“Julie, jump into the water to save R, then make his heart beat again,” Bella yells to us.
“Am I the Grinch now?” I grunt.
“You are trying to steal Christmas,” Maya says, her tone cold and hardened. Seems she iced herself out, too.
“Now break!” Bella blows a whistle.
I stifle a groan. “Are we acting or playing a game?”
“Is there a difference?” Maya asks. There’s something in her eyes, a question, but also a wall of indifference.
Another whistle from Bella, and I drop to my position on the floor. Maya struts forward, then kicks my leg with her foot.
“R? You good, bro?”
My lips twitch.
“CUUUTTT!” Bella screeches into a megaphone. Where on earth did she get that? “Your play last night was way better. Make me believe it. Make mefeelit! You just fell off a building!”
“I believe she’s found her calling in life,” I mutter, relaxing into my position on the floor since I’m bound to be here for a while. If there’s a chance to torture me in some way, I have no doubt Maya will take it.
Maya twists her hair into a messy bun, ready to get down to business. She crouches down beside me, gripping my shirt like she’s about to throttle me or kiss me. The possibility of either has my heart kicking up speed. “All right, new plan. Put your heart into it, let’s get this done once, and then I’ll bribe her to watchElf.”
“What is your obsession with that movie?”
“It’s a holiday classic.” She throws her hands and stands in exasperation. “You people are killing me.”
I chuckle. “Fine. Let’s show our little Steven Spielberg how it’s done.”
“Stop talking and start acting,” Bella shouts.
Maya retraces her steps, and we begin again, selling the scene like we are Julie and R and we’ve just jumped off a building into the pool below. Of course I protected her with my body because I’m a gentleman like that. But now I’m dying. But I was already dead… I think. I don’t understand the logistics. Bella should have allowed me to watch the entire movie. I need time to prepare for important things.
“R?” Maya yells, looking around above me. “R!” she yells again as she finds me below her. She reaches for me, pulling up like she’s afraid to lose me. Her grasp is frantic, her eyes filled with fear. She almost has me believing it.
“R! R, please.” Maya grabs my jaw, and I blink my eyes slowly.
I slide my hands around her waist, ready for the kiss, but Maya isn’t.
“You saved me,” she whispers.
“I’ll always save you.” My heart thumps against my chest hard and fast, not steady like it should.
Her t-shirt has fallen off one shoulder, and goosebumps rise on her exposed skin. I seize the moment, dipping my head to the hollow of her neck, brushing my lips ever so softly against her soft skin. She still smells the same: sweet, but just a little spicy.
Maya’s intake of breath is only loud enough for me to hear.
I lift my head and her cheek brushes mine. I wait for that moment. Her lips, mine. I don’t want to close my eyes because I don’t want to miss it. She turns her head just enough for our eyes to lock, and I see the moment she decides.
After eight years, I finally get to kiss this woman again. I would be lying if I said I never dreamed of this moment.
Her lips meet mine with a kiss that's hot and hungry.
And like R, I come back to life after drowning—in… garlic?
I jump back, sputtering and choking.
And then Maya shoots me in the chest with a Nerf gun.
