looks through her yearbook for ‘potential candidates.’ “We need someone who isn’t a dick, but who can kiss.”
“Only dicks know how to kiss,” Sadie snorts. “There’s gotta be something wrong for them to rock your socks off.”
I roll my eyes. Don’t get me wrong; I’m boy crazy just like these two. I want to kiss someone. I want to feel that spark and that flutter in my chest, but it just hasn’t happened. I’m sure that’s okay, and it’s not like I’m not practicing. I kiss my Backstreet Boys posters every night. Brian Littrell is the hottest of the group with his blue eyes that remind me of…
I clear my throat as Missy says, “I feel it should be Seb. He’s hot as fuck but also dorky.”
My eyes widen as I quickly shake my head. “No way. I can’t do that to Noelle.”
They both roll their eyes. Everyone knows that Noelle is crushing hard on Sebastian. She has a diary where she draws little hearts with N+S in them. If he’s somewhere, she’s usually around with her eyes all dopey for him. Unfortunately, Seb doesn’t pay her any mind.
“She needs to just climb him like she’s a little bear,” Sadie says, leaning in beside Missy to look at her yearbook.
“He’d probably push her off. He doesn’t want anything to do with her.”
My heart drops at that, an ache forming in my belly. I know how much Noelle likes him, and it sucks that he doesn’t feel the same. At least she’s had her first kiss. It wasn’t him, but rumor is he beat up the guy who did. I sigh deeply as I take apart my flute and put it in its case before the door opens, and, like always, my pathetic heart stops.
Dean Moore.
Sadie’s younger brother.
And a total dreamboat.
His brown hair is slicked back like he just got out of the shower, his curls wild against the back of his neck and some tendrils falling along his cheekbones. He’s massive in her doorway, his Wranglers hanging low on his hips while he wears no shirt whatsoever. Everyone makes fun of him for dressing like a cowboy since he’s a hockey player, but he is a cowboy. He works at a ranch an hour away on the weekends, and then he stays on all summer to be a ranch hand on his great-uncle’s ranch. His granddad did the same, as did his dad, so it’s only right for Dean to follow in their footsteps.
As he leans on the door, my eyes drift down to the hell of an eight-pack that he’s smuggling around, and the sight makes me all tingly. He’s a year older than me and treats me like I’m his breakable little sister. Really, he treats all of us like that, while Sadie and Missy are a year older than he is.
His sky-blue eyes look annoyed as he sets them on Sadie. “Sae, why in the hell aren’t the dishes done? You know Dad is gonna be home soon.”
Their dad works for the forest rangers and puts in real long hours. Or so he says. My dad said he’s hurting so much over the death of his wife that he doesn’t want to be home. Which, in his opinion, is why Sadie is buck wild.
Not that I’m thinking of Sadie. Nope, my eyes are moving along Dean’s body and wondering why the hell he isn’t starring in a music video because he’d be number one on TRL. Even if it’s a country video. I lick my lips, but then I look away quickly when he directs his gaze to me. “What the hell are you three doing?”
I look over at Missy and Sadie, because if they tell him what we’re really doing, I’m going to freak out. It’s bad enough they know I’ve never been kissed; I don’t need Dean knowing. The moment my eyes settle on them, though, I beg for the Lord to come down and save me because they are shifting their gazes between Dean and me, obviously up to something.