“Tate, we don’t have to do that,” I tell him in almost a whisper. “I don’t know what I was thin?—”
“I want you to,” he interrupts me, chewing at the inside of his lip as he struggles to maintain eye contact. “I…I don’t know how to… I need you to show me.”
The flip that my stomach does inside me halts the air in my lungs for a moment before I can inhale properly. This isn’t good, I take it back. The red flags are waving in my brain, but I’m not very good at making the right decisions these days, am I?
“Okay,” I say.
“O-okay.”
I watch his throat bob as he swallows, and for the first time in a long time, I feel nervous. My heart pumps harshly in my chest, but I try to ignore it as I reach up hesitantly to gently take his glasses off, setting them beside me on the bed. His dark eyes follow my hands, careful not to meet mine, but his nostrils flare faintly like he’s trying to breathe properly.
“So, you should always cradle the head,” I whisper, placing my palms on both sides of his face, and I feel his jaw clench. “Girls love that sort of thing.”
Girls? Orme?
He hums, but it falters.
His skin is soft against my hands, and as I pull him a smidge closer, his wide eyes finally lift to meet mine. His blinks are slow and lazy, and—this is just to teach him. Nothing more. I can’t think about anything else. It’s practice. For theothergirl he wants to kiss.
“And then you just kinda…” I trail off, leaning forward and pressing my lips against his. They’re so soft and pliable under mine, his movements gentle as he tries to keep up with my pace. My hand slides around to the back of his neck, tugging at the hair there and pulling him further into my lips.
My heart stutters and my skin pricks with goosebumps at the very tiny sound that emits in the back of his throat.
Pull away. Pull away. Fucking pull away.
The heat pooling under my skin doesn’t make this feel like a practice kiss at all. I’m taking this man’sfirstkiss, like first ever,and I have to stop now if I don’t want to look like a complete smitten fool. Before the heat dives between my legs and I?—
Breaking the kiss, my eyes flash open to see that his are still closed, his chest heaving as he takes it in.
“Not bad for a practice first kiss.”
His cheeks flush a pink color as he opens his eyes, his lips still parted as he breathes shakily through them.
Ignore that.
“Feel better?” I ask, trying to steady my voice.
“Um…I think?”
I laugh airily as I drop my hands, scooting backward on the bed and handing him his glasses, watching as he puts them back on.
“Are you sure it was okay?” he asks, his hands rubbing on his jeans as he speaks.
“Yes,” I say, reaching to give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Beconfident. You have nothing to worry about.”
But I most certainly do, based on how that kiss just made me feel.
Shit.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
TATUM
Friday, December 24th
I’m doomed.
That kiss has been seared into my brain for the rest of time. I’ve never really seen the appeal of a “first kiss” because there was never anyone I wanted to kiss before, but I’ve always wanted to kiss Maeve. And little did she know that the girl I was practicing for washer. If she could’ve heard how hard my heart was beating in my chest or how fast my blood was rushing in my veins, she would’ve known.
