Beautiful Oblivion Read Free Page A

slip under again and come up slicked to perfection as only the lake can provide.
    I spit a perfect stream of water into his face. “Yeah?” I pant out of breath. “Well, I think you’re beautiful .”
    “What?” His head ticks back a notch. He’s either genuinely amused or more-than-slightly pissed. Gone is the playful banter as his features soften, affording him a boyishness I’ve never seen in him before.
    “You heard me. I think you’re beautiful.” A moment of silence whistles by with the breeze. “And, I think maybe we should make out for the hell of it.” My heart races at the prospect of his mouth covering mine—his probing tongue having free roam inside me for hours. I’d give every pint of blood in my body to make this happen. Being dead by morning doesn’t frighten me near as much as living a life in which I’ve never kissed Ace. I’ve wanted it, fantasized about it for years.
    “Yeah, right.” He squeezes his eyes tight for a moment as if trying to rouse himself from a dream. “You’re all hopped up on moonlight and night magic and whatever else girls fill their heads with after midnight.” He tips his chin up as he examines me. Water beads down his face. His stubble dusts over his cheeks like a shadow, and my gut cinches just taking him in like this.
    The sweet scent of night jasmine perfumes the air and makes me heady for a special kiss that only Ace Waterman can masterfully deliver.
    “I’m serious.” I lean forward until I feel the warmth emanating from his chest. Every inch of me trembles with a new level of fear I didn’t know existed. Who knew that deep down inside, Ace is the very thing I’m terrified of. “I want to have a crazy summer”—I reach out and touch my fingers over his glossy hair, soft and slick—“and the last person to give it to me is going to be Warren McCarthy. If I have to hang out with him and the banana republicans until I head back to Yeats, I’m going to fling myself off Wilson Bridge.” I stick my finger down my throat and mock gag at the idea.
    Ace ticks his head back a notch and looks at me with the slight air of reproach. Now that I think of it, I’m pretty sure mock gagging only made me look even more like a child in his eyes. The next thing you know, I’ll be leading him into a sparkling conversation about late-night cartoons—maybe challenging him to a game of Candy Land to round out the evening. Just fuck. Way to kill a potential spit swap. I would have paid in solid gold Krugerrands to have his lips pressed against mine for even a brief moment in time.
    “I see many flaws with your plan of action.” He sinks until the water is up to his chin. Ace looks up at me as the stars reflect in his eyes, and I marvel at this small miracle. “Not only is Wilson a covered bridge, but the water in the stream is a shallow four feet.” His lips twitch. “Blame it on the lousy rainfall we had last year.”
    Ace floats back a few inches, but the gap he’s building may as well have an entire continent between us. A part of me wonders if he finds me too repulsive for that ever-elusive kiss. I might be leaning toward the dramatic, but I’m probably not too far off base. Rumor has it he’s slept his way through the entire state of Connecticut, and, yet, I’ve never garnered so much as a second look from him. Not that I’ve put out any signals that I was interested before, at least not like I am now. I think he’s right, I’m drunk off night magic, and it has me fearlessly asking for the very thing I’ve always wanted—Ace himself.
    “And what about that kiss?” It comes from me barely audible, broken—because if he doesn’t deliver I might raise the water levels of this lake with tears.
    “Reese,” he presses my name out in a broken whisper. “You’re going to regret it in the morning. You’ll probably realize Warren is the exact person you’re going to marry one day, and you’ll hate me for taking advantage of you like