I Kissed Her First: A BOUND TOGETHER NOVEL Read online

  Standing, I smirk at her. “Teddy. You a tourist here visiting?”

  “Sorta, I guess. My dad moved here a few months back, and now, as part of my parents’ new fun game of who wants Gabby, I get to spend the summers here.”

  A smile grows on my face. “Lucky for you, I’m a local.” I pause and look past her to see Jett and Harper coming in for a break. “And so are my friends.” I nod my head for her to look behind her.

  She turns to see them walking in with their surfboards under their arms, laughing. “Oh, shit. I was watching him surf all morning. He’s your friend?” she asks, and I’m instantly annoyed.

  “Yep. And with her,” I add sharply.

  She turns back to me. “I… I’m sorry. That was rude. I’m from Miami. Different rules there. We aren’t as…well-bred.” She laughs like that gives her an excuse.

  “He’s from California. What’s your next excuse?” I snap.

  Her eyes go wide in surprise for a second before she purses her lips. “Good for you. I thought you might be different from all the other pretentious assholes I’ve met here. But you just proved my theory to be true. No rich boys can actually be nice.” She throws her ball at my chest, making it bounce off my skin and end up back in her hands.

  “The heck was that about?” Harper asks as they approach right as Gabby stomps off.

  “She was after Jett,” I mumble, grabbing my board. I need to get some of my frustration out.

  Paddling out, I take time to just lie on my board, floating around in the movement of the waves. When I feel calm again, I catch a wave and surf in, only to find Gabby sitting with Harper and Jett, laughing.

  “Hey, asshole,” Gabby says to me with a teasing smirk. “Truce?” she asks, holding out a hand.

  “Whatever.”

  “Theodore!” Harper yells at me. I pierce her with a look that tells her to leave it alone as I shove my board in the sand next to her and Jett’s boards.

  “I should go,” Gabby says, standing to leave.

  “You think?” I say at the same time as Harper says, “No.”

  Jett looks back and forth between me and Harper, not sure what to do or say. He’s never seen us at odds like this before. Harper and I don’t fight much, but when we do, we erupt like hot lava.

  “Harper,” I grind out. She throws a handful of sand at me, making me growl. Turning, I pick her up and toss her over my shoulder, walking up to my knees into the ocean with her yelling and pounding on my back. I throw her into the water before turning back around for the beach.

  I don’t stop to grab any of my things, walking past Jett, who checks my shoulder as he goes to make sure that Harper is okay.

  “Teddy!” is yelled at my back, and I know it’s not Harper. I close my eyes to calm my anger at this whole day. She yells my name again and again, getting closer to me.

  I stop and turn on her. “What?” I snap at her for the second time today.

  Her face falls. “I really am sorry about earlier. They seem great.” She motions toward my friends behind her. “Harper told me how awesome you are too,” she adds, tucking hair behind her ear.

  I scoff. “Yeah, just your average rich asshole, judged by all,” I say, stretching my arms out at my sides and walking backward.

  “I was wrong!” she yells when I turn back around. My head falls back between my shoulders.

  “You are exhausting,” I tell her.

  “I’ve been told.”

  Letting out a breath, I face her once more. We stare at each other for a few minutes before she rushes at me and kisses me. I stand there stunned, not knowing what to do. When she steps back, she’s biting her lip and looking at me with hypnotic dark eyes.

  “Why did you do that?” I ask the enigma of a girl in front of me.

  She lifts a shoulder. “You looked like you needed it,” she says, then turns around and jogs back toward Harper and Jett, who watched the whole exchange.

  “Gabby!” I yell at her this time, running to catch her. I slip my hand in hers when she smiles at me from over her shoulder. Pulling on her to face me again, I say, “I’m sorry. Friends?”

  “Okay,” she says with a shrug. “Besides, I don’t scare that easily.”

  Chapter Five

  Harper

  When Gabby joined our little tripod for the summer, it made everything more fun. I may be the fun-loving, wild-child tomboy, but Gabby was spicy and wild and unapologetic about her loud mouth and fearlessness. We spurred each other on. We were a lot alike but different enough to keep the boys on their toes.

  We spent the summer months that she was here mostly at the beach, surfing waves or playing volleyball. If we weren’t at the beach, we were skating around town, getting honked at for being in the middle of the road. We got in more trouble than we should, but it was always worth it.

  When she left to go back home to Miami, we made plans and promises to pick back up where we left off next summer when she came back.

  As we entered our last year of middle school, Jett and I were officially a couple. We watched the sunrise together almost every day, holding hands in the halls as he walked me to my classes, stole kisses at our lockers, and skated and surfed together with Teddy every afternoon.

  It was uncomplicated and felt so right.

  That’s how the next couple of years went by. Day, weeks, and months soaked in fun and sparked with trouble.

  I learned how to use a flat iron on my unruly frizz and how to dress comfortably but still look feminine with my growing boobs and widening hips. Jett and Teddy both started to shave while growing taller and taller by the second.

  Time flew by, and before we knew it, each of us began turning sixteen one after the other, starting with Jett. We were each given the token rich-kid gift of an expensive car by our parents that soon took the place of our skateboards.

  Jett, the rebel that he is, traded in the limited-edition sports car he was given for a Jeep he could top with our surfboards. He didn’t want a party or to celebrate with anyone but Teddy and me. So, we did what we always do. We surfed. He blew out the candle on a single cupcake before smashing it on my face and then licking and kissing it off.

  Teddy was next. He had a big elaborate party at his house with caterers and champagne and a DJ playing outside by the pool with half the school there. He, unlike Jett, drives his annoying Aston Martin around and acts like he’s more important than us most of the time. Of course, that means I make a point to park my ass on the hood every chance I get to piss him off.

  When Gabby’s birthday approached, she invited us down to celebrate with her in Miami. Only because her dad was flying down on his private jet did our parents let us go. We went for the night to help our girl celebrate. She had a Mardi Gras-themed party on the beach, with beads and boobs flying around everywhere once the keg was tapped after the adults left. It was wild and crazy just like her.

  My birthday is next. I’m the baby of the group and the last one to reach the sweet-sixteen milestone.

  Hearing a tap on my balcony door, my eyes flutter open and I smile before walking to open it. I already know who’s going to be on the other side.

  Or at least I thought I did.

  “You,” I say with a growing smile when I see the bow on Jett’s head.

  “I hope you aren’t disappointed. Teddy told me that I was your present from him.”

  “Asshole,” I say, shaking my head. I grab his hand, pulling him into my room. “He better still get me a present. I get you no matter what.” I grin before sinking my fingers into his hair and pulling him down to my lips. “But I’m glad it was you and not him this year,” I whisper before kissing him again.

  For as long as I can remember, Teddy and I have celebrated our birthdays together. We sneak to the pier at midnight, light sparklers, and make wishes for the next year.

  “You ready to go? Or you want to start a new tradition and do something else at midnight?” Jett asks me as he kisses down the side of my neck.

  Smacking h
im on the back of the head, I say, “No. You aren’t changing my tradition. I don’t care how good a kisser you are.”

  “Hey! No need to get violent, Harps.”

  “Oh, please.”

  His deep chuckle vibrates through his chest and onto mine, making me shiver. “Do you have everything?” I ask him, turning to slip on my shoes and grab a band to tie my hair up.

  “Teddy gave me everything. It’s all in the Jeep. Well, everything but you,” he quips.

  “Come on.” I grab his hand and pull him to my bedroom door. He might have climbed up the trellis to get to my balcony, but I’m exiting through the front door. “We can’t be late.”

  I’m giddy the whole drive to the pier with Jett. Looking over at him, I take in his features that are becoming more and more defined, manly and sexy. His chiseled jaw and cut cheekbones. Green eyes that sparkle with mischief surrounded by dark lashes and topped with thick brows. Black hair that’s always a mess and hot as hell. I’m a lucky bitch to have him as mine.

  He sits down at the end of the pier with his back against a post, tugging me down to sit between his bend knees. Resting my back against his chest, I lean my head back on his shoulder and hum. “Perfect.”

  We sit listening to nothing but the sound of the waves for a few minutes, watching the stars in the night sky twinkle above us. My eyes close as I relish the feeling of being in Jett’s arms like this with no one around but us.

  “I love you, you know,” he says, breaking the silence.

  My eyes open, and I sit up and turn to look at him. His head dips down, but his eyes stay on mine. “What?” I ask quietly, making sure I heard him right.

  Reaching for my hand, he kisses my palm before sliding it to cup his cheek. His eyes close like it’s the best feeling in the world. I move to sit on my knees in front of him, bringing my other hand up to cup the other side of his face. “Open your eyes,” I tell him.

  “I love you, Harper,” he says when he does. Fear and questions swirl in his orbs as they stay locked on mine.

  Leaning forward, I press my lips to his, not closing my eyes until they roll back from the feel of his tongue sliding between my lips and caressing mine, setting tingles off all over my body.

  Pushing back, I stare at him once more. “I love you, too.” His lips pull up in the corners into a smile, so adorable I can’t help but laugh. “Did you think I didn’t?”

  “I mean, I hoped, but I didn’t want to assume you were at the same place as me. We don’t really talk about our feelings like that.”

  Pulling my cell from my back pocket, I look at the time and see we have one minute until midnight. Jett goes to reach for the sparklers, but I stop him. “No. I want to make our own sparks,” I tell him, moving to straddle his lap.

  He groans and his eyes hood when I slide down the hard length of him. Both of us feeling everything with him in only basketball shorts and me in tight booty shorts.

  I open my phone’s camera and holding it up, I look back to Jett. “Kiss me.” He reaches up and tugs the tie from my hair, letting it fall around my shoulders. His fingers go into my tresses, pulling me to him. When our lips touch again, I take picture after picture, wanting to remember this moment forever.

  Dropping my phone, I sink my fingers into his hair as his hands snake down my sides until they’re gripping my hips. I begin to rock against him as he guides me, moaning into his mouth as my toes curl from the build of pleasure between us.

  We’ve never gone this far before. We’ve had some heavy make-out sessions that have ended with us both shirtless, but we’ve never actually gotten each other off before. We always stop before we get there.

  But tonight, at the start of my birthday, we’re making our own sparks under the stars.

  His hands slide to my ass, squeezing and pulling me into him harder. My teeth bite down on his bottom lip as I feel myself losing control and tipping over to a place I’ve never been before. The taste of blood on my tongue mixed with his growl has my eyes opening to look down at him.

  Our chests rise and fall rapidly as sweat drips down my cleavage. His eyes are still closed as his head falls back with a thud against the post he’s leaning on. Giggles bubble out of me when I feel the wet mess we both made between my legs.

  “Why are you laughing?” he rasps, poking at my side to tickle me.

  “Because it feels like I peed myself.”

  He lets out a groan. “Way to take away from the good feeling I had going, Harps,” he says with his sexy little lopsided smile.

  Leaning forward again, I kiss him. “I never said it didn’t feel good.”

  “Happy birthday.”

  Smiling at him, I know he owns my whole heart. We might be young and people might tell us that we have a lifetime to live still, but I know my heart will always be his entirely.

  Somehow Jett manages to stand with me in his arms, not breaking our contact as he carries me to the car. He slides the driver’s seat back and gets in with me still on his lap. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m afraid to see what we look like.” He pauses, looking down between us where I know we’re both messy. “So I’m taking you home like this.”

  Laughing, I kiss him again. He drives us to my house while I kiss and suck on his salty-sweet skin. By the time he turns off his Jeep in my driveway, he’s hard again. He walks quietly into my house with me still wrapped around him, taking the stairs two at a time. The jostling of the movement does nothing to quell the build of another orgasm that’s about to rip through me.

  When he closes my bedroom door with my back pressed against it, he kisses me passionately until we are both breathless. When he stops, he sets me on my feet, looking down at me, and I see his love for me swimming in his eyes.

  “Come shower with me,” I say.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  He grits his jaw. “Because I don’t think I’ll be able to keep… things to myself if I see you wet and naked after getting a taste of what it’s like to be with you.”

  Looking up at him, I smirk. “Too bad.” Then I reach down and pull my tank top off, revealing my bare breasts. Walking around him and pushing my shorts down over my hips, I make my way to my en suite. “See you tomorrow, Jett,” I say, looking over my shoulder at him. I leave the door open in case he changes his mind and turn on the shower.

  After a quick rinse, I step out of the shower, disappointed he didn’t join me. Then I see his shirt on my bed and bite into my lip, smiling at it. On top is a note:

  It is torture leaving you right now, but I know it’s best. When the time is right, we’ll take our time and not just spark but light the whole world on fire. I still can’t help but want part of me touching your naked body tonight. Happy Birthday, Harper.

  Sliding his shirt on, I lift it to smell it. It smells like his clean woodsy scent. Smiling, I climb into bed and fall asleep replaying the night with him over and over.

  Chapter Six

  Harper

  When I wake again, this time to the morning sun on my birthday rather than the promise of midnight sparklers, it’s to the smell of bacon. Stretching my tired body, I beam when I remember I’m in Jett’s shirt. Bringing it to my nose, I inhale deeply and sigh thinking about last night.

  Shuffling down to the kitchen, I smile when I see my little sister, Violet, helping my mom make my traditional birthday breakfast of bacon, egg and cheese bagels.

  “Smells delicious,” I tell them, sliding onto one of the stools at the breakfast island across from where they’re cooking in sync with each other.

  Wiping her hands on her apron, my mom quickly rounds the island and kisses me on the head as she hugs me to her. “Happy sweet sixteen, Harper.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” I grin up at her.

  “They’re almost ready,” Violet says as she flips eggs in a pan.

  “Thanks, Vi,” I grin at her back.

  Plating the toasted bagel as Violet places a perfectly fried
egg on half, my mom asks, “How was your midnight celebration with Teddy last night?”

  I choke on the sip of juice I just took as my cheeks pink. “Wrong pipe,” I squeak out, hitting my chest and coughing. “It was great,” I answer, not wanting to chance her being mad that I was with Jett instead of Teddy last night.

  My parents don’t hate Jett, but they haven’t always been supportive of me dating him for the past couple of years either. They see him as the reason I’m still wild and untamed instead of becoming calmer and more refined the older I get. You know, like my younger and more mature sister.

  “I love that the two of you still do your little sparkler party every birthday.” My mom smiles, setting the plate with my mouthwatering breakfast in front of me.

  “Mmhmm,” I hum. Sinking my teeth into my sandwich, egg yolk runs down my fingers as I moan. “So. Good. Thanks, guys,” I tell my mom and sister.

  Once I finish eating, I quickly change and run to Jett’s house. Knocking on the door, I wait impatiently for someone to answer. When no one does, I slowly open the door and call out to see if anyone is home. Still no answer.

  Walking inside, I tiptoe to Jett’s room. His door is cracked open a sliver, and when I peek through, I can see his sleeping form in his bed. Biting my lip, I push open the door and quietly close it behind me, turning the lock as I kick off my shoes and shimmy out of my cut-off shorts, leaving me in my bikini bottoms and a cropped tee over my top.

  Taking a moment, I let my eyes trail over him as he sleeps. His sheet is just covering his butt, leaving his muscular back exposed, from his strong, broad shoulders from surfing down to his dimples above his sexy ass.

  Reaching over, I move the hair that’s falling in his face. It makes him move a little, but he doesn’t wake up. Slipping under the sheet, I cuddle up to him, placing soft kisses across his shoulders. When I get to his ear, I whisper, “It’s time to wake up.”