Lips Like Sugar // Echo and the Bunnymen

Pete - 4 years ago

Coming to Salt Creek was a bad idea.

I drop my bag in the guest room closest to the deck and plop onto the bed.

What the hell was I thinking coming up here to be trapped in a mountain cabin with these people. We finally graduated high school. Moved on to our various college campuses and started the next phase of life. I ended up at Fallbrook University with most of my graduating class, but there's a reason I didn't ask to dorm up with any of these guys. I needed some fucking space.

If it wasn't for Jeff, I wouldn't even be here. He called and used his smooth-talking camp counselor voice to guilt me into tagging along with everyone for a weekend at Salt Creek mountain resort.

We haven't seen you in forever, man.

We won't have time to hang out once we're all out in the real world.

Matt's really changed since he met Hannah. You guys should reconnect.

Kyra's coming, too, and I need all the help I can get keeping her out of trouble.

It's the last statement that did it. Which is the bitch of the whole situation, because what he needs me to do is to be another big brother to keep his eighteen-year-old sister in line.

That's the last fucking way I want to treat her.

Now I'm hiding in the guest room because the second we arrived, Kyra started peeling off her clothes down to her black bikini underneath. It was like looking at the sun, or a really bright fucking light that burns its image into your retina. The kind you still see when you close your eyes.

I can still picture her supple curves accentuated by the scraps of black fabric in strategic places. She may as well have been walking around in black lace lingerie with the way my body reacted. Jeff shoved her into her room and growled at the rest of us to avert our eyes.

Too late. My eyes are permanently scarred.

In the best and worst fucking ways possible.

"Shit." I grunt as I press clenched fists over my eyes.

The door to my room swings open and Gio sticks his head in. He and Micah are new to the group, fellow rookies on Fallbrook U's football team.

"Dude, you okay?"

"Don't you knock?"

"It wasn't locked."

I open my eyes and push up on my elbows. "So that means you don't need to knock?"

"Dude, what's got you so worked up?" Gio steps further into the room before closing the door. He doesn't bother to lock it. I let my elbows slide out from under me and drop back onto the mattress.

"Nothing."

"That's the most nothing I've ever seen from you. I mean, you're a broody guy but this is next level brood. You're a full on grump." I feel the mattress dip as he sits down. "Jeff know you're off the rails?"

I can't stop my wincing at Jeff's name.

"Oh, damn dude. It's Jeff that's got you twisted up? What'd he do? Spill the tea."

"You're worse than the girls."

"I've heard deeper digs before. Doesn't faze me."

"It's really nothing. Like you said, I'm broody. You didn't stop your yapping the entire ride up here. My ears are practically bleeding. I need some peace."

"Fine, fine. I'll leave you to your mood." He snaps his fingers as he opens the door. "But, don't leave me out here for long. I might need an intervention later to follow Jeff's orders. Have you seen his sister? Damn. It's gonna be a long weekend trying to keep my hands off her."

"Get out." I manage to order him out without sounding like a Neanderthal, but what he just said made it nearly impossible. Like hell will I let him get anywhere near Kyra. He's a bigger player than I used to be. And I admit, I played around. I had my reasons at the time, stupid, shitty reasons I realize now. But I'm not like that anymore.

I'm done ruining friendships, too. Especially over women.

And drooling over my best friend's little sister is the surest way to blow a friendship up.

***

I make it eight hours before my loyalty is put to the test.

Almost everyone stumbled off to bed a while ago. I would be sleeping if it weren't for Gio's confession in my room earlier today. Because he's still awake and sitting out here on the couch with Kyra. Matt's girlfriend, Hannah, is close to passing out. Which leaves me as the designated chaperone.

The wheels in my brain are on a spin cycle trying to think of a way to get Gio to bed.

Spike his drink with 80 proof scotch. Don't have any.

Bribe him. With what?

Threaten to kick his ass if he doesn't get the fuck to bed?

I think that's my only option.

Conversation is winding down. I'm not even sure what people are talking about. Hannah yawns and I realize my window to act is closing. I lean in closer to Gio, planning to grab him by the ear and drag him to bed when Kyra clears her throat.

"I've been wondering," Kyra pierces the quiet with her whispered words. "Out of the five of you guys, who's got the most game?"

Gio shoots an arm up.

Fuck that. But maybe if I ding his ego, he'll put his tail between his legs and go to bed.

I huff smugly. "Nope. Not even, close. Matt had that title for a while. I'd say he's still got it considering he's the only one with a girlfriend."

"Interesting." Kyra leans closer to me and my mouth goes dry. "So, you don't think you've got moves?"

Fuck. I've got to play this carefully. If I divert, she'll move on to Gio and interrogate him. She's tenacious. So, I put myself in the most awkward position possible.

I lean closer to Kyra.

"Not what I said, sweetheart. I've got plenty of moves. But I don't use them on just anyone." It's a low blow, insinuating I wouldn't give her the time of day.

Especially because she's exactly who I want to use my moves on.

Kyra leans back. Even in the shadowy darkness of the room, I can tell her eyes have narrowed to thin slits. She doesn't like my answer.

"Wait a minute," Hannah says. "What are you trying to say, that Matt is some kind of ho? Aren't you his friend?"

I shake my head. Shit. Not where I was going with this. Gio stands up abruptly. "It's past my bedtime. I'm out. See ya in the morning."

I thought he lived for the tea... but at least it worked in my favor.

"Not what I meant, Hannah," I say when Gio is out of earshot. "He's different now with you. But I'm pretty sure you were warned about him, so you know what he was like."

A strained pause elapses before anyone says a word.

"I'm going to bed," Hannah says, looking a bit sour at what I said. "You coming?" she asks Kyra.

I hold my breath.

"In a minute," Kyra answers.

Every nerve in my body is on fire. I could just get up and leave, too. Everyone else has. But I don't. I can't seem to get my legs to work.

Hannah walks away, leaving the two of us alone. Kyra sinks deeper into the couch. She's in the middle and I'm on an end. There's two feet of space between us, but it might as well be two inches. Even with our silence, the tension in the room is unbelievable.

Kyra turns to look at me. "You're not going to budge, are you?"

My jaw drops. "What?"

"You know, 'what.'" She mocks me before sitting upright and twisting toward me. "I know I'm making a fool of myself, but I was hoping one of the guys up here would show me what a real kiss is for once in my life."

I literally choke on my saliva. Leaning forward, I cough, completely taken off guard by her bluntness. I shouldn't be. Kyra has a way of making the world around her awkward with how up front she is.

"Way to make a girl feel unworthy, Pete. Shit." She starts to get up, but I grab her hand and pull her back.

I should let her go. It's what a best friend should do. But her voice cracked. And her eyes glistened. I hurt her feelings. And I feel like shit.

So instead of letting her hate me and walk away like I should, I pull her to me and grab her face. I lean in and take her lips in a possessive act that demands she pay attention. This is me showing her my game in a way I've never shown anyone before.

No, I don't kiss her. I fucking devour her. An electric current snaps between us the instant my lips are on hers.

This isn't tender. It isn't sweet.

It's animalistic. It's raw. It's teeth and tongue and holy fuck it's not just me.

Her legs are around my waist. When did she start straddling me? Her hands run through my hair and down the back of my neck sending shock waves all over my body. My hands run up her back, under her sweatshirt, on her naked skin. No bra.

I almost pass out when I realize how easily accessible her tits are. Then she moans into my mouth and I almost lose my mind.

I have lost my mind.

What the fuck am I doing?

I pull my hands around to her shoulders and gently push her away. I look up at her, lips like sugar, beautifully swollen from kissing mine. Her eyes are dark with the same lust I'm feeling. But I remember Jeff. I can hear his plea to keep Kyra from making a huge mistake.

I'm the fucking mistake.

"We can't," I say with more conviction than I feel.

Kyra looks down at me. "But we did."

I close my eyes because I don't want to be an asshole, but I no longer have a choice. I could have walked away ten minutes ago. She would have been upset, but now she'll hate me.

Progress.

"Now you know how a real man kisses. Go to bed. It's past your bedtime, little girl."

Fuck me, the look on her face before she storms back to her bed might as well have killed me.

***

Kyra

I stomp back to my room, just like the little girl Pete accused me of being.

When I get there, Hannah's nowhere in sight. She must have snuck off to sleep next to Matt. I was so excited to share a room with my cousin, thinking we'd have girl talk. I would confess my unrequited crush on Pete, and she'd give me advice on how to woo him away from Jeff's tyrannical rule. But she's only got eyes for Matt.

I tried to complain that Jeff gave some sort of warning to stay away from me to the guys when they got here. Hannah called it bro-code. I call it stupid. So what if Jeff met them first? Why should that be the deterring factor?

Is this what they mean by sexual frustration?

I've dreamed of kissing him for years. And now that I have, it obliterated the kiss of my imagination. But what I never fantasized about was how devastated I'd feel afterward. I never pictured him pushing me away after a kiss to end all kisses.

How could he ignore the absolute fire between us? We could burn down this whole forest with how hot that kiss was.

And now I'll never get to sleep because my brain is replaying the way he took control of my body on a loop. I'm still tingling.

But what's even worse than feeling like my insides are on fire after the kiss of the century?

I'm ruined. No one could possibly live up to that kiss. How can I move on from the way Pete's lips felt against mine? He obviously expects me to forget all about it.

No way. I'm on a new mission.

To never let Pete forget how amazing that kiss was.

And then to convince him to do it again.

I tried to warn you. Pete is unhinged! Because this is a short story, there won't be indepth development into all of his backstory but I do have one for him. I'll drop some of it here and there. We've started in the past with scenes that were side notes in other stories but now they'll be front and center. I think we've started with a bang, don't you?

Music was a long time coming for this book. I wanted to keep with the four seasons theme I started with Moonlight (which took place during the summer so I was inspired by 5 Seconds of Summer for the playlist). BUT it was hard finding a spring musical inspiration - until I remembered Echo and the Bunnymen (spring bunny, lol) AND THEN they had at least two absolutely perfect songs, starting with Lips Like Sugar.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Thank you so much for reading. PLUS check out Not Another Diva, coming soon to Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Add it to your Goodreads TBR <link in bio>