She sighs dramatically. “Please don’t say ‘velocity scan.’”
Despite myself, I almost laugh.
“That was the best kiss of my life.”
That finally gets her attention. Her head turns slowly toward me, irritation faltering just around the edges. I keep my eyes on the road mostly because if I look at her too long, I might drive this truck directly into a ditch.
“I was not calm back there,” I admit. “I was trying very hard to look calm because there was a tornado forming two miles away and you were injured.” I swallow once. “But I promise you, I have not stopped thinking about kissing you since it happened.”
The cab goes quiet except for the sound of tires against wet pavement. Lila studies me for a long moment. Then, finally, some of the anger drains out of her expression.
“You handled it badly,” she mutters.
“That’s fair.”
“And ‘research partnership’ was an insane thing to say afterward.”
“I know.” I wince. “I heard it the second it came out of my mouth.”
That earns the smallest twitch of her lips. Not quite a smile. But close enough that I finally breathe again.
I clear my throat. “In my defense, I’m not very good at this.”
Lila arches an eyebrow. “Kissing?” My brain short-circuits so violently I almost miss the next turn.
“What? No.” Heat floods my face instantly. “Jesus Christ.”
Now she’s fully smiling, and the sight of it nearly destroys me.
“I meant…” I tighten my grip on the wheel. “This. Whatever this is.” I gesture vaguely between us with one hand. “I don’t exactly have a lot of experience recovering gracefully after kissing someone I’ve been in lo?—”
I stop. Silence fills the truck. Oh no.
Lila turns toward me slowly. “You’ve been what?”
I stare straight ahead at the road like it personally betrayed me.
“…Nothing.”
“Jonah.”
I exhale hard. “The point is, I’m bad at this and I hope you’ll grant me a little grace.”
Her expression softens completely then. The irritation fades from her face little by little until she just looks at me the way she had before the sirens interrupted us.
“You know,” she says quietly, “for someone supposedly bad at this, that kiss was very convincing.”
I glance over just long enough to catch her smiling to herself as she looks out the window again.
“I panicked,” I admit.
“You absolutely panicked.”
“I saw a tornado warning and reverted to factory settings.”
She laughs again, shaking her head carefully against the seat. “You really did.”
“I’m hoping you’ll forgive me anyway.”
