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Reed choked on the breath he drew in. “Jeez. Keep it in your mouth. We’re not using tongue.”
Why’d he say it likethat? “Why not? The idea of my tongue freaks you out?”
“It’s going to be a five-second kiss, Ava. Max. My mouth will just be touching your mouth. We’re keeping this PG. No tongue.”
No tongue. Not that I wanted tongue in the first place. Less saliva, less…strangeness. “So, hang on, am I supposed to—”
“Ava?”
I swallowed. “What?”
The sort of half-tugging grin he gave me then was one that would’ve made anyone’s toes curl, eyes simmering like coals over a hot fire. He looked like he was about to share with me the dirtiest sort of secret. It was in that second, as the air shifted and my blood pumped warmer, that I realized I was in way, way over my head. “I’m going to kiss you now,” he murmured, taking my chin in his hand. “So shut up.”
Sucking in a sharp breath, I squeezed my eyes shut, my thoughts a dizzying swirl.This was really happening. In the three seconds that Reed hesitated—most likely debating, one last time, whether this was a good idea—my heart pounded so fiercely that I was sure I was on the brink of passing out. That, or it was on the brink of bursting in my chest, the anticipation building and building until—
Reed kissed me.
I never thought my lips would be so sensitive, but the second Reed’s touched mine, the pressure was enough to send a tingle down my spine. Through my whole body. I could feel where his bottom lip ended and where his skin began. The fingers holding my chin in place slackened for a moment before sliding up along my jawline. It was a butterfly touch along my skin, something I hadn’t expected to feel so…good.
I tried to remember every movie I’d seen that had a kissing scene, but my body took over, instinctively knowing what to do. It turned out that I didn’t have to think about where to put my hands. Of their own accord, they rose to rest over Reed’s collarbones, pressing into the ledge of the bone. His skin was fiery to the touch.
Those five seconds came and they went, and now I knew for absolute certain that I really,reallyliked it.
The five seconds came and went, and…neither of us pulled away.
Reed’s fingers inched toward the back of my head to wind in my hair. His fingers squeaked against the countertop as he gripped it, arm stiffening against my side. One of his bare feet made a sound on the floor as he stepped closer, filling the two-inch gap that had existed between us before. His lips brushed my bottom lip, trailing his teeth along it in a sensitive caress, and I swallowed a gasp.
All those Babble submissions weren’t lying. Reed Manning knew how to kiss.
I’d gone my whole life thinking that a kiss just involved lips, but it was so much more than that. It wasn’t only Reed’s mouth on mine, but his fingers stroking my skin, his little inhales as he pulled away and kissed me again. All of it created a moment so electric, so perfect, that I couldn’t have dreamed of this if I’d tried.
Reed’s hands found their perfect spot on my hips, and without breaking away, he lifted me up onto the countertop. Our mouths were level now, my world enveloped by a moment in time where nothing existed beyond this. There was no Most Likely To list, there was no house across the street, and there was no Rachel sleeping upstairs.
There was me and there was him, taking my first kiss and blowing it out of the water.
Oh, no, a small part of my brain whispered, one nearly drowned out by the dizzying tilt-a-whirl happening with my insides.Oh, no, no, no. I ignored it, curling my fingers into his hair to draw him closer.
Until something loud slammed in the hallway, followed by a string of high-pitched, sleepy curses. Therewasno Rachel sleeping upstairs—she was about to stumble into the kitchen.
I shoved Reed away from me with a gasp, and when he drew his hands back, he took some of the fire with him. He didn’t stop, though. Instead of waiting for his sister—with the looks on our faces that would’ve no doubt exposed what just happened—he flung himself behind the breakfast bar and into the darkness.
And no sooner had he ducked out of sight did Rachel step into the dark kitchen. “Ava? What are you doing?” she questioned, her robe tied around her. “Uh, why are you on the countertop?”
Like a deer in headlights, I froze. I was about to be run over by the oncoming car, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. “Um…I was…thinking. What are you doing awake?”
“I got up to pee, and you weren’t there. I thought you might’ve gone home, but I thought I heard something in the kitchen.” Rachel scrubbed a finger against her eye, looking very much so like a toddler. She didn’t realize how frantically my insides were shaking, and it took everything in me to keep my breathing from reaching hyperventilation levels. She had zero idea that Reed was crouched on the floor just a few feet away. “Were you thirsty?”
“What?” I followed her gaze to Reed’sSuper Mario Brosmug he’d left on the counter. “Oh. Yeah.”
“Reed’s going to be mad at you for using his mug.”
I couldn’t think clearly enough to respond, not for the longest moment. Fog had infiltrated my head the second Reed had kissed me, and it had yet to dissipate. Channeling my normal Ava self was impossible with my lips tingling like they were about to fall off. They felt swollen. “Oh.”
“Mom must’ve forgotten to close the curtains,” Rachel said, and took one step toward the window, toward the corner Reed had ducked into.
That finally cured me of my paralysis. “Wait!” My thighs squeaked as I slid off the countertop, practically shoving Rachel backward to get between her and the window. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”
Rachel gave me a funny look. “Okay, sheesh, you don’t have to yell. If you wake Reed, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
