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I’d shifted from one foot to the other, not meeting her eyes. “What about it?”
“Why didn’t you kiss me?”
The porch light had been off—her parents had gone to bed unaware there was any reason to leave it on—so I could only see her thanks to the bluish glow from the full moon overhead. “Like I said. You’re Paul’s little sister. That makes you like family.”
Aria had stepped closer then, her eyes fierce as they’d bored into mine. “Is that how you really feel? Do you really look at me like a sister?”
I’d clenched my teeth, biting back the truth. “Yes.”
“Are you sure about that? Because I don’t look at you like a brother. And I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I think I might have seen you looking at me tonight in a way that would be really weird if I were your sister.”
I sighed, dropping my head back. “Look. Fine. You caught me. You look hot tonight, and the fact that I even noticed means I know you’re not really my sister. But I’m a dude, Aria. It doesn’t mean more than that. Like I said, you guys are like my family.”
“You should kiss me, Will. If it’s weird, it’s weird. But you won’t know unless you try. That is, unless you think I’m completely unkissable. That would be a much different conversation.”
I’d laughed despite myself. She’d always been adorable when she was mad, but with the way she’d looked that night, it was even cuter. “I don’t think you’re unkissable.”
“Prove it.”
Fire shot through my veins as she’d stared up at me, taking another dangerous step toward me. She’d smelled like vanilla and coconut, and her chest rose and fell with every breath that escaped her perfect mouth. Then, because I’m a total moron, I’d done the worst possible thing I could have done.
I kissed her.
I still remembered every second of it. Aria had melted against me like she was butter and I was an open flame. Her lips were soft and warm as they moved over mine, and as I’d reached up to cup the sides of her face, I felt like my entire world had been turned upside down. Everything that was wrong in my life up to that point—my abusive dad, my absent mom, the fact that I knew there was nothing waiting for me after I graduated high school—it all fell away. There was only that moment. There was only Aria.
And then it was like I’d been shot through the chest. Pain seared my heart, and I released her, stepping away and putting some much needed distance between us. What had I done? I’d ruined everything. I couldn’t be withAria. I couldn’t be with anyone. That kiss had been a horrible mistake. And I’d needed to tell her that. I’d needed to shut it down and make sure she knew that Paul could never find out.
So that was what I’d done. “Aria, we can’t.”
“Why not?”
The only sound was that of our ragged breaths as we’d stared at each other on the dark porch. I’d had to come up with something, and fast. “Because. Like you said, we needed to do that to figure out if it was weird. And it was. You have to promise me you’ll never tell Paul or anyone else about this.”
Hurt overtook the heat on her face, followed by confusion, and finally anger. I’d hated letting her think the kiss was weird. If anything, it had erased any remaining doubt about whether my feelings for her were anywhere close to brotherly. But it couldn’t happen again.
Without another word, she’d stomped into her house, leaving me on the porch feeling like the biggest jerk on the planet. All I’d had to do was walk her home. I should have stayed at the bottom of the steps and then left before she’d even had a chance to ask me about that game of spin the bottle.
Shaking my head to clear away the memories of that night, I hopped out of my truck and headed for her front door. Neither of us had talked about that night ever since. I’d left for the Marines right after graduating, and we’d slipped into the sort-of-like-family routine we had now. And she’d never told Paul. But between that and the thing on Valentine’s Day, I knew things would never be easy between us like it had been when we were kids. And that was just something I’d have to live with because it wasn’t going to change.
Resolving to grab my hoodie and go before I could make mistake number three, I lifted a hand and knocked on her door.
