“Thank you, Dusty. I… I almost can’t even believe what just happened, but you’re practically crippled walking up the steps, and I’m just fine. That’s all thanks to you and your quick thinking and…keeping me safe.”
“Small price to pay.” He smiled at me.
“And how’s your heart?”
His eyes flitted down to my lips for a second, his arms pulling me closer. “The heart thing was a line, but the jury’s still out.”
Sweet tingles erupted throughout my body. I should kiss him. Right? It was time. My heart pounded but still, I hesitated.
“I’m reminded of a certain bet…”
Before he could say another word and before I could lose my nerve, I launched myself at his face. I gripped his cheeks with my hands and crushed my lips against his. For the record, I hit it right on. Lips on lips, but before he could blink I backed away from him, wide-eyed, and catapulted myself inside the house.
Apparently not much had changed since my days as a sixteen-year-old flamethrower.
11
Ishrugged out of my coat and kicked off my boots, dropping them in a heap in the foyer. The flames from the fireplace drew me like a calf to its mama. I expected Dusty to follow immediately but was glad when he didn’t. After a few moments of thawing out, I moved to the couch, dropping onto it at the same time the front door opened.
Dusty and Grandpa stepped inside, talking in low volumes. They shook the snow from their clothes and pulled off their boots. Dusty stood by the fireplace for a moment while Grandpa walked over to me, kissing me once on the forehead before wishing us both a good night.
Once he was up the stairs, the heaviness of the night fell upon me. The stress of the last half hour hit hard, now that the danger was past. Though that was no longer what weighed most heavily on me. I had just wasted my kiss. Dusty stared at me from the mantle, although I refused to meet his eyes. Until I did. A hint of a smile dropped on his mouth as he gently took me in, his eyes roaming my face. Overcome with every emotion under the sun, I hid my face in my hands and squeezed my eyes shut. Wanting to erase the last five minutes or maybe…I don’t know…the last eight years.
“You chose an interesting couch to sit on.”
I didn’t move but felt my spirits sinking lower. Not really able to explain to myself or to him just why I had chosen to sit on the couch Dusty had been sleeping on instead of my own.
“If you wanted to share you could have said something earlier.”
The sofa dipped next to me and my heart rate spiked. I was pleading with my feet to stand up and move myself to the other couch, but they refused to cooperate.
“Louuu...”
I pretended he wasn’t there.
“I can’t kiss you again if you don’t look at me.”
My stomach dropped. Tingles flared everywhere. A feeling of hope flashed through my body before my embarrassment overcame everything.
“You don’t want to kiss me.”
“Pretty sure I do.”
I moved my hands to cover my burning cheeks and turned to him, resolutely. “No, you don’t. I promise you don’t. I always do this. I’m neurotic. I overthink and overanalyze and worry. I only went on three dates last year. It’s all a one-time thing because once they see that I’m a spaz, they bail. All my dates have been setups. I don’t meet too many men at the elementary school. The thought of meeting anybody at a bar or church social makes me want to puke. Once a guy tried to kiss me and I froze and just sat there open-mouthed like a dead fish. I never got a callback. I’m so sorry. I really like you, actually. Even back when we were kids. And for some reason, you’ve helped to calm me down instead of winding me up. Well, no. You’ve definitely wound me up, but it’s a different kind. Maybe it’s because of the ranch. I’ve always felt more relaxed here. Even though I’ve been worried about the storm and the weather and having no power and Grandpa being sick, I haven’t really been that scared becauseyou’vebeen here and you always know what to do. You never freak out or—“
Warm lips. Over mine. Instantly my body relaxed as if all along, it had been waiting for somebody to shut me up. To silence all irrelevant thoughts. I sighed a light puff of air into his mouth. His breath was sweet like syrup. My hands clutched the shirt at his chest while his pressed against my cheeks, his mouth working a bewitching spell over me. I felt lighter, ethereal, almost as if my stress had instantly evaporated. Not wanting the tragic ending of all the other kisses in my life, I drew upon every romance movie I’d ever watched a thousand times, and slid my arms up past his chest, letting them rest casually around his neck. I opened my mouth against his and began letting him teach me everything I needed to know.
His mouth moved against mine, taking my lips with him. He was heat and fire, urgent and slow, all at once. Sexy and smooth. His hands moved from my face to my hips, and I gasped as he lifted and moved me to his lap. Heated arms around me drew me even closer to him.
I broke away from his lips for a second. “That was smooth.”
His warm breath puffed against my face. “You were too far away.”
His whispered words sent a shiver down my spine. I rested my forehead against his as we both took in a ragged breath, eyes shining, studying each other. I drew my lips to his and this time, he let me lead. Soft. Curious. All heart. My lips caressed him gently. I grew braver with each taste, each dance of our mouths. Now, instead of a fire, we had embers—white heat, sweet and simmering. The kind you roast marshmallows with. I was tasting the most sumptuous of s’mores. The gooey chocolate kind that sticks to your face. At that moment, he broke from my lips, kissing the corner of my mouth, bringing trails of madness from his lips across my jawline to that sensitive part just below my ear. I gasped and nudged his kisses back to my lips. The ear caused me to lose my senses. I had to keep an ounce of reason about myself. Growing impatient with the teasing, his hand pressed against my back, melting me to him and deepening our kiss. And then reason was lost once more.
* * *
We awokeon our separate couches. Just like how we slept, Grandmother-approved. Sometime during the night, I remembered myself enough to give him one last satisfying kiss before pushing his laughing head back down on his pillow and moving to my couch, dodging his hands the whole way. We went to sleep smiling at each other like idiots. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was, but I knew I wasn’t a one-night stand kind of girl. The thought of waking up beside him after a rushed and lustful night didn’t feel right to me. Not to mention the very real fact that my grandparents could walk down the stairs at any moment. I didn’t know what would happen between us now, but if anything did happen, I wanted the good stuff at the end. The anticipation of something sweet to come, not a bumbled rush at the beginning, when feelings were so new and fragile. As one who had been on dates but neverdated, the past couple of days had felt too sweet to sully and too decadent to cheapen.
