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“We’re not?” My voice is just above a whisper.
“No. We’re not. And it’s not something we can help.”
I hear that. It resonates through me like the vibrations of a ringing bell.
“Yeah, it’s like we just—”
“Get each other, right?” He finishes my sentence.
“We don’t have to explain. We don’t have to pretend. It’s just… good. I like you… a lot.” Those words do something to me, make cracks in the protective layer I’ve put around the most sensitive parts of my heart.
“I like you a lot, too,” I say.
A cocky smile tips up the corners of his lips.
“I know you do… And even though I’m glad you’re jealous. I shouldn’t have joked about it.”
“Your mom probably likes her,” I grumble.
“But I don’t like her. Not like that. I did take her to get a burger, but it wasn’t a date. We were working on something and got hungry. Tonight, we had a founding family meeting at the club and decided to grab dinner afterward. No date. It was a group of us.”
Relief softens the tension in my shoulders. “I thought…”
“Our families are old friends. I don’t want her. Not at all. But I do want you.”
My heart is pounding so loud that I’m sure he can hear it, too. I don’t know what I expected him to say, but I didn’t expect this. I stare at him, eyes wide, my mouth open and elation starting to brew inside of me. Is it possible, really…
“Really?”
His eyes soften even more, and he smiles.
“Yes. Really. I mean, I honestly wasn’t sure what we should do. I’m going away to school in the fall, you’ve got another year here, but so what? It doesn’t mean we can’t have fun this summer.”
The way my heart is pounding scares me. This can’t really be happening. “Really?”
“I kind of pride myself on being in control … but I can’t control the way I feel about you.” He strokes the inside of my wrist and I shiver.
“You have feelings for me?” I croak, my throat is suddenly parched.
“I have since we met in the library.” His voice is deep, soft and yet his words boom inside my head.
“Me, too.” I say. My breaths are coming so fast that I feel dizzy.
“And all I want right now—even when I’m supposed to be apologizing and trying to do things the right way—is to know what your lips would feel like if I kissed you.”
I look down at our joined hands because I don’t trust my eyes not to show him how I’m feeling. I’m sure it would scare him. That blooming of happiness, the shifting of my vision from cloudy to
rosy, accelerates, and I decide to take this offering and run with it. While I gather my courage, I trace the veins that crisscross the back of his large hand and count to five.
Then, I surprise myself with my own boldness. “Well, then, why don’t we kiss? Get that out of the way, and then you can finish apologizing.”
He smiles. His free hand slides up my arm, a trail of gooseflesh rises in its wake and by the time he reaches my shoulder, my entire body is vibrating.
“You are so beautiful, Kal. Every single part of you.” His eyes never leave mine and between the spell they’re casting and the heady sensation of his touch, it’s a wonder I haven’t melted in a puddle. He leans forward and presses his lips to my forehead.
“This mind that is so curious and full. I could talk to you forever and never get tired of it.”
He kisses my cheeks.
