He gently nuzzles his forehead against my cheek. “I said no takesies backsies, and I meant it, Gracie baby.”
A barely audible gasp leaves my mouth.He remembers?
Danny stares at me with rapt attention, like I’m the most interesting thing he’s ever seen. His gaze lingers briefly on my right eye before returning to my mouth again. “Do you want this?”
“Yes.”
Then he kisses me. He kisses me like he’s been waiting his whole life for this.
I’ve been waiting, too.
Danny’s lips are warm and soft as they press against mine, and our kiss is comfortable and ingrained, like we were always meant to be doing this. Finally kissing him sends a fizzy rushthrough me, and my eyelids ever-so-slightly flutter open as I steal a glance at his face. He pulls back to look at me, too, and my breath hitches when I see pure contentment settled across his features.
“I’m yours, now.” Danny presses a tender kiss under my chin. “And you’re mine,” he whispers, before kissing me on the side of my nose. “I’ve always been yours,” he murmurs, as he kisses me on my temple near my hairline. “And you’ve always been mine.” He kisses me on the corner of my mouth. “So quit messing around, Gracie,” he teases.
I touch my fingers to my lips, trying to imprint the sensation deep into my memory.Is this really, finally happening?
“Hey, Gracie?” he asks softly. “Do you want to be my girlfriend? The kind where I kiss you?”
“Yeah,” I breathe.
Danny finds my hand on the bed and laces our pinkies like a promise. Then he leans forward and lightly presses his mouth to mine.
“Okay, then.” A quiet smile plays at his lips.
“I’ve never kissed anyone before,” I whisper.
“Well, now you have,” he replies, reaching up and lightly caressing my cheek. I tilt my face into his palm, relishing the warmth of his hand. A curl falls over my eye, and Danny nudges it off my face with his nose.
Our pinkies stay locked as we silently process becoming different, becomingmore.
It doesn’t feel sudden. It feels like an evolution.
“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world right now.” Danny wraps his arm around my shoulder as we walk from his car to Kyle’s large suburban home.
About two weeks after Danny first called me Gracie baby, we’re on our way to Kyle’s house for our first time out together as an official couple…and my first high school party, period. I’ve always been too terrified to go anywhere except right next door, out of fear my dad would get home early. The closest I’ve been to a party with friends was me handing Ben a piece of cafeteria cake in the hallway on his birthday. It was peanut butter flavored. He promptly informed me that he was allergic to peanuts, and I ate the cake myself. It was a very mild time.
“I had an amazing game tonight with my amazing girlfriend there cheering me on, and now we get to go party together, which will be?—”
“Amazing, I’m guessing?”
Danny stops walking and playfully squeezes my cheeks together with one of his hands. “Hey! Your sarcasm has no home here. Itisgoing to be amazing.” He slides his hand to the back of my neck and presses his lips to mine before gently coaxing my mouth open with his tongue.
For a self-proclaimed “anti-PDA” type of guy, Danny is very pro-PDA with me. I soak up every second, because it’s almost unbelievable that we’re finally together, in a real relationship.
I grin against his lips before leaning back. “I agree, boyfriend. So, what happens at these so-called parties, considering I’ve never been to one before?”
Danny generously rolls his eyes like that’s a lie, even though we both know it’s true.
“I don’t come to them much, but they’re pretty chill. I’ll introduce you to some of my friends on the team, and there’ll be food and drinks. It’s fun.”
He opens the front door and guides me through the foyer area to the open-concept kitchen and living space, where most of the team is hanging out. The kitchen is Tuscan-style, with warm beige walls covered in painted grapes and wine chalices. It’s packed in here, wall-to-wall with athletes, cheerleaders, and other people I only recognize from watching Danny’s practices. There’s no way Kyle’s parents approved of this party.
“It’s loud in here!” I shout over the music, but I don’t think Danny hears me.
A linebacker mans the stereo, blasting a rap song at a volume so loud a glass filled with booze rattles on the side table next to him.
The liquor bottles scattered on top of the counters give me a few small heart palpitations. I’ve never drunk alcohol before, or, more accurately, I’ve never been presented with the opportunity, I guess. But I want to be open-minded. I want Danny’s teammates to like me. Our relationship is solid but also incredibly fragile. It’s hard to explain. I’m new to parties, new to being a girlfriend, new toallof this.
