“Thank you,” he whispered before pressing his lips to mine.
I wanted him to kiss me forever, but he pulled away. I opened my eyes to find him staring at me.
“What are you thinking about?”
He bit into his bottom lip, my eyes drawn to the action. “You want the honest answer?”
“Always.”
“I’m thinking about how much I love kissing you.”
My eyes went wide, and a match lit inside me, heat traveling up to my face.
“But I don’t want to touch you,” I frowned, disappointment squashing the arousal. “I don’t want to use you as a distraction.”
My eyes narrowed, “But isn’t that exactly what you told me to do when you were convincing me to stay at your house?”
Enoch’s eyes flared, probably remembering the heated moment we had shared when he had said those words.
“I hadn’t been referring to anything sexual. But if that’s what you had wanted, I probably wouldn’t have said no.”
“Then why are you saying no now when I don’t mind. I’m happy to be your distraction.”
I hadn’t realized I’d been playing with the AA token hanging from my neck until Enoch’s stare landed on my hand. I dropped it back to my chest, reaching out to touch his arm.
“I mind,” he said, reaching forward to peck me on the lips.
I sighed as he pulled away, shoving my disappointment aside. As much as I wanted his hands on my body, I wasn’t going to push it if it made him uncomfortable.
“Then what can I do?” I asked.
He hummed in thought, adjusting his head on the pillow. “Talk to me.”
I drew in a deep breath, turning my body to lie on my back as I stared up at the ceiling.
“I have a random question for you.” I looked over to see Enoch nod. “Your mom and uncle Quintin are brother and sister right?”
Enoch’s brow raised. “Yeah?”
“How come she’s got areallythick accent, and Quintin’s is pretty much nonexistent?”
Enoch chuckled and nodded, “That’s a good point. Um, they have different dads. My mom was raised by her grandma in Georgia. My uncle was raised in Maryland by his dad and stepmom. They knew about each other but had never really spoken and had only met in person once as children. It wasn’t until my great grandma died and Uncle Q’s parents agreed to take my mom in that they got close. My mom was sixteen, Uncle Q was seventeen. They only had a year together before he left for the military. It’s kind of funny actually,” Enoch paused to chuckle softly, “my mom’s accent has only gotten thicker according to my dad. She’s spent more of her life outside of the South than in it, yet it’s only gotten harder to understand her. Didn't help moving down to Texas. And apparently, their closest friends in Harrisburg are from Tennessee. All of us kids used to talk like her when we were toddlers, but as soon as we started school we dropped the southern twang.”
I laughed, a smile on my lips as I watched the happiness on his face.
“Any more random questions?” he asked.
I blew out a breath, “When did you start cursing so much?”
“Oh, I dunno. Probably when I left for the military. Why?”
I shrugged. “I’ve just noticed how different you are. It’s not a bad thing, just, you used to be so…squishy.”
Enoch laughed hard. “Squishy?!”
He took a moment to flex his muscles and show me his abs.
“Like…cute, soft…” I trailed off, cheeks burning from my smile. “You’re a little more rough around the edges now, I guess. And I don’t mind it. I like it. I like how…we balanced each other out. I used to think that our personalities were so different before. You were sunshine and I was a raincloud, but now…now it’s like I’m the thunder and you’re the lightening.”
