He always put us closer.

“You here for somethin’?” he asked, voice even and brows lifting in question.

Head tipped back due to how close we were standing now, I blinked up at him. I had so much to say. Ready to say. The words danced on my tongue, but Jamie was acting like he wouldn’t care if I was here for something or not. Or that he knew I wasn’t because he knew me. He knew which girl I was.

I didn’t have a tattoo on my body, and Jamie knew that.

So instead of asking the questions I needed to ask or telling him the words I only told him after I knew he was asleep, I became that other girl.

My body leapt across that tiny distance separating us, my hands wrapped around his neck, gaining purchase, and as I rolled up onto my tiptoes, I yanked Jamie down at the same time, claiming his mouth right there in the middle of a public beach.

One that just so happened to be dead at the moment, but the point I was trying to make was coming across loud and clear. I was certain of this.

Because when my lips hit Jamie’s, his board hit the sand. Then immediately after that his hands snaked around my waist and started roaming and gripping as he bent farther, mouth opening and tongue touching my lip. Feeling that, I opened mine, and that was when we went from kissing to eating each other alive.

For a solid second.

Gasping inside our kiss, I broke away, body going rigid as I shrank back and pressed my heels into the sand. I touched my fingertips to my lips and blinked up at him.

“You smoked?” I asked Jamie, knowing already that he had.

Nicotine saturated my mouth.

I felt Jamie’s hands slide to my hips and hold there. I heard his voice, deep and rich and wrapped around a chuckle, say something but I couldn’t make out what it was.

Eyes lowered to the sand, the only voice I could hear was my own.

He smoked because of you. You did this. If you were that other girl, this never would’ve happened.

“Babe.”

My head jerked up. I blinked Jamie into focus and felt tears building.

“I like you,” I admitted, voice soft and trembling. “I like you so, so much. Not just your hair or the sex stuff. More than that. I lied. I’ve been lying. I am a really good liar, Jamie. It’s a talent I’m not proud of and I’m sorry for it.”

Mouth twitching, Jamie brought his hands to my face and bent down. “You’re a shitty liar, babe,” he said, catching my tears with his thumb.

“I’m not. I’m really good at it.”

“Yeah? You’re so good at it, how come I’ve known for months?”

“You didn’t.”

“Did,” he argued.

I shook my head between his hands.

His brows pulled together. “Babe, you suck at lying. You’ve been feelin’ me for as long as I’ve been feelin’ you. Ain’t just me seein’ it either. Ask your girl.”

“Not like this.”

He stared at me for a breath, expression sticking, then his brows slowly lifted and his face got soft.

“I’m feeling you more than you think,” I confessed, getting that out quick and continuing on before he had chance to interrupt me. “I know you’ve known about me liking you. Even when I denied it. And if we were having this conversation months ago, then you’d be correct in saying you know how I feel. But we’re not. We’re having it now and you don’t know. You have no idea. I liked you when you slashed those tires, Jamie. That was the first day I really liked you. And it’s just been building. It was slow and I could feel it, then it built really, really fast. It’s more now. I doodle your name on notepads, do you know that? And in my ticket book. On napkins. I’m constantly doing it. And I say things to you when you’re asleep and you can’t hear me. I say so many things. And I watch you and I think about you.” He started coming in to kiss me, and I pushed firm against his chest. “Wait! No, please, let me say this. I have to get this out.”

“Said enough, babe,” he claimed, still leaning closer.

“I didn’t! There’s so much. I—” I shook my head. “It’s my turn. You said you liked my big ass, remember? Now it’s my turn.”

Jamie’s mouth twitched again as he stared at me. He breathed a laugh, then he ordered, “Hurry up,” and stopped pressing against my hands but stayed bent down and close, thumb sweeping across my cheek.

My eyes narrowed and my mouth grew tight. Immediately, it was as if I hadn’t been emotional about any of this at all.

“I’m admitting things to you I’ve never admitted,” I pointed out, my words dripping attitude. “This might take some time.”

“Condense it.”

“I’ve got a lot to say. Honestly, you might want to have a seat.”

“Give me the gist of it, babe.”

“I am not rushing this, Jamie McCade. This is too important.”

“Legs,” he growled.

I tipped my chin up, repeating on a hurried whisper, “I’m not rushing this.”

Now his eyes were the ones narrowing. “I’m two seconds away from takin’ you right here, not givin’ a fuck if anyone sees us or not and also not botherin’ with grabbin’ protection,” he informed me, speaking the truth. I could hear it in his voice. “Condense it,” he snarled.

“You smoked because I didn’t claim you.”

“And?”

“This is me claiming you.”