Page 53 of All I Feel

“I think it’s time I’m honest with you.”

Her brow furrowed. “You lied to me?”

I shook my head. “No. I just… I haven’t been completely forthcoming with you.”

The more I spoke, the more troubled Tessa became. “You’re scaring me, Ace. What’s going on?”

“Part of the reason I kissed you was to try to convince your ex that you’ve moved on, and he should do the same,” I began, my fingers tightening around her hand. “But the bigger reason I did it is because I’ve been dying to do that for a while now.”

Surprise littered her features. “You have?”

I nodded. “I really didn’t plan on telling you any of this today. In fact, I hadn’t anticipated doing it any time soon.”

“Why not?”

“Because you just got out of a relationship,” I explained. “I’m not that selfish and was fully prepared to give you the time you needed to heal. I can understand that you probably aren’t ready for this right now. You might not even be interested. But I can’t allow you to sit here thinking that me kissing you meant nothing to me because that’d be a lie.”

She licked her lips. “So, you liked it?”

“Best kiss of my life.”

Her eyes rounded in disbelief. “And you like me?”

“Yes. Very much.”

“I… I… Really?”

Loosening my hold on her hand, I said, “It’s okay, Tessa. I know you’re not where I am yet. It’s okay. And if you never get where I am, that’s cool, too. Things will continue just like they’ve been. I care about you deeply, and I’d never let anything come between our friendship.”

Tessa bit her lip, forcing my eyes to drop to it and recall the taste of her. How I didn’t let out a groan was a mystery to me. “This is… Wow, this is a lot. I wasn’t expecting this.”

“I know. You don’t have to make any decisions or say anything. We can just have a nice lunch together, like we originally planned.”

Nodding, she murmured, “Okay. I just think it’s going to be tough.”

“Why?”

Her eyes dropped to the table, a hint of pink on her cheeks.

When she didn’t answer me, I pressed for a response. “Princess, why?”

Lifting her chin, her eyes met mine. “How am I supposed to pretend that didn’t make me feel anything?”

Now I was the one who was surprised. “What?”

“I… That kiss… Ace, I’ve never felt that before.”

“What did you feel?”

Air rushed from her lungs. “My body. It… I don’t know how to explain it.”

“You felt that kiss everywhere, didn’t you?”

The flush crept over her skin as she nodded and whispered, “Yes.”

“Okay, listen. I don’t know if I have any reasonable solution for making it easier to pretend you didn’t feel anything. I’m in the same boat. If you want to talk about it, we can. I’ll answer any questions you have, tell you anything you want to know. If you’d rather talk about something else, we can do that, too. No pressure, either way.”

Our server returned, set down our drinks and sandwiches, and asked, “Is there anything else I can get for you?”