What I didn’t tell her was that I’d panicked and closed the door in his face, only for him to come back knocking and kissing me speechless. I wanted to keep the whole kissing thing to myself, at least for now. I know that she would want to drag every detail out of me, and I don’t want to share that with anyone just yet.
Now, it’s a mild Sunday night, so of course, I grab a book and a blanket and walk to my favorite bench on campus. At least this time it’s not in the middle of the night. The sun has just started to set, making the fountain light up in its warm glow.
Instead of falling into the story laid out on my lap, my mind is occupied with thoughts of Jaxon. No amount of sighing, readjusting, or repeating the mantra of ‘focus’ is helping. Just images of Jaxon smiling down at me, the memory of his hand resting on my jaw, the feeling of his breath against my skin. Yeah, there’s no way I’m going to get any reading done.
With a defeated sigh, I pull my phone out of my hoodie pocket and pull up my messages with Jaxon. He sent me the pictures we took while out on our date, so of course I immediately made them his contact picture. What I really wanted to do was makethe cupid picture my background since it makes me laugh, but a small part of me thinks it’s a little premature.
Okay, a big part of me, but that doesn’t change the fact that I want to see it whenever I look at my phone.
My fingers slide across the screen as I type out a text to Jaxon to tell him that I’m thinking about him when a loud bell rings out across campus.
One thing I learned about Rosewood College is that it is a fan of traditions, the ringing of the bell being one of them. When a sports team wins while at an away game, the first stop they make once they get back is the bell.
The sound travels across the entire campus, alerting everyone that we’ve won. Right now, what it’s telling me is that Jaxon is back from his trip and hopefully soon I’ll be able to see him like I’ve been longing to.
It’s strange to be constantly thinking about someone, especially when I feel like I still barely know him, but I can’t stop my mind from envisioning what could be. It makes me feel like a crazy person.
Content with the knowledge that I will be seeing him soon, I slide my phone into my hoodie pocket, message unsent. Settling back into the bench, readjusting my blanket and cracking open my book, I’m no longer distracted by errant thoughts.
I get so engrossed in the story that I don’t hear the scuffle of footsteps stopping in front of me. What does alert me to my new companion is a deep chuckle.
I really need to work on being more observant.
“How did I know I’d find you here?” Jaxon stands in front of me, a baseball bag slung over his shoulder looking sleep-rumbled and delicious, his baseball cap on backwards giving me a full view into those beautiful blue eyes.
There’s no stopping the smile that takes over my face at the sight of him standing there. “Maybe I’m just predictable.”
Jaxon steps forward and sits down on the bench next to my legs that are folded up under the blanket. “I don’t know about that. I never seem to know what you’re going to do next.” His bag hits the concrete with a dull thud.
“Well, I could hit you in the face with my book again. I think that’ll keep you on your toes.” Jaxon chuckles as his feet push on the pavement, and starts to swing us back and forth. I want so badly to tell him that I was just thinking about him, but I don’t want him to think that I’m the type of girl to always be clinging to her boyfriend—not that I’ve ever had one, but still. I enjoy my space and my alone time too much to overstep whatever boundaries he needs.
“Hmm,” he mumbles, his hand playfully scraping along his chin, “It would be a surprise, but I’d prefer something else.” The hand closest to me drops to my ankle, his thumb rubbing across the soft flannel surface.
Frozen. I’m completely frozen. Who knew that an innocent touch on the ankle would send me into a spiral? Let’s face it, any touch from him would send me into some sort of spiral.
“Um,” I swallow, still unable to grasp a single thought tumbling through my brain. “And what would that be?”
He gives me a cocky grin, “I’m sure we could think of something. You could always smack me with a paper. I think I’d prefer that over a book any day.” His expression changes from playful to something more serious, his eyes blazing as he looks at me. “There is one thing I’d like to do though.”
Is my mouth suddenly dry?
Somehow, I manage to squeak out, “Which is?”
“I wouldn’t mind wearing that pink polka dot apron again. As I recall, you said it looked good on me.”
That was thelastthing I expected him to say, and a loud laugh bubbles out of me, making Jaxon laugh right along with me.
The light from the sun has disappeared completely from the horizon and we sit bathed under the lights of the streetlamps laughing while surrounded by the soothing sound of the fountain. Our laughter dies down and for several moments, it’s just the two of us enjoying one another’s company.
“Can I walk you back to your dorm?” Jaxon breaks the silence, his voice soft and uncertain like he’s nervous.
I feel just as nervous as he sounds and I shyly nod my head yes. Jaxon stands and after he lifts the blanket off my lap, offers me his hands to help me avoid the disaster that happened the last time we were here together. I expect him to move away, to reach down and grab his bag, but he doesn’t. Jaxon stands in front of me, squeezing my hands in his, and slowly tilts his head down towards mine.
My heart is racing, pounding in my chest, and I think it’s about to explode. Except that it doesn’t.
Jaxon’s lips gently brush against mine in the second kiss I’ve ever received. It’s soft and sweet, and my chest warms at how tender it is. My mind is blessedly silent, and I kiss him back, melting in the warm smell of his skin and the soft caress of his lips.
Thiskiss? This kiss, I fall into.
