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The more he thought about it, the more he yearned for her to know the truth. For her to see who he really was and accept him. He wanted her to know who she was kissing.
Her fingers stilled at the edge of his mask. He almost whispered for her to go ahead and take it off, but his security was watching. And anyone could walk around the corner. Now was not the time. He pulled back from her, breathless, his heart beating so fast he could barely get in enough air.
Riley peered up at him, a smile spreading across her face. “Wow.”
“Wow? That’s what you say?”
“Well, that was pretty amazing.”
“I’m glad. I’m not very experienced in that area.” Heat rushed to his face. Why had he said that?
A puzzled look came over her face. “What do you mean?”
He pointed to the theater at the end of the block. “Do you want to see a movie?”
“You’re not getting away with that. Tell me what you meant first. Surely you’ve kissed a girl before.”
“I have.” A quick glance at her told him she wasn’t satisfied with that answer. “We were both sixteen, and I had a crush on her. Her parents were friends with mine, so she went out on a pity date with me because her parents pressured her to.”
Riley frowned and shook her head. “This doesn’t sound like it ended well.”
“Yeah, the kiss was brief and not very welcome. I probably should have asked, but I was young and thought I knew how the world worked.” He tugged on his shirt collar. Why was it so tight all of a sudden?
“I’m sorry.”
Now that he’d sufficiently embarrassed himself, he motioned to the theater again. “I was serious about that movie.”
“Let’s go. I’m totally in a popcorn mood.”
They approached the theater. Several movie posters showcased what was playing. A young teen sat behind the glass. She chewed a wad of gum. “Which show?” she asked when they approached.
“Which movie is your smartest?” Riley asked.
Jalen choked on his spit at the look on the teen’s face. Riley had remembered. It made him like her even more.
“What?” The girl leaned forward, as if she hadn’t heard Riley correctly.
Riley kept a straight face, but Jalen could tell she was on the verge of breaking into a smile. He hadn’t known she was such an actress. It was quite amusing. “I said, what’s your smartest movie?”
“We don’t have any smart ones. Just these four.” She pointed to the posters.
Riley turned to him and put her hand on his chest. “Honey, they don’t have any smart ones. Just these dumb ones.”
He had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from howling with laughter.
“They’re not dumb,” the teen protested. “I just didn’t know what you meant by smart movie. They’re all good, I swear.”
“What about this one?” Riley pointed to a poster showing a city that looked like it was folding in on itself.
“People love that one. It’s sci-fi, and it’s got a lot of cool special effects.”
“When’s the next showing?” Jalen asked.
The teen looked at him for the first time. “Hey, you’re Shadow Walker.”
“Yes.”
“I heard you were on the island.” She grinned. “The next one starts in thirty minutes. Previous showing is just letting out. By the time you get your snacks, it will be cleaned out, and you can go sit down.”
