I barked a laugh.A little later, I parked outside her place.I climbed out and rounded the truck, but she was already getting out.
“Jude, how many times do I have to tell you I can get my own door?”
“How many times do I have to remind you I’m always going to come around to get it?We’re going to do this for the rest of our lives.”I almost saidsweetheart, but I bit the word back just in time.
She rolled her eyes, but I still walked with her to the hallway and upstairs.At her door, I reached around her and found it unlocked.“Kendall, what?—?”
“I forgot to lock it.”
I sighed.“Lock your door, please.”
“Since when did downtown Willow Brook become a hotbed of crime?”she teased dryly.
She reached out, pressing her palm against my chest.Just like that, my heart lunged toward her palm, kicking up a racket inside the cage of my ribs.
“Kendall,” I began.
“What?”She blinked up at me.
I got lost in her gaze before proceeding to do the stupidest thing.Her palm was still on my chest, and she was right there,sofucking close.I took an incremental step closer and lifted a hand.It was almost shaking.Some of her curls had fallen loose from her messy ponytail, and I caught one, spinning it around my finger.
“This.”I dipped my head and brushed my lips over hers.All thought had gone up in smoke.Some part of me unconsciously knew I needed to give her a chance to tell me this was fucking crazy, that it would ruin everything, and then I’d remember that it would.
But she didn’t.She let out this tiny sound in the back of her throat and arched closer.
I fit my mouth over hers and delved into a languid, slow exploration.She tasted a little sweet from the strawberry rhubarb pie my mom had made for dessert.She smelled like hay, and she felt sooooo good.Kissing her was like coming home.When her tongue darted out to slide against mine, my knees nearly buckled.
I forced myself to finally lift my head.We stared at each other.Her eyes were big and wide.
“Jude,” Kendall breathed.“What was that?”
“Something I’ve wanted to do for years,” I rasped.
Her cheeks were flushed pink, her lips damp from our kiss.Her lashes swept down as she took a shaky breath.Little did she know that it only served to press her breasts into my chest.I could feel the pebbled, taut peaks through the thin fabric.
When she opened her eyes again, she asked, “What do you mean?”
The air around us felt loaded, as if a charge were about to go off.I tried to tell myself this had to be my imagination.I’d spent years convincing myself my crush was a one-way street.
In this moment?It was impossible not to feel little flares of hope shooting up in the skyline of my heart.“Just that.”I swallowed, trying to steady my voice.“I’ve wanted to kiss you for years.”
Kendall was quiet, but she didn’t move away.We were plastered against each other.
“I’ve never really had a relationship,” she said suddenly.The flush on her cheeks deepened as she stared at me.
“I know,” I said carefully.“I don’t have expectations.”But worry had already started to percolate in my thoughts.
Worry that I’d crossed a boundary I couldn’t uncross.Worry that with one kiss, I’d just screwed up the best friendship I’d ever had.For years, these silent reminders were how I talked myself out of giving in, or saying a single word about my feelings.Because that was the problem.
She was my friend.My best friend.She felt so close.
It was like family, minus the messy complications that came with family.I opened my mouth to say something else, but then she dropped a little bomb into our conversation.
“I’ve dated,” she admitted, “but no more than like one or two dates.”
She hesitated, then lifted her gaze to mine.“I’m a virgin.”
“Oh.Oh.What?”
