Without Boundaries by Cj Azevedo

him for the first time and it feels totally appropriate. I have been dreaming of this since the night I ran into him at his hockey game. I have desired this every time his lush lips touched my forehead or the hair on my head or even the tip of my nose. My lips have been jealous, so I think now is the perfect time to ease that jealousy and see what all the hype is about.
I turn around in his embrace so I am looking up into his gorgeous eyes. I wrap my arms around his neck. I stare at him for just a second before sliding my hands onto either side of his face and pulling his mouth to mine. We both hold still for a few seconds and when he pulls my body in closer to his I pull back just enough to softly bite his bottom lip. I hear him groan slightly before he deepens the kiss. My hands make their way into his soft hair as his hands rub my lower back.
I freeze as I hear someone clear their throat way too close to us. I know it is Missy who has been watching us and is now interrupting the best kiss I have ever had. I know it’s cliché and even corny but there were definite fireworks going off behind my eyelids as Talon McAllister kissed me on this beach.
“Hey Missy,” I hear Talon say to her, he’s smiling like the cat that caught the mouse.
“Um hey. Sorry to interrupt but I just, um… just wanted to let you know I was here and say hello.”
“Ok. We’ll be back up there in a minute.” Talon looks back into my eyes as Missy turns to go back up towards the house. “Hey Missy?”
“Yeah?” Missy turns back to face Talon. I have no idea what he’s about to say to her but he definitely has a hard look on his face.
“Let everyone know that if they have something to say that I’m not going to like they’re definitely going to have to deal with me. I won’t walk away.” Talon grabs my hand and we walk further down the beach and away from Missy.
We stop not too far from the party but far enough to have a private conversation.
“Do you want to sit or would you rather go back home?” Talon asks as he hugs me.
“No, I don’t want to leave yet, we can sit.” So we sit down. Talon grabs my hand as he pulls his legs up into the bent position and I cross mine out in front of me. “Before you came up to me over there I was thinking about how much I miss this. Friends, family, the smell of the fire. I haven’t really thought about it too much since I left but tonight I’m really missing my old life in California.”
“What was it like? Like, who would be at a bonfire with you?” Thinking about his question makes my heart hurt with homesickness. I smile wide as I begin to answer him.
“My sister and I grew up on a farm. There are a lot of acres on our property so neighbors weren’t really an option for us. There were a few other families who have farms like ours and they have all been friends with my parents since before we were born. They all had kids around the same time. Shy is my sister Cheyenne, she is only a year older than I am and then there are the three boys. None of us are related but we were raised like siblings being so far out in the country. Garret, Blaine, Tucker, and I are all just a few months apart and started going to bonfires with our parents. When we got old enough to hold our own, we did exactly that.” I take a minute remembering all of the times we sat around the fire while our parents sat inside playing cards.
“When we first started having them on our own, it was just the five of us but as we got older and could drive something other than a quad or gator we started having friends out. Pendleton was the drink of choice for the boys since that’s what they could get out of their father’s liquor cabinets and since Shy and I couldn’t get our own alcohol it was what we learned to love.” I laugh softly at the thought of the first few times drinking the whiskey.
“Ah, the whiskey. So are you getting ready to tell me your reasons for drinking whiskey, finally?” I love that I have his