I knelt down beside him, unsure of how to help him especially since I didn’t know what it was that was hurting him so badly.

Distraction, I thought. So I did the only thing I could think of. I got right in Preppy’s face, I grabbed his shoulders... and I pressed my mouth to his. At first his entire body jumped like I’d stung him but at least he’d stopped screaming. I didn’t do a damn thing. I went perfectly still and waited as I felt his entire body relax, his lips soften against mine. A tingling bolt of desire hummed in my clit as I pressed my chest against his, packing him up against the tree.

He pulled back just far enough to speak, “What the fuck was that?” he asked, his cool breath against my lips as he panted against me. His pupils were wide and dark, barely any of his beautiful hazel eyes were visible. Wherever he’d gone, he’d come back.

“Distraction?” I asked, sounding breathless.

“Huh?” he asked, making no move to push me away.

“Distraction,” I said, suddenly second guessing myself and thinking that maybe I’d done the wrong thing after all. “When I was little and I broke my arm falling out of a tree I was climbing, my dad, he distracted me when the doctor was putting the cast on. He jumped around the ER making these loud monkey noises.” I laughed at the memory. “I thought he was insane until I realized the cast was on and I hadn’t felt a thing.”

“So that kiss was meant to be a distraction?” Preppy asked, amusement dancing in his eyes. He leaned in closer and my nipples pebbled in awareness. My panties were damp as he grabbed my arms and ran his hands down to my hips and around to my ass.

I nodded.

“Well then Doc,” he said, running the backs of his knuckles down my cheek and jaw. I leaned into his touch. “I think we can do better than that.”

I was about to ask him what he meant when his lips met mine. It was nothing like the first kiss which was practical and tight lipped. It was soft and hard all at the same time. He molded his mouth to me, his tongue connecting with mine in a way that made me feel a vibration between my thighs, like his tongue was licking right at the entrance of my pussy. I moaned into his mouth as he gripped the back of my head and held me in place as he assaulted me with his mouth, and I opened for him.

I heard something in the distance. My name being called? But I was too far gone to care, too lost in the high that was Samuel Clearwater to care who needed me or why.

Because I needed that kiss that moment and I was going to take it while I could.

“Dre!” Brandon shouted. Preppy pulled back and we both looked into the yard where Brandon was frantically searching for me.

“Who the fuck is that?” Preppy asked, holding me against him tighter.

“Brandon.” No sooner had I said it that Brandon spotted us and started jogging our way.

“Brandon?” Preppy asked, we were both breathing hard, my nipples rubbing against his chest and the fabric of my tank top as we breathed in the same air. “Who the fuck is Brandon?” he asked. That’s when he looked down between us, his eyes grew furious. His arms stiffening. I glanced down to see what he could be looking at and that’s when I saw Mirna’s ring on my finger, the diamond glistening against the reflection of the moon.

Preppy growled and let me go abruptly, side stepping me, and without him to hold onto and my thighs shaking with weakness I fell against the tree. He met Brandon halfway between the yard and the tree but before I realized what his intentions were his fist was flying and Brandon was flailing on the ground, clutching his bloody nose.

“Preppy!” I called out, but he’d already disappeared into the crowd. I ran to Brandon and started helping him up. “Come on, let’s go get you some ice.”

“Fuck,” Brandon moaned, standing with a wobble and holding onto my shoulder. “Was that who I think it was?” he asked.

“Yeah, it was.”

“Well I think your boyfriend just broke my fucking nose,” Brandon said sounding like he was speaking through a drive through window at a fast food restaurant.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I argued as I led him over to the coolers for some ice. I reached in and grabbed a few cubes, wrapping them in a napkin and pressing it to his face. He hissed. “Actually, I think he saw my grandmother’s ring and thought you gave it to me.”

Brandon started laughing. Full out belly laughing. “Oh my shit I have to call Ralph right fucking now,” Brandon said reaching into his pocket for his phone.

“Why?”

“Because, your boyfriend thinks I’m straight. Who better to appreciate the humor in that than MY boyfriend?” Brandon said. He smiled as his thumb clicked across the screen.

He had a point. The situation would probably be funny to me.

Someday.

Brandon was just about to hold the phone up to his ear when the crowd erupted in cheers once again. I looked to where Thia and Bear were in the front and he was planting a big kiss on her mouth.

“Preppy, you’re fucking next!” someone shouted, and I realized it was Billy. His mason jar now only half of what it had been ten minutes before. “Don’t drink the water over here or you’ll be getting hitched!”

At the sound of his name my stomach flipped. Brandon had finished dialing and was holding the phone to his ear. I heard Ralph on the other end saying “Hello? Baby is that you?” Brandon opened his mouth and was about to speak but stopped when someone on the other side of the crowd chimed in.

“Actually, I got married before these two beautiful big fucks,” the voice slurred.

Preppy.

The crowd was quiet. A few people in the front shuffled around and parted and that’s when I saw him again. This time he was standing on the edge of the fire pit where Bear was standing only seconds before. “In fact, my wife’s here tonight,” Preppy said. He looked around and spotted me with Brandon. Our eyes locked and he pinned me in place with his gaze. He lifted the bottle in his hand in my direction. He swayed slightly. “This is for you, Doc. Isn’t my wife beautiful folks?” I felt a hundred set of eyes shift toward me. “Don’t worry about the bleeding guy. That’s just my wife’s finance who I just punched in the fucking face.” He threw the bottle into the fire which cracked against the brick. Flames shot higher into the sky as he jumped down and disappeared from view.

Several people were calling out his name, including myself.