Read Every Kiss for Free Online

Sure, I could probably listen in and
have all of my nagging questions answered, but there are certain lines that
even I won’t cross.
    Knowing that I’m in my favorite kind of oblivion, I succumb
to the peace of it. I listen to the evocative emotion in the lyrics, allowing
the singer to pull me into his own deeply profound thoughts. Pain. Desire.
Undying love. The search for something unknown. Every song is different, yet
they each leave you with the same underlying current of passion for life. The
good and the bad. This is the reason I use music as my escape.
    I have no idea how long I’ve been out here in my own little
world, but I’m sure Makenna will come looking for me any second, so I force my
eyes open and yank out my earbuds. The combination of the sudden light and
nearly perfect silence is a shock to my senses, and it takes me a second to
fully adjust. The first thing I notice is the setting sun, casting a warm,
golden glow over the trees swaying in the gentle breeze. The scene before me is
calmingly beautiful, causing a smile to creep onto my lips.
    Still stuck in my temporary state of euphoria, I pull my
now-stiff legs off the railing and stand, stretching and smiling uninhibitedly.
But as I turn to go back inside, my moment of pure soaring ecstasy crashes and
burns. “Jeez, Wes! You scared me to death! Do you always stare at people who
are blissfully unaware of your presence?”
    “You’re kinda cute when you think no one is watching you.”
He leans against the outside of the door frame and folds his arms over his
chest.
    “Happy to entertain you, but you’re off babysitting duty
now, so there’s no need to check up on me.” I try to get past him, but he steps
right in my path. Being so short without my heels on, I smack my face right
into his chest. “I need to get back downstairs. Will you please move?”
    He gently places his hands on my shoulders and looks down at
me. For the first time since I met him today, I see sincerity in his gaze. “I
owe you an apology.”
    “You don’t owe me anything. I don’t even know you.”
    “You know me enough to think I’m an asshole.”
    I shrug. “You’re having a bad day. Happens to the best of
us.”
    “But I took it out on the wrong person. I’m sorry for that.”
    I look up into his kind, aquamarine eyes. For just a second,
I can see a glimmer of the person that Makenna described. I take a deep breath
and sigh audibly. “Apology accepted. I’m sorry your birthday has sucked.”
    “I owe you another apology, too. You just don’t realize it
yet.”
    Cryptic much? “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    He releases my shoulders and walks to the edge of the
balcony, pointing down at the ground. “I was down there, on a private phone
call with my dad, and I just happened to look up here and saw your feet
dangling over the edge. I went around the other side of the house to finish my
conversation and then came up here to ream you out.”
    “Why? Did I break a house rule or something?”
    He smirks. “No. Nothing like that. I thought you were
listening in on my conversation. I said some pretty mean things to you before I
realized you were listening to music and couldn’t hear me. So even though you
didn’t hear it, I still said it. And I’m sorry.”
    This must be the Wes that Makenna was telling me about. I’m
still not ruling out his bipolar tendencies though. There’s something endearing
about him admitting something he said to me that I’d never know about
otherwise. Honesty is a rarity these days. “Well, since you’re being honest, I
should tell you that I did hear part of your conversation. You told your dad not
to patronize you and then something about him telling her where you live. At
that point, I cranked the music up. I know that wasn’t meant for anyone to
hear, so I’m sorry, too.”
    His phone rings, so he pulls it out of his pocket to check
the screen. Whoever the caller is, he relaxes after seeing their name. “I have
to