26 Kisses (33 page)

I step closer and lean in, planting a big old smacker on Quinn’s cheek and freezing there for just a second so his friends can get pictures on their phones.

“Okay!” Killian says, snatching the
Q
off my sign. “What next?”

“Um . . .”

“Hey, pretty lady,” a voice says from behind me. I spin around to find Mel and Seth standing on the step below us, holding hands.

“You guys.” I clap my hands over my mouth. We stare at one another.

Seth shakes his head and kicks at the ground with his yellow high-top. “Don’t, Vee. It’s fine. Everything just got kind of screwed up for a while.”

“Are you sure?” I lock eyes with Mel. She nods.

“Double sure. What, did you think I would play a concert for you during the race if I were still mad?” She bumps her hip against Seth’s. “This loser told me it was all his fault. And he finally realized what he really wanted.”

“Which is Mel,” Seth clarifies, as if there were any doubt. “This girl, right here, is what I want.” He wraps his arm around Mel’s waist, pulling her in close. She giggles and nuzzles his neck. My stomach tightens, but in a good way.

I hop down onto their step and throw my arms around them.

“Hey,” Seth protests. “You’re stabbing me with that sign.”

Mel smiles up at Killian. “You’re helping her finish it, huh?”

Killian holds his hands out. “I figure the sooner she gets it over with, the sooner I can start convincing her to transfer to Trawley and become my debate partner.”

I snort. “Yeah, right. If anybody’s transferring, buddy, it’s you.” I barely recognize my own voice, it sounds so happy. I glance at Seth, unsure if I should stay stuff like that in front of him, but he nods slightly and pulls Mel to him, wrapping his arm securely around her.

“Okay,” I say, turning back to Killian. “I know I still need
W
,
X
, and
Y
. Good luck finding those for me.”

Killian cracks his knuckles theatrically and hands me the giant
X
. “Now we need someone whose name starts with an
X
!” Killian yells to the crowd. Soon Xander, a thirty-something dad with two kids, presents me his stubble-covered cheek while his wife stands by and laughs, holding their daughter in her arms.

“You kids are crazy,” Xander says, taking a selfie with me before strolling off with his family.

“
W
should be easy,” Seth says, finally starting to warm up to the game. “Do we have any
W
s in the crowd tonight?”

Walter is close to my grandpa’s age but still up for a good time.

“Oh, wait!” I say. “I also need a
U
.”

It takes a while for us to hunt Ulric down, but we luck out because he’s four years old and wearing a name tag in case he gets lost in the crowd. His mom lifts him up to me, and I plant a quick kiss on his baby-soft cheek while he giggles in her arms.
Y
is a tough one, but Mel finally gets the bright idea to call Yeti, a linebacker on Butterfield’s football team who has gone by his nickname for so long, no one actually remembers what his real name is. He lifts me up like I weigh nothing and twirls me around until I beg him to put me down.

“I think we only need
J
,
L
, and
V
,” I say. “I’ll take care of
J
when I see Jeffrey later. I know a sweaty kiss from his big sister is exactly what he wants today.”

Mel texts Landon, and he and Brianna jog over. “I hear you’re in need of some assistance,” Landon says, leaning over to smack an exaggerated kiss on my cheek. “Allow me to be of service.”

Brianna giggles and nudges him. “Don’t get any ideas,” she says.

“Only one letter left,” Killian says, leaning down to whisper in my ear. “What on Earth are you going to do once you’ve worked your way through the entire alphabet?”

“I think I’ll figure something out,” I murmur, every cell in my body begging for him to sweep me up in his arms and put an end to this torture. “Mel!” I call. She tears herself away from Seth and links elbows with me. “I need a
V
,” I say. “Let’s get this over with.”

Mel bumps my hip with hers. “Vee. Think about it.”

“What?”

Her eyes widen meaningfully, and she stares at me.

V. V.
I need a
V
. What am I not getting?

“Ohhh,” I say, the realization dawning.

“There you go,” she says. “I knew you’d figure it out eventually.”

I untangle my arm from Mel’s, and Seth immediately swoops in to take my place next to her, a satisfied grin on his face. Brianna leans into Landon, and Killian just stands there with the envelope full of letters in his hands.

I almost can’t believe Twenty-Six Kisses went from being a dumb way to shock myself into getting over Mark to something that actually mattered—that showed me there’s no one perfect guy for me, that it’s okay for the girl to pay, that you can get your heart broken and come out the other side whole. That the most important thing you can do is love yourself, and other people will follow your lead.

I raise my hands to my mouth, smack a kiss into the center of my palm, and lift my arms over my head. “There’s
V
.”

Mel whoops and tackles me, nearly knocking me off my feet. The crowd around me cheers, everyone jumping up and down, high-fiving and yelling, as if I’ve just finished running another race. And in a way, I guess, I have.

I lift the sign over my head and let it fall to the ground. “All done,” I say, smiling up at Killian. “Finally.”

He twirls the ends of my hair through his fingers. “You sure?” he asks. “You don’t want to go back to
A
and start over again?”

I let my mouth fall open. “Are you kidding?” I say. I loop my arm around his neck and pull his face to mine. “Right now there’s only one letter I’m interested in.”

“Oh yeah?” His eyes roam over my face, drinking me in. “And what would that be? You’ll have to spell it out for me, counselor.”

“Oh, shut up,” I say, eliminating the last few inches between us. “Just stop talking and kiss me.”

Killian

l0/l0

Team Us

I’ve always known that I wanted to write books, but it wasn’t until I discovered contemporary YA that I really found a writing home. I first have to thank all the inspiring authors who have paved the way in this space and made it possible for these kinds of stories to reach such a wide audience.

Thanks to everyone at the amazing conference Writers in Paradise and my B&B Mafia crew, especially Ben Pfeiffer, for supporting me from the very beginning.

Buckets of gratitude to my colleagues at Sourcebooks, especially Dominique Raccah, Todd Stocke, and Shana Drehs, for making my day job a dream job.

So many thanks to my unparalleled agent, Pete Knapp, and the teams at New Leaf Literary and The Park Literary Group; also to Sara Sargent, Liesa Abrams, Sarah McCabe, Kaitlin Severini, and everyone who does such incredible work at Simon Pulse.

To my friends, near and far, thank you for putting up with my bookish ways and always being there when I emerge from the reading/writing/editing cave.

Thanks to my family, especially my mom, for raising me right—on poker and books (which, incidentally, is great training for a career in publishing!).

And finally, to Matt—bandmate, roommate, soul mate. Thanks for being you.

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

SIMON PULSE

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www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Simon Pulse hardcover edition May 2016

Text copyright © 2016 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Jacket illustration copyright © 2016 by Studio 504/Getty Images

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Jacket designed by Regina Flath

Interior designed by Steve Scott

Author photo by Matt Michels

The text of this book was set in Versailles.

Names: Michels, Anna, author.

Title: 26 kisses / by Anna Michels.

Other titles: Twenty six kisses

Description: First Simon Pulse hardcover edition. | New York : Simon Pulse, 2016. | Summary: "When Veda's boyfriend unceremoniously dumps her right after graduation, she embarks on a summer love quest to move on and move up: kiss 26 boys, one for each letter of the alphabet"—Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015032074 | ISBN 9781481452465 (hardback) | ISBN 9781481452489 (ebook)

Subjects: | CYAC: Dating (Social customs)—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Dating & Sex. | JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Friendship. | JUVENILE FICTION / Family / General (see also headings under Social Issues).

Classification: LCC PZ7.1.M515 Aam 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Acknowledgments

About Anna Michels