Maddy
It all happened so fast.
One minute, Jason was being a jackass.
And the next minute, the sky was handing him his ass.
I gasped as he fell to the ground, and every single video I’d seen in science class came crashing down around me.
People could die from cardiac arrest.
They could go blind.
My mind surged forward with all the bad things that could happen, and before I knew it, I was running toward Jason while Max hovered over him and started doing chest compressions.
“Is he okay?” Please be okay; please be okay. So many words were left unsaid between us, things that needed to be dealt with. I would never forgive myself if something happened. “Jason!”
He wasn’t making any noises.
Max’s worried expression met mine. “Can you do CPR? I think he’d rather wake up to your lips than mine. Though, tough call.”
“Hurry up!” Colt yelled.
I dropped to my knees and, with shaking hands, gripped his head on either side, then pinched his nose, and breathed into his warm, sexy mouth. The feel of his stubble against my chin made my body react so violently I ended up gasping, sucking his air rather than giving.
“That’s not CPR,” Max said under his breath as he started chest compressions again.
Jason was going to die, and it would be all my fault because I was too distracted by his mouth and the hair on his face. Really?
I tried again, this time focusing on his mouth, on giving him the air he needed. Suddenly, he made a noise, and then his eyes opened.
They locked onto me like a laser beam. My mouth was inches from his before he closed his eyes again as if he’d passed out.
“Keep going!” Max yelled.
So, I leaned in again, only to have Jason wrap his arms around me. He deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue past my lower lip so fast I didn’t even have time to react, except to kiss him back.
And kiss him back hard.
Jason had always been a good kisser. Where most high school boys thought the more saliva and tongue the better, Jason kept his passion in check when needed and always made me cry out for more.
Ten years, and his kiss hadn’t gotten worse.
No, it had gotten better.
He was all smooth velvet, tasting me, making my body hot all over as his lips moved across mine, covering my mouth, claiming it.
And then he pulled back and smiled.
“You pulled a Sandlot, you sly fox.” Max grinned and then looked down at Jason’s injured foot. “Holy shit, we need to get you to a hospital.”
Jason shook his head. “I’m fine, I swear.”
“Um…” Max started gagging.
I followed his gaze and covered my mouth. Both of Jason’s boots were gone, completely singed from his feet, and his big toe was pointed the wrong way and swelling so big it looked as if he’d stepped on an apple and kept it.
One of the other guys paled. I squinted to get a better look, then felt stupid. Of course Colton would be with Jason still. He was a firefighter and married to Jason’s sister, and every girl was obsessed with him, except me. No I had another obsession…
The other guy was a prettier, buffer version of Max, if that was even possible. Both guys were gorgeous. And married.
Of course.
Not that I was in the market.
But after that kiss…
My loneliness had never been so apparent.
“Stay still,” Max commanded Jason. “Who the hell gets struck by lightning outside his own home?” And then he shook his head and shuddered out a, “I hope it’s not like this for all Jasons.”
“I’m starting to believe in the curse.” Colton slid his phone into his back pocket.
I was too curious not to ask. “Curse? What curse?”
“Ah, come here, little one. Let Uncle Max tell you a story.”
“Say ‘Uncle Max’ again, and I’m shanking you,” Jason threatened from the ground. He was staring up at the sky, but his eyes looked unfocused as his head lolled from side to side as if he was fighting imaginary demons. “Are unicorns real?”
“Oh, hell,” Colt mumbled. “That ambulance better hurry. He may have brain damage. I don’t think it hit his head, but you never know, especially if he’s asking about unicorns.”
“Why wouldn’t he ask about unicorns?” Max said it as if it was normal. “Anyway, back to story-time.”
He was a lunatic, but I liked him, and Anabelle had thought he was hilarious, so he got bonus points for being animated and showing her how to shoot the water gun perfect every time a while earlier. I was suddenly glad Annabelle had run back into the house when Jason arrived, so she could eat lunch.
“Jason, here, has disappointed the universe with his current lifestyle.”
I gulped. There it was again. His lifestyle. Did they mean his dating of the elderly? Or was he gay now? Aghhh… why do I even care?
“Lifestyle,” I repeated. “You mean, he’s…” I didn’t want to say it.
Max’s face spread into a large grin. “Too bad he kisses like a miracle, am I right?”
I felt myself blush.
“He’s not gay,” Colton said in a bored voice. “He’s just… offended Mother Nature far too long.”
“How does a person do that?” I asked, as sirens sounded.
“He got off his path,” Max said simply, as the ambulance pulled up. And while everyone fussed over getting Jason into the vehicle, Max held back and whispered under his breath so only I could hear. “He didn’t chase the girl.”