Shelby is a Marine through and through. She views active duty in Iraq as far easier than attending her friend’s commitment ceremony. Escorting April down the aisle to marry someone else is perhaps the toughest thing she’s ever had to do, because when she’s finally honest with herself, she realizes that she loves April and can’t live without her. In this story, a woman must either speak out or forever hold her peace.
Excerpt:
I had often relived her sixteenth birthday party, and here on her wedding day, I couldn’t help but go there again. Without mercy, my mind played tricks on me and brought me back to that night. She was sweet sixteen and never been kissed. I knew this for a fact. All the kids in our pack played truth or dare. Someone had dared me to kiss April. And she looked, well, aside from being a total babe, she was suddenly bold, and I felt like a heart attack waiting to happen.
The guys punched their fists in the air, and more than a few girls joined in on the chant. “Do it! Do it!” The whistles and catcalls echoed in time with my heart. I walked over to her, took her hands in mine and gazed directly into her sparkling eyes. She glanced at my lips and licked hers in what seemed like a silent movie in slow motion.
A boy had kissed me, once, but April’s kiss was different. Monumentally different. We leaned toward each other as the shouts grew louder. I placed my lips on hers, not fully registering the noise surrounding us, forgetting what and where I was and why I was doing this in front of our friends. I expected a platonic peck, but she had a better idea. Our first kiss was laced with a lingering caramel nougat flavor and had a sweetness all its own. I can still taste it.
Every cell in my body was on alert from that electrified embrace. She grabbed my head and pulled me close, so that I could feel her breasts, hipbones, and torso. I got carried away, and so did she. The cheering sounded distant and muffled. I felt every lick and suck as if it was happening to my crotch. I couldn’t help the way my entire body responded. I didn’t stop her. I had to have it like morphine after a self-inflicted wound. There was no turning back. And then I let go. I came hard. In my pants. Involuntarily, I shuddered, and although the visual tremor was subtle, I died right then and there. I was more mortified than I had ever been in my mere sixteen years of life. How was I going to face anyone ever again?
April pulled away first, looked at me for a second, and then turned to our gang. She curtseyed. It was all a show to her. She gloated like we’d just pulled off the greatest prank. I fled without looking back. We never talked about what happened that night.
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