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“Maybe.”
“Does it bother you? You know, having your brother around all the time?”
He glares at me, surprised at my line of questioning. “Doesn’t it bother you?”
“Of course it does. Everyone treats me like a baby when Landry’s around. Plus, we have absolutely nothing in common.” I lean back and cross my arms again.
“Yeah. And I just—I couldn’t bear to stick around and watch him get his first kiss before I do,” he admits quietly.
My brow shoots up in disbelief. Blake is generically cute with his blond hair and blue eyes, one of the smartest kids in our class, and a great athlete. He’s also known for being a smooth talker, and his parents are loaded, at least by Camellia standards. I can’t fathom that he could be as inexperienced with the opposite sex as I am. “Wait,you’venever kissed a girl?”
He keeps his eyes trained down and stares at his lap. “No.”
“Well, why not?”
He chokes out a laugh. “Lack of opportunity, I guess.”
“Oh.” I sit there and ponder his predicament. “You do know that most of the girls in our class think you’re hot, right? All you’d have to do is?—”
“Find one who isn’t already dancing with my little brother?” he asks, cutting me off.
“Oh, I see. I’m sorry.”
He shrugs again, absently picking at the hem of his shirt. I put my book down before springing up to my knees for some more recon.
“There’s still time,” I announce from the window. “They’re only dancing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why don’t you cut in? Steal your first kiss back,” I suggest as I turn to face him again.
He smirks at me, apparently amused. “You think I still want to kiss the same girl who’s willing to get with my eleven-year-old brother? No, thanks.”
I grin back at him. “Good for you, Blake Bourgeois.”
“Well, why aren’t you going back out there,Loren Reed?” he asks, his eyes suddenly looking bluer and more sparkly than I remember. “Are you going to let something as silly as your best friend swapping spit with your brother ruin your night?”
“Yeah, I think I am,” I say, though I’m still smiling. “Besides, no one is going to dare to swap spit with me as long as big brother is watching, even if they were interested in a dork like me.”
He furrows his brow. “Maybe you just need a little more confidence. Plenty of guys think you’re cute.”
“They do?” I squeak.
“Uh, sure—I mean, I guess,” he replies awkwardly, his cheeks turning pink. “And you have a really nice … brain.”
“Too bad no one cares whether I’m smart. Most of the time I feel invisible, between having Landry for a brother, a coach for a dad, and the first girl in our grade to get boobs for a best friend. I’m starting to doubt I’ll ever get kissed.”
I expect him to laugh, but he only looks up at me, his eyelids heavy, and my stomach flips. “Well, I see you,” he says, his voice deeper than it has been up to this point.
Maybe I’m crazy for reading this much into the first romantic interaction I’ve had with a boy, but this feels like my only opportunity. I swallow hard, and my heart thumps in my chest.
“Blake?”
“Hmm?”
“Would you kiss me?”
BLAKE
