He steps towards me until he’s close enough that I have to look up at him. It would be all too easy to go onto my tippy toes and brush my lips against his.
With that thought, I look at his lips. They look soft, and I wonder what they would feel like on mine. His lips tilt up at the corners in a wicked grin. Caught off guard, I look up at his eyes and see they are burning with desire.
God, he’s gorgeous.
Before I can process what’s happening, he leans in and whispers in my ear. “Kitty Kat, you need to stop biting that lip of yours unless youreallywant me to be sexy.”
I didn’t even realize I was biting my lip. My face flushes.
“Sam, I…” He steps back, and I feel the cool sting of rejection. I look at the ground to hide my embarrassment.
Gently, he lifts my chin with his fingers. “Kat,” his voice is soft, “the first time I kiss you isn’t going to be in a place where either of our parents can walk in on us. I want to take my time with you. Uninterrupted.” He runs his thumb along my bottom lip; the action causes shivers to run along my spine. “But make no mistake. I want to kiss you. Thoroughly.”
Before I can respond, he turns around and starts pulling the wine glasses down from the top shelf. I’m frozen in place, my body forgetting how to move, as my heart pounds out of my chest.
Eighteen Years Old
“Kat, for the hundredth time, I’m not trying to ditch you somewhere. It’s not that much further. Hang in there; it’ll be worth it. I promise!” Sam looks down at me, and I know he’s getting frustrated.
I groan audibly; he rolls his eyes in response. He won’t tell me where we’re going, but I swear it feels like we’ve been trying to get there all day.
That isn’t true. It hasn’t been that long. But this is the second bus we're getting on, and I’m starting to think he's just taking me somewhere to ditch me, so he doesn’t have to deal with me anymore.
Maybe try to get me confused and lost, so it takes me longer to get back to my dorm.
Truthfully, I wouldn’t blame him. If I didn’t have to be around myself, I would probably ditch me, too.
I’ve been miserable since Kevin broke up with me a couple of weeks ago. I’ve only left my dorm room to go to class. That is, until Sam showed up at my room a couple of days ago and forced me to study with him.
Today, he practically dragged me out of bed. He waited in the hall as I showered and got ready because he didn’t trust me not to go back to sleep. I probably would have. Whatever.
“I didn’t even get coffee before you made me go through all of this,” I whine and wave my hand, gesturing at nothing in particular.
“I’ll get you coffee when we get there,” he laughs.
I shove his arm a little more forcefully than I intend to. He just grabs my hand and leads us onto the bus. He doesn’t let go as we take our seats. His hand in mine feels nice. Comforting.
Suddenly, a jolt of pain spikes in my chest. Kevin will never hold my hand again.
Sam must sense the direction of my thoughts because he lets go of my hand and softly says, “Everything’s going to get better. I know it's hard right now. But it’ll get better.” His smile just makes me think he pities me.
I wish I were back in my dorm with onlyBen and Jerryto keep me company. I look out the window instead of responding; he sighs next to me.
We sit in silence for the rest of the ten-minute bus ride.
We’re in downtown Seattle when we finally get off the bus. I stop to look around briefly, taking it all in. The buildings are so tall; the air is slightly salty from the ocean nearby.
It’s a rare sunny day in Seattle, and I guess I can appreciate being outside. Coffee would still make this better.
Even I can’t stop internally rolling my eyes at my poor attitude.
“Come on. This way.” Sam gestures for me to walk next to him. We walk close enough to each other that I can feel the warmth seeping off him. Even though I’m not in the mood to be dragged all over the city, I feel comforted by his proximity.
I always have.
I brush off the thought. Of course, he feels comfortable. I did grow up with him, after all.
We continue our journey on foot, and Sam stops at a small coffee stand, where he orders a vanilla latte for me and a chai tea for himself.He remembered my favorite drink.I look at him in surprise, but quickly look away when he turn towards me; I pretend to look at a building in front of us.
