The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories by Heidi McLaughlin, Wendy Owens, Kimberly Knight, Brina Courtney, Raine Thomas, Bethany Lopez, A. O. Peart, Amanda Aksel, Felicia Tatum, Amanda Lance Page A

laughs and shakes her head. “You’re a dork, mom.” I may have been insulted, but getting her to laugh is worth it in my book.
    We walk in and find the rest of our party waiting for us at a table that sits five. Even though Peyton hasn’t been around us much today, he thought ahead and planned for her to have lunch with us. Who does that?
    Lunch is a quiet affair with Quinn, Elle and Peyton teasing me about not going on any rides. I’m adamant that I’m fine taking pictures of everyone, but they aren’t buying it. Quinn calls me chicken and Peyton adds the noises to go with it.
    “Let’s go on a ride together,” Harrison suggests. I shake my head rapidly, expressing a giant no thanks. I like to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground.
    “Yeah, we’re going on a ride.” Harrison pulls my hand into his, with his other hand attached to Elle’s who is holding Peyton’s who’s attached to Quinn. We’re a train.
    “Are you kidding me?” I ask when we stop in front of the haunted mansion. “No way.”
    “It’s a kid ride with dancing ghosts. The most harmless ride out there.”
    “There’s no one to watch the kids,” I reply, letting go of his hand. I place my hands on my hips for good measure to show him I mean business. This is my mom stance, which makes him laugh. I roll my eyes and throw my hands up in the air.
    “Liam and Josie are right there, plus the bodyguards are here. Let me take you on this ride.” Harrison sticks out his bottom lip and bats his eyes. I thought only women and a set of twins did this. The kids are jumping up and down clapping their hands begging me to go.
    “It’s not scary?”
    “Not at all. Quinn rode it when he was four.”
    “Dad’s right. It’s a dumb ride, to be honest.”
    “Fine.” I relent and follow Harrison in line. Thankfully, it’s short and we don’t have to wait too long. Once we are in the seat and buckled in, I regret it immediately. I hate ghost and horror stories.
    “I can’t do this.” My hands start to push on the bar holding me in.
    “What are you talking about?”
    “This, I can’t ride.” Our car starts to jerk forward, leaving me with no way out. We enter a dark tunnel and something brushes against me. I scream and clutch onto Harrison’s arms, my fingers digging into his flesh. We round a corner and pause to watch ghost perform a dance for us.
    “Want me to distract you?”
    “How on earth are you going to do that?”
    Harrison shrugs and turns his baseball cap around. His lips are on mine before I can take my next breath. As the car moves, jerking us back and forth, his tongue glides against mine in a relaxed state. My hand cups his cheek and my fingers play along his jaw, rubbing the scruff that has grown since his last shave.
    His arm wraps around me, protecting me from whatever lurks in the dark. He pulls away slightly, only to bite my lower lip before going back to my mouth. My lips tingle with desire, yearning for more even though this shouldn’t be happening. My body curves to into his like it’s meant to be there. I should be scared, but I’m lost in the way his mouth moves against mine, bringing out new sensations that I didn’t know existed. My body sighs, urging him on. I shift so I’m closer, leaving no gap between us. People scream around us and that only spurs him deeper into this kiss. It’s not urgent, but soft and tantalizing. I could spend days like this and not need to breathe or even move from this position.
    Harrison kisses down my jaw. I let out a little squeak showing him my displeasure of him leaving my now swollen lips. I know I’ll have red lips from razor burn, but at the moment I’m going to welcome them. He pulls at my top lip, whispering my name as he does. His lust filled voice makes my toes curl and I want to demand more. I want to stand-up and tell him I need more, but I’m too lost in my own head to let that happen. He’s distracting me like he said he would.
    I almost cry out when he