It’s magical, this pull he has over me, and when he leans forward, my stomach flips. His eyes close, the brilliant blue disappearing as he gets closer, and I tip my head up.
Our lips meet. A brief whisper of a kiss, but to me, it comes with the force of a tsunami. While water roars around us, Lincoln steals my breath with the tenderness but pulls away too soon.
“Happy birthday, Macey.” He smiles, and my cheeks heat.
I don’t know what to say. Thank you seems far too cheesy for this moment, so I choose to look around the cavern instead. Wet rock surrounds us, the water before us, and if I thought I felt like we were in our own world before—
“You okay?” he asks, interrupting my thoughts.
I look back over at him and smile. “Never been better.”
He grins, and I know, without a doubt, fifteen is going to be my year. I can’t explain it, but it’s like a bone-deep knowing. Just like I know I’ll love Lincoln Calloway for the rest of my life.
1
Macey
“Hey Macey, you coming out tonight?”
I look up from my book and smile at my roommate. “Nah, I’m going to stay in.”
She rolls her bright blue eyes and shakes her head. “You always stay in. How in the world did I get stuck with the world’s most antisocial roommate?”
“Because I answered your ad,” I reply with a smile and reach over to wrap my fingers around the cold neck of my beer bottle. “And you need my rent money.”
Kleo sighs and plops down on the couch beside me. Her perfectly manicured hands gently grab my arm and shake. “Come on, Macey, just this once, live a little.”
“No thanks.”
She releases me and slaps her hands to her bare knees, the bright pink skirt she is wearing only covering her to mid-thigh. “So you’re going to spend the entire night with that book? What’s it even about anyway?” She leans down and cocks her head to the side, trying to read the title.
“An overly nosey roommate who gets murdered and fed to the sharks,” I say, grinning over at her.
She rolls her eyes again, pursing her pink painted lips into a pout. “Real life is so much better than what you can find in books. Don’t you get enough reading done for classes? Why do you have to do it every night too? It’s so boring,” she complains.
“First of all, if you keep rolling your eyes, they’re going to stick that way. And as far as the reading, real life can’t even touch fiction. That’s kinda the whole point of reading—to escape reality.” I’m used to her disdain for my hobby. It’s something I face with pretty much everyone on and off campus. The only person who gets my love of reading is my gram, and she’s the reason I love it like I do. On my sixteenth birthday, she bought me my very first Nora Roberts book, and since then, I haven’t looked back.
We even choose the same book once a month and read it together. Our own mini book club we can partake in despite being in different states. She’s my best friend, and while some people may be embarrassed that their gram is their bestie, I’m not. It’s hard to be embarrassed when your gram is as badass as mine is.
“Whatever. At least call Jace. Let him come show you a good time.”
I sigh at the mention of my on-again-off-again booty call. Jace Norsden is known on campus as the school’s hottest TA. Basically, he is Florida State’s most eligible bachelor—a future lawyer—and “lucky for me,” I’m the one he chose to give his rose to. Problem is, I don’t want it.
“We’ll see,” I lie. I have zero intentions of calling him. I have made it perfectly clear that I’m not looking for a relationship, and every chance he gets, he pushes for more.
But he doesn’t get it. I can’t give more, and I haven’t ever met a man that made me feel like I could.
Kleo walks to the door and pulls it open. “Last chance,” she offers, and I shake my head.
“I’m good. Have fun.” I lift my Sam Adams again and look back down at my page, hoping she’ll get the hint. Based on the door slam that follows, she does. I breathe a sigh of relief and reach back to pull my red and black checkered throw blanket down from the back of the couch. I’ve never been much of a partier, something I blame on the one party I went to in high school. It was a total disaster and ruined me for pretty much any social gatherings. It doesn’t matter that ten years have gone by or that I’m living a totally different life on the other side of the country. That night will haunt me forever.
My phone buzzes, and I reach over, lifting it from the nightstand. “Speak of the devil,” I murmur as I unlock it and open the text from Jace.
Jace: Hey there, gorgeous. What are you doing tonight?
I consider what he’s offering because even if it isn’t spelled out, I know what he’s after. Jace is good in bed—better than my last guy—and a night of fun would get Kleo off my back. So I type out my reply, hitting send before I can change my mind.
Me: Sitting on the couch, you?
Jace: Thinking about you. His text is accompanied by a selfie, and I shake my head. I’m pretty sure there isn’t a person alive who loves the camera more than Jace. He stares at me from the cracked screen of my phone, shirtless in his bed, his hand down the front of his pants.
Shoulder-length sandy brown hair loose around his shoulders, the length accents a strong jaw and light brown eyes. He’s clean-shaven, always smooth, his slender body toned from nightly gym visits. I may not be a fan of the selfie, but he is something to look at.
Me: Want to come over?
His response is instant. Jace: Be there in ten.
I groan and push off the couch, lifting my beer. I tip it up, letting the bubbly liquid slip down the back of my throat. I have half a mind to stay in my raggedy sweatpants and old Garth Brooks T-shirt. Maybe if he sees me in all my relaxing Saturday glory, he’ll leave me the hell alone about a relationship. Because I am absolutely over that conversation.
Apparently, being adamant about not wanting to be in a relationship is Jace code for, Please continue to harass me repeatedly. Eventually, you might wear me down. I roll my eyes as I regret my decision to invite him over. I could cancel…but even as that thought crosses my mind, I shake it off. Kleo will never let me live it down if she finds out I not only invited him over but uninvited him on the same night.
I toss my beer bottle into the recycling bin and turn to cross our small living room. My bedroom is neatly organized, each item having its own place, so it doesn’t take me long to find the shorts and tank top I have in mind for tonight’s activities.
I make my way into my bathroom and step in front of the mirror, seeing a coffee-colored gaze staring back at me, and I mentally prepare for a date I don’t want. My dark hair is in a thick braid down my back, so I quickly undo the band and run my fingers through the thick waves. After applying a little bit of mascara, I step from the room and walk to the fridge.
I pull the stainless steel door open and grab my last beer. Dammit, I should have asked him to pick up more on his way over.
There’s a knock at the door the same time my phone starts to ring, so I head for the door first, pulling it open to Jace and his arrogant grin.