Amalia

"Want to come with me to a bonfire?"

Talan stares into my eyes, and I'm dumbstruck but realize we could keep an eye on Kinsley. I'll worry about her until she's safe at home, anyway. I'm drawn to his warm, innocent smile. I forgot how his smile emphasizes his gorgeousness because I hadn't allowed myself to notice him for such a long while.

Batting my lashes in contemplation, I say, "All right. I'll go if I can," and retrieve the phone to call my mom. She's with her book club for the evening. Dad took Jaxon to his ten-day summer football camp, a five-hour drive one-way, so he isn't coming home until tomorrow. Erik went fishing with Kade and Chase.

"What time do you think we'll be home?" I ask.

He mentions that Jaxon has to be home at twelve-thirty on the weekends. "So, maybe midnight? Do you think that'll be okay with her?"

"Let's find out."

We briefly discuss what I'll ask Mom, and then Talan tells me he'll wait outside. I think he's worried she'll say no.

Incredibly, Mom doesn't give me the typical parental line of questioning after I ask if I could go to a bonfire at the river with Talan and a couple of his friends and stay out later than my normal curfew of eleven if I ever went anywhere, that is. She demands no swimming, and after I agree, she sounds as excited as me, if not more.

As I come outside, Talan is cleaning out the inside of his car with the door open. He looks up at me, and I nod.

The broad, ecstatic smile that consumes his face hits me like an explosion, heating my face. As I smile back at him, I wonder in what context we're going together now—friends or something more?

In the low sunlight, we drive up a winding dirt road into the woods and find a parking spot where everyone else has covertly parked. Trekking through the rough landscape and down to the shore, I don't know what to expect. My head pulses with tension because I'm somewhere I shouldn't be. "Have you ever been out here before?" I ask.

"Yep. A few times at the beginning of summer with Gage and Tarran. The last time I was here, a big fight broke out. Girls were fighting and everything. Luckily, no one was seriously injured, and nobody called the cops. I haven't been here since." Glancing at me, he does a double take. "Are you okay? You look worried."

"I am. Kind of. Mom and Dad will kill me if they find out where I'm at."

"Mateo and Jasmine will kill me if they find out I brought you here. That's why they won't."

As we approach the bonfire, several people give me icy stares, as if I don't belong. It's easy to see I'm not welcome. A chill of unworthiness crawls down my spine. "I don't know about this, Talan."

He places his palm on my lower back before taking my hand. "It's just because you've never been here. Don't worry, you're with me."

You're with me. I love the sound of that.

Loud music jams from a large stereo speaker on a four-wheel ATV, and everyone appears to be having a good time. I recognize several older kids from New Sable. There are also a lot of unfamiliar teenagers and visitors. The visitors are summer cabin residents and vacationers.

We catch up to the party crowd standing around a billowing blaze of logs, and all the conversation noise screeches to a halt. Did the music stop? I freeze as if struck, wrenching my hand from Talan's. I'm about to turn around and sprint back to his car because everyone seems to glare at us.

Talan's arm curls around my waist, tugging me back into him. In a loud, sarcastic tone, he says, "Am I purple or what?"

"Yeah, what's the fucking problem?" another voice says to the rear of us. I twist, throwing a glance behind me, and see Gage, his thick eyebrows slanting as he and Tarran come up behind us. Gage may be shorter than Talan and Tarran, but his solid, bulky wrestler frame is intimidating. He greets me with a grin. "Ama!" Then looks at Talan. "Nice." 

The eyes fall away, and the crowd's commotion resumes. I've never felt so glad to see them.

"Freaking weirdos," Tarran says as they meet up with us. "What was that all about?"

Kinsley calls for Talan and me from somewhere in the horde, and she and Jace swerve through the crowd to us. It's a relief she's smiling. I was worried she might get angry if she assumed we were spying on her, which we were.

"Did you see that?" I ask, referring to the way everyone acted when we arrived.

"They did that to me, too. Do they think we're not old enough to be here?"

"Fuck no," Tarran says, "You're old enough. I've been coming here since I was in seventh grade."

Talan grins and nudges Tarran with his elbow. "That's nothing to be proud of," he says.

I ask Kinsley, "Is it okay that we came?"

"I'm glad you're both here. I didn't feel comfortable."

I let her know I had permission to be at the bonfire with Talan and that my curfew was at midnight. Her ten-thirty curfew makes her mad because Rayna assumes she's at my house. "Well, let's call our moms and ask if I could spend the night with you," she says.

Jace is all for it. He borrows a cell phone from some girl and gets his brother's dirt bike. Talan approaches the guy, Elliot, who owns the four-wheel ATV, holding the stereo and speaker, and asks if Elliot would give me a ride on his four-wheeler so I could call my mom. Elliot seems thrilled that Talan knows his name and offers the ATV to Talan so he can drive me. They take Kinsley and me back up top and to the main road, where there's enough reception to call home.

First, I call Mom, who's okay with it, and then Kinsley calls Rayna.

"Ama wants me to spend the night tonight. Talan's taking us to the river for a little while. Jasmine said it was okay." She mouths, "Where's your mom?"

I mouth back. "Book Club."

She passes that on to Rayna, listens for a few seconds, rolls her eyes, and then hands the phone to Talan. After giving him a grilling about not swimming and not staying long, Rayna gives in.

As we return to the party, it's just before sunset. The pit filled with lumber glows warm and bright, releasing calming smoke that relaxes me as I try to get into a party mood. But the darker the night becomes, the drunker people act. Talan no longer wants to stand around the fire with Traejan, whom he saved Jaxon from during our first days in New Sable, because he's obnoxious and getting on Talan's nerves. "I don't like to be around people drinking, especially drunk teenagers," he says as we walk along the shore to find a piece of driftwood for sitting.

After swinging my legs over the log, I rotate towards the river, taking in the swath of moonbeams bouncing off the river's ripples and thinking about him being at the party a few times. "Why do you come out here, then?" I observe him as he sits next to me.

His ears redden as if he's blushing. "I'm not sure. Boredom, I guess."

"Have you ever drunk alcohol before?"

"Once or twice." He breaks a small piece of bark from the bleached-out weathered log and crumbles it apart with his fingers, casting a sideways glance at me. "With Jaxon."

I shriek in surprise. "Jaxon drinks?"

"I'm not saying he drinks. Just that he drank ... I know of two times. We did it last year during some overnight tournaments. All we got was sick. We got drunk, and we got sick. I didn't see the fun of it either time."

"He never told me."

"That's because he's afraid you might try it, too."

That Jaxon will always treat me like a mindless little girl pierces me, and my reaction feels like a blazing inferno spewing from my mouth. "I'm not as ridiculous as him!"

Talan lets out a chuckle. "Well, don't tell him I told you, okay?"

The wind picks up, and it becomes cool. We left in such a hurry to follow Kinsley that we came unprepared. I'm wearing a sleeveless summer top, and he's wearing a thin T-shirt. Neither of us brought a sweater or a jacket. I slide from the log into the grassy, moist dirt, using the log as a shield against the breeze.

He slides down beside me. "We can stand by the fire again if you're cold?"

I turn to the fire and listen to someone drunk and yelling around. Traejan. I don't want to go back. "No. That's okay."

We sit in silence with nothing to say. It has been that long since we've talked alone. The uncomfortable tension that looms between us saddens me. It wasn't there when we were younger, and it wasn't there before we held hands. It makes me miss the ease with which we used to share. I angle my eyes and watch Talan from the corners. He turns and looks at me, so I shift my eyes straight ahead. I look again, and he's smiling.

I ask him why he's smiling as I wind my arms around myself to get warm.

With a shake of his head, he pulls his lips together and says, "No reason," watching me rub my arms with the palms of my hands. "Can I go find a jacket for you to wear?"

"No. I'm fine."

He wiggles closer to me and says, "Okay, Ama. Don't take this the wrong way, but can I at least try to keep you warm?"

Based on the tilt of his body, I know he wants to put his arm around me. How does he want me to take it? After considering it for a split second, I meet his gaze and give a nod of approval, so he scoots closer. I drop my head as he drapes his arm around me, letting my body melt against his.

A powerful attraction forms quickly, and as I raise my face to him, my gaze settles on his soft lips. They're so close to me. His fingers touch my chin, urging me closer, his eyes meeting mine. Our lips touch, and my eyes float shut in a moment of pure pleasure. Our mouths meld together, moving in perfect sync as I taste sweetness, the gentle motion of his tongue mesmerizing me. My stomach flutters in response.

Too soon, the kiss ends, and I pull away. Our gaze locks again, leaving me speechless and feeling like I'm in a dream world.

It's my first "real" kiss, and it's with Talan...

His warm embrace and the gentle waves splashing against the shore brings me back into reality, making me break eye contact with the smile in Talan's divine eyes, and I turn away, bordering on a daze.

Oh my god!

I am finally living the dream I wished upon every shooting star since I first saw him. If I didn't already know I wanted him for the rest of my life, I know it now, beyond any doubt.