The International Kissing Club (40 page)

“You haven’t said anything,” Sebastian said, sipping his wine. “Do you like it?”

“I love it. It’s perfect.
You’re
perfect.” As Piper said the words, the guilt welled up in her again, and this time it was so strong, so overwhelming, that she knew she wouldn’t be able to swallow it any longer. She rushed on before Sebastian could answer her, before he could say anything at all.

“I have something for you, too.” She reached into her bag and pulled out the suncatcher she had made him. “But before I give it to you, I have to tell you something.”

She took a deep breath for courage and then blurted out the confession that had been haunting her for what felt like forever. “I kissed another guy. Two weeks ago, when I went out clubbing with some of the girls from school. I don’t know what happened. I was having a good time and then suddenly this guy I’d been dancing with just grabs me and kisses me. I shoved him away.”

The words were pouring out of her mouth, tumbling over each other in her haste to confess her duplicity. “But not right away. I let him kiss me for a few seconds first. I’m sorry. I swear, I’m so sorry. It didn’t mean anything and I’ve felt awful ever since. I promise it won’t ever, ever,
ever
happen again.”

“Whoa, Piper, breathe,” Sebastian said, reaching across the table and taking her hand in his.

“I can’t. I’m sorry, Sebastian. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. Really. No big deal,” he said with an easy smile.

Relief coursed through her at his calm acceptance, his … “Hey, why are you being so understanding?” If Sebastian had kissed another girl, she’d want to claw his eyes out.

One eyebrow went up in the expression she loved so much. “You don’t want me to be understanding?”

“Of course I do. I just thought, I don’t know. That you’d be mad before you got to the understanding part.”

“Why? I thought that’s what you came to Paris to do. The International Kissing Club and all that.”

At his words, her stomach did a little flip, and not the good kind.
“But that … that was before. I mean—I wasn’t trying to rack up points or anything, like when I first got here. I wouldn’t do that to you.” She ran a hand down his face. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

“I know that. And don’t worry, Piper, you didn’t.”

“Are you sure?” she asked doubtfully.

“Absolutely,” he answered with a reassuring grin. “It’s not like we’re really serious, right? I mean, we’ve had a lot of fun together these last weeks, but we both knew it wasn’t going to last. You go back to America in a few days and—”

Piper knew he said more. She could see his lips moving, hear the low rumble of his voice. But she couldn’t make out any of the words over the roaring in her ears.
Not going to last? Wasn’t serious?
What did he mean? How could he say that, how could he even
think
it, when she would do anything for him?

“I love you, Sebastian.” The words came out fast as she cut him off midsentence. “I love you.” She paused, waited for him to say it back, to tell her everything he’d been talking about didn’t mean anything because he loved her, too.

Only he didn’t say the words back, didn’t say anything at all as he stared at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. And that’s when she knew. She’d made a terrible mistake.

He didn’t love her.

He didn’t want to be with her.

He didn’t want anything but to have
fun
.

She grabbed his wineglass and drained it in one gulp.

“Oh, Piper.” Sebastian shoved a hand through his hair, looking more aggrieved than she had ever seen him—and that was saying something, considering their first meeting. “I didn’t … I thought … Of course, I love spending time with you. You’re great. Amazing, really, and—”

“Don’t.” She shook her head, tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t show him how incredibly humiliated she was. But the look of compassion in his eyes when he stared at her told her that ship
had already sailed. There was nothing left to do but get the hell out of there as fast as she could.

The walls of the cute, little café didn’t seem so cute anymore, especially since they were closing in on her from every side.

She sprang to her feet. “I have to go.”

“No, don’t.” Sebastian stood too, reached for her. “Piper, please. I didn’t know … I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

She jerked away from him. “It’s fine. No big deal. I’m fine.” She was repeating herself, echoing his words from moments before, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “I need to go.”

He reached for his wallet, threw some money on the table. “Yeah, of course. Let me take you home—”

“No. Stay. Really. You haven’t eaten. I forgot I have homework—”

Her voice broke and she knew she had to get out now, before she humiliated herself even worse by crying in front of him. Leaning forward, she brushed her lips gently over his. “Thanks, Sebastian, for everything. I’ll never forget you.”

“Damn it, Piper.” His hands rose and fell, helplessly. It was a strange look on him, when he’d always been a guy who knew exactly what he was doing. “Don’t do this. I’m sorry—”

“It’s fine. Really. I’ll … I’ll see you around.” She reached for her purse, and as she picked it up, it brushed against the suncatcher she’d made for him. The tissue-wrapped packet plunged to the restaurant floor and the suncatcher shattered, the sound echoing within her as her stupid, unreliable heart shattered right along with it.

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Chapter 22
Cassidy

The bell rang at Mrs. Gatwick’s front door. “There’s your young man, Cassidy,” she winked. “Go on, then. Scoot. I’ll clean up. You just enjoy your last evening.”

Cassidy pushed away from the table and gave Mrs. Gatwick a hug. “Dinner was delicious, and you’ve been awesome, Mrs. G.” Her voice cracked a fraction. She’d been on the verge of tears all day, but she wouldn’t cry. Cassidy Barlow did not cry.

“M’dear, it has been my pleasure.”

Cassidy grabbed her denim jacket and sent up a silent thanks to Piper for forcing her to buy this long sundress and the things to go underneath it. She’d even gone out and bought a pair of delicate, strappy sandals and taken extra care straightening her unruly mane so she could leave it down. She felt a little foolish for getting so dressed up—she didn’t want to seem like she was trying too hard—but she did want to look nice, since she was never going to see Lucas again after tonight.

His eyes almost bugged out of his head when she opened the door.

“Wow, you look
so
pretty, Cassidy.”

“Thank you,” she said bashfully. “Since I didn’t know what we were doing tonight, I wasn’t sure what to wear. I hope this is okay.”

“You’re perfect.” He kissed her on the nose. Somehow the way Lucas said it, she believed it.

They drove through the streets until they came to the marina where his parents’ boat was slipped.

“Why are we here?” she asked as he helped her out of the car.

“Because my apartment is a hole, my flatmates are a bunch of surf bums, and I wanted to be completely alone with you tonight.” He stepped onto the boat’s deck, then lifted her down.

“I like your apartment—it has a great view of the beach,” she said.

“But not like this.” The Milky Way had nothing on the Sydney skyline twinkling along the edges of the dark harbor, the bridge and Opera House dramatically aglow against the night sky.

From behind her, his hands stole around her waist. She leaned her head against his shoulder. “At midnight, there’ll be fireworks near the bridge,” he said. “They do it for the tourists on weekends, but if you’re cold, we could go below.”

She shook her head. “No, let’s stay here.” Turning into him, she slid her arms around his neck. “So, what shall we do till midnight?” she asked, running her fingertips through the soft hair at his nape.

“I have an idea or two,” he answered, brushing his lips across her temple.

“Mmmm, because I’d hate to be bored on my last night in Australia.”

Lucas chuckled, all male cockiness. “If you start getting bored, then we’re not doing something right.” She did shiver then. “You
are
cold—I’m going down to bring up some blankets.”

He made them a pallet of pillows and blankets, and then they both kicked off their shoes so they could cuddle under the stars. “I got a phone call today from Quiksilver,” Lucas said after a few minutes.

“Seriously?” she asked, excited. “What did they say?”

Lucas’s smile was blinding. “They’re going to sponsor me on the circuit.”

“That’s amazing!” She rolled over and kissed him. “Have you told your dad yet?”

“No, I wanted to tell you first.”

She couldn’t believe it, but her eyes felt wet and everything looked a bit shiny. “Thank you,” she said, and kissed him again.

“Yeah, everything’s coming together. Except you’re going away,” he said. “Are you excited about seeing your friends again, comparing all those kissing stories?” He was on his side now, his head on his palm as he leaned over her and trailed his fingertip along her collarbone. She hadn’t known how sensitive her skin could be till this moment; it was as if all those millions of lights in the harbor were glowing within her just below the surface.

“I can’t wait to see my friends. I’ve missed them so much.” She laughed. “I’ve even missed Piper’s melodramatics and Izzy’s constant lectures on putting my soda cans in the recycling bin instead of the trash and Mei insisting that Jimi Hendrix is better than Stevie Ray Vaughn. They’re my family—I don’t think I realized how true that was before this trip.

“But I’m going to miss Sydney, too—the noise, the buildings, the beaches, the water—it’s all so different from Paris. So much to see and do and experience. It’ll be hard to go back to Saturday nights at Dairy Queen and beer busts in cow pastures.”

“What’s a Dairy Queen?”