“Mhm.” I nodded. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.” She smiled, letting her gaze drift back to the valley in front of us.
As terrified as I was, it really was quite beautiful. The starry night sky stretched out to kiss the mountains at the horizon, their jagged edges meeting like a puzzle-perfect embrace. The stars above shined bright, mirroring the warm glow from the houses in the valley. Hundreds of feet separated us from the trees and fields and the tiny little houses down below.
Entire lives were playing out at our feet, unaware of the cosmic giants watching them from atop our rocky perch.
Spencer swung her feet out in front of us and held them there, overshadowing town proper. “Pretty incredible, right?”
“Stunning.” I laughed, “They’re like a bunch of little doll houses. Makes me feel like a giant.”
I closed my eyes for a moment as Spencer hummed her agreement, letting the feeling of her voice rumble through my own chest. When I opened my eyes again, her gaze was far away,trained on the stars. “Coming up here always makes me feel really small.”
“Yeah?” I tilted my gaze up to the sky, letting the back of my head rest against her shoulder.
“Yeah. Like, if that’s how small Valemont looks from up here, imagine how small we must look from space.” She adjusted her shoulder, letting muscle cushion my skull.
“I never really thought about it that way…” My chest tightened as I dared another peek at her through the corner of my eye. The moonlight glowed against her skin, highlighting her high cheekbones and the swell of her lips.
If everything was as small as she said, then why were my feelings so big? I couldn’t stop obsessing over every little thing, constantly scared I would do something wrong. But in the grand scheme of the universe, who would notice if I turned my head and let myself look at her the way I wanted to? Let myself…
Sensing my spiraling thoughts, Spencer turned to meet my gaze. “You okay, Kier?”
Our faces were just an inch away, but it wasn’t close enough. Those dark, starry eyes drew me in like an endless night sky. I could spend an eternity searching them and still not reach the ends of the universe they contained.
Spencer’s brow furrowed with concern as my gaze flicked down to her lips. “We don’t have to…”
“I know.” I breathed, “I’d like to.”
Before she could pull back again, I lifted a hand to her jaw and closed the gap between us. The second our lips met, it was like something cracked open deep in my chest. Her lips were warm and soft — I couldn’t believe how soft they were.
I’d kissed a girl once or twice before: usually drunkenly and usually for a man’s attention. But right now, it wasn’t the alcohol that had my head spinning. Spencer wasn’t like any kiss I’d had before, man or woman.
The press of her lips was furtive yet gentle. She brought a hand up to cradle the back of my head as her tongue swept gently against my lips, inviting me to open for her. My stomach flipped as I obliged, tilting my head into her caress. But even as I submitted myself fully to her kiss, she was careful to move at my pace, holding back a hunger that unchecked would have her consume me whole.
After a moment, Spencer pulled away, keeping her hand nestled into the back of my neck. “How was that for you?”
“Uhhhh…” I blinked hard, trying to will words into existence. But in truth, my brain was absolutely short-circuiting.
Come on Kiera, say anything.
Spencer chuckled as heat rose in my cheeks, which only made the problem worse. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered.”
“Uhhh!” A frenzied chuckle bubbled involuntarily from my chest at the compliment. My response was quickly racing from cute and flustered to clinically concerning.
She’s going to think the kiss lobotomized you.
But rather than running for the hills, Spencer just smiled. “Alright, I’m seeing you’re going to need some processing time. Wanna head back to the group?”
I nodded gracelessly as she helped me back up to my feet and over the rocky terrain. I clung tight to her arm as we walked, not confident that my shaky legs would make it on their own.
As we approached the doorway, she looked down at me with a smile. “How do you want to handle this with Leo? Our little secret?”
“Yeah,” I nodded, relieved to finally get a single word past my lips.
“That’s fine with me, Bunny. As long as we talk about it later. Deal?”
“Deal.” I forced my eyes to meet hers despite the heat rising in my cheeks.
