“Who’s the good cat? Come here,” Peyton said and started to reach for him.

Mr Lucky let out another meow before he bolted past Peyton and into her backyard.

“Damn cat!” she cursed. “You get back here, you little shit!”

Peyton quickly turned around and saw Mr Lucky sitting in the middle of her garden—smirking—before she just caught a glimpse of the gate swinging towards her and then saw black.

“Y ou two have never kissed before? Like, never?” Martha asked, disbelieving. She sculled back her beer and placed it on the ground, next to her feet.

Martha Downs was the daughter of the town’s sergeant. Her being invited to their bonfire parties was mainly because she could get anyone off the hook if they were caught drinking underage. However, most things in town were overlooked or ignored. If you stirred up trouble, then the law book would be handed to you.

Peyton turned her head and stared at Callum, who was watching the fire intently. She looked back at Martha and shook her head.

“No. We’re best friends,” Peyton simply stated.

Martha’s mouth gaped and her forehead creased as she looked at Peyton in disbelief before she pointed at a couple near a tree. “See, Taylor and Kenny are just friends and they’re making out. You guys are constantly around each other. The way you both act… You’re like a couple.”

Peyton let out a nervous laugh. Sometimes she believed they could be a couple. She’d had that belief since she was thirteen, when he’d held her hand as they walked down Main Street, but she had thought too much into it.

“We’re just—”

“Why don’t you both just kiss? Show us all that you’re both just friends,” Martha said, cocking her brow and interrupting Peyton.

“I... Uhh...” Peyton mumbled and picked up her cup of Coke from the ground. She took a long sip as the party around them silenced and all eyes focused on her.

“Come on,” Martha said as she smirked and played with her curly ponytail.

“Yeah! Do it!” someone behind Peyton yelled.

“Knock it off, Martha. You get stupid when you drink,” Madilynne said, taking a seat next to Peyton.

“Please, Mads. I’m just as curious about these two as the rest of the town. I can speak my mind. My Daddy’s the sergeant, remember?”

Madilynne let out a short laugh. “Yeah, and you never let us forget it. If we’re going by social status, then I should remind you whose daddy is the mayor who employs your daddy.”

Madilynne hated to use her father’s title, but when Martha talked, Madilynne always had the urge to shut her down. It made for some interesting fights between the two.

“Come on, Pey. We’re getting out of here,” Callum said, getting up from his chair.

She looked up at him and he continued to stare at the fire, waiting for her.

“Callum, Martha’s just being a teasing bitch. Stay and party with us,” Madilynne said.

But Peyton knew otherwise. The tensing in his jaw told her that something was worrying him.

Standing up, Peyton looked at Madilynne. “I’ll see you later.”

“But it’s not even one yet,” her best friend argued.

“I have to get her home before her dad realises she snuck out, Mads. We’ll see you later,” Callum said and started to walk away.

Peyton gave Madilynne an apologetic shrug before chasing after Callum. He didn’t say anything as they walked away from the forest near the boathouse, past her parents’ hotel, and towards their street.

Peyton had always wondered what it would be like to kiss Callum, but she knew better. They were friends. Though it had hurt seeing him kiss Tasha Morecombe at Peyton’s sixteenth birthday party, it was the realisation she’d needed. So she’d buried her feelings deep.

When they arrived at their street, he surprisingly took her hand and led her quietly to the side gate of her house. Her heartbeat sped up at the feel of his touch, but she swallowed hard to ignore the bliss she felt.

Callum let go of her hand the moment they made it to her bedroom window. She leant on the tree and watched as he lifted it up. The brightness of the moon gave her the light needed to see him and the cherry blossoms that fell on the shirt he was wearing.

A girl could only dream of the day when Callum Reid asked her to be his. For Peyton, she wouldn’t be that lucky girl. She’d rather be his friend than nothing at all. It was a sacrifice her heart hated making.

Callum moved the curtains, and she watched as he looked into her room. When he glanced over at Peyton, he gave her a restrained smile.

“It’s clear. Doesn’t look like your parents noticed. The house is quiet,” he stated and leant against the weatherboards of her house.

The worry in his eyes had her frowning. “Callum, does it annoy you that people in town think more of what we actually are?”

He tensed. “Peyton…”

“Are you embarrassed at the thought of kissing me?” she asked, a little hurt.

“No,” he whispered.

Her heart threw itself against her ribcage. Not the answer she had been expecting.

So she pushed off the tree and took a step forward. “Then kiss me.”

He looked at her, surprised. “I don’t think—”

“Prove to me that we’re just friends. What are you afraid of? It’s just a kiss.”

“It’s not, Peyton.”

“It is. What are you so afraid of?” she asked, tilting her head up at him.

He let out a sigh and said, “Of falling further for you than I already am.”

Callum said it so softly that she almost missed it. She looked at him in shock at his confession. Before she could even comment or reply, he grabbed her and crashed his lips onto hers, searing her heart as his for eternity.

Warmth surrounded her. It wasn’t just a sensation that lasted mere seconds; it was prolonging. She snuggled into it and smelt wood burning. Then she opened her eyes to see the glass coffee table of her lounge room in front of her. She bunched her eyebrows at the sight. Not what she had expected to see. Her eyes wandered as she started to slowly remember her last memory before the darkness.

“That damn cat,” she mumbled as she tried to move, a blanket tight around her restricting her attempt to sit up.

“Careful, Peyton. Slowly,” a voice instructed.

She lifted her eyes up from the coffee table to see Callum walking into the room. He checked on the fireplace before he kneeled and set a cup on the table.

“Why are you in my house, Callum?” Peyton asked, groggy.

She pulled her arms from under the blanket and then sat up too quickly. Her head pounded heavily and she placed a hand on her forehead, trying to soothe the ache away.

Callum sat beside her and cradled her cheeks in his hands, steadying her face as he looked over her.

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure that you’re okay. I think you should be fine. Do you need me to take you to a doctor or the local hospital?” Callum dropped his hands from her face and adjusted the blanket to cover her up more.

“I... Uhh, what?” she asked, confused.

“I found you near the gate unconscious in the storm, Peyton. What were you thinking? I found your phone on the bench once I brought you inside. Your last call was to Mads eight hour ago. I found you two hours ago. That means you were unconscious out there for almost six hours. Lucky you had that jacket on.”

“There was a cat,” she explained as she pulled the blanket off her. Then her eyes widened and she quickly covered herself, her cheeks heating instantly. “Umm, care to explain?”