“You’re probably right. Plus, you’ll be too busy kissing me to kiss anyone else.” He winked at me.
“You’re super confident about that, aren’t you?”
“You know it.” The grin on his face was so playful I had no option but to smile right back at him.
Dad stood and motioned for us to follow him. We waited at the side until he was on the stage with the mic in his hand. “Hello, everyone! Thank you for coming to the Creek Falls Fair Talent Contest! I hope you’ve enjoyed your evening so far, and never fear; there are plenty more entertaining acts to come. Until then, we are taking a short break to announce the results of our annual Kissing Booth contest.
“For those of you who don’t know, we have a kissing booth each year, and all proceeds go to charity. Two people compete against each other for the chance to be the champion. I’d like to introduce our competitors this year: Halley Dawson, the reigning, defending champion, and her challenger, Preston Wright!”
Slightly dramatic there, Dad.
Applause rang out, and we both approached the stage with a smile and waved at everyone. Preston stood on the other side of my dad.
“Thank you to everyone who participated in the challenge this year. I’m thrilled to announce that the total raised to revamp the playground in the park is one thousand, two hundred and seventeen dollars!”
My eyes went wide.
Holy crap. We’d never raised that amount of money before, and even though it usually went to charity, the playground really did need redoing. It would be amazing for the kids in town.
“Yes, wonderful!” Dad said. “And now, for the contest winner…”
I shared a look with Preston. I knew exactly what my dad was about to say, and I had to hide my smile.
“The new kissing booth champion is… Preston!”
I laughed, turning toward him and clapping. He looked genuinely shocked, as if he’d thought I’d won, but I wasn’t surprised at all. I think I’d known from the second I found out he was my competition that he was going to win.
He was new and shiny, and half the women in town wanted to marry him, so…
Dad handed Preston the microphone and shoved him into the middle of the stage. He joined me, off to the side, and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
“You get a year off then, Halley,” Dad said into my ear.
Laughing, I said, “I think it’s time to pass it on to someone else anyway. I think I’d still like to be involved with the booth—I think it would do well if it was overhauled for next year.”
He nodded. “I agree. Now, let’s see what Preston has to say.”
Preston looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but up on that stage, talking in front of everyone else. Still, he took a step forward and cleared his throat.
The mic screeched. He jumped back, staring at it like it’d punched him.
I hid a laugh behind my hand.
“Uh, hello?” he said, giving the mic a tap to make sure it didn’t screech again. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say here, but I wanted to thank everyone for coming out to the kissing booth and seeing both myself and Halley. It’s been a long week, but I know I speak for us both when I say it was worth it. The playground is overdue to be updated, and this is going to make a huge difference to the kids in town. So, thank you.”
He paused while people clapped.
“I’d also like to thank Halley for being great competition.” He swept his arm toward me. “But I am happy to take that crown off her, so you guys can finally kiss someone else next year.”
I stuck my tongue out at him, but I was laughing.
“And on that topic: I won’t be defending next year. You’ll have two new competitors.”
Dad looked at me. “Why isn’t he defending?”
Preston beat him to it. “I’ve learned a lot over the last week or so, but the most important thing I’ve learned is that there’s only one person I want to kiss, and she’s standing right over there.”
My eyes widened as he pointed at me.
“And don’t worry, despite the look of terror on her face, she does already know this.”
My dad smiled, nudging me in the back to push me forward.
“What are you doing?” I mouthed to Preston.
“Kiss her!” Someone that sounded an awful lot like Reagan shouted from the crowd.
I was going to kill her.
“Yeah, kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!” That was my grandmother who was now standing on the judge’s table.
And she’d started a chant.
Oh, my God.
The entire crowd was joining in. It got louder and louder until almost everyone was doing it. My cheeks flamed red hot, and I looked at my sandal-clad feet on the stage instead of anywhere else.
Preston’s hand slid around to the back of my neck, and he dipped his head. “Sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
He laughed, bringing our bodies fully together. “At least they won’t gossip now.”
And then he kissed me.
Just once. A single touch, but one that meant so much. It warmed my entire body, consuming me until I was barely aware of anything other than him.
I had tingles all over my skin where he touched me, and I knew.
I was teetering on the edge of falling in love with Preston Wright.
There was no going back from it, not now. It all felt completely right, even though there was whooping and hollering from people who loved a show.
He released me with a wide smile. His eyes shone with something I couldn’t place, an emotion that I knew was genuine all the same. “Whoops?”
“Whoops my ass!” I laughed and leaned into him when he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, nestling me against him.
“Is this where I drop the mic?” he whispered into my ear.
“Metaphorically. My dad probably won’t like it if you actually drop it.”
His chuckle made his whole body shake, and he turned and held it out in the direction of my dad. “I just realized I kissed you in front of your dad.”
“Yep.”
“Shit.”
I laughed, covering my mouth with my hand.
Dad approached us with a stern look on his face. “And what on Earth was that?”
I could see the glint in his eye that said he was messing with Preston, but he went as rigid as a board next to me.
“I, uh, sir—”
Dad burst out laughing and yanked him over, hugging him. He patted him on the back twice before letting him go. “Go on, you two. I’m not surprised at all. We need to get the talent show back on.”
“Sure.” Preston tucked me back under his arm.
“Tell Grandma I’m going to kill her,” were my parting words to my dad.
He laughed, and Preston swept me off the stage and around the back. The crowd watching the talent show had calmed down, and there were so many people there that the food stalls were all but empty.
We detoured quickly and grabbed a couple of hot dogs before we made it back to the booth. It was silent, and we ducked inside the tent together.
“That was dramatic,” I said, sitting cross-legged on the stage.
Preston dropped to the floor in front of me with a laugh. “I’m not gonna lie, I did that in the hope Lindsay would leave me alone now.”