Given the chance… I would choose him again.
I knew I had to keep my cool.
Really, I did.
The entire time we were saying goodbye to my family, walking down the driveway, and climbing into Callahan’s car, I kept telling myself the same thing: be normal. Be calm. Do not lose your head.
Apparently, my brain and my body were not on the same page. Because the second the car door shut behind me and we were alone, I completely lost whatever composure I had been trying to maintain.
Before Callahan could even reach for the ignition, I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him toward me, pressing my lips firmly against his. It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t hesitant. It was deep, desperate, and full of everything I had been holding back all evening.
If I thought he might be surprised, that thought disappeared instantly. His hand slid around the back of my neck without hesitation, warm and firm, his fingers threading through my hair as he pulled me even closer. The movement tilted my head just enough for him to kiss me better.
And he did.
The kiss turned consuming almost immediately. His mouth moved against mine with a slow intensity that made my stomach tighten and my heart pound harder in my chest. The grip he had on the back of my neck wasn’t rough, but it was confident, grounding me there with him while his thumb brushed lightly along my hairline.
I felt like I was being completely devoured.
My fingers curled tighter into the fabric of his shirt as I kissed him back just as fiercely. The warmth of him filled the small space of the car, the faint scent of his cologne mixing with the steady heat of his body only inches away from mine.
For a moment, the world outside the car completely disappeared.
There was no driveway.
No family house behind us.
No lingering noise from the evening.
Just the quiet hum of the car around us and the intensity of his mouth against mine.
He kissed me like he meant it.
Slow, deep, and deliberate.
The kind of kiss that made it impossible to think about anything else.
The kind that made my head feel a little light and my chest tighten in the best possible way.
His hand tightened slightly at the back of my neck, guiding me closer as though he had no intention of letting the moment end anytime soon. I could feel the warmth of his breath between kisses, the faint brush of his lips when he paused for a fraction of a second before kissing me again.
I leaned into him without even realizing it, closing the small distance between us until the center console pressed lightly against my side.
My heart was racing, and judging by the way he held me, I wasn’t the only one affected.
The kiss stretched longer than I had expected when I first pulled him toward me. What had started as a sudden impulse slowly turned into something slower, heavier, the kind of moment that made time feel like it was moving differently.
Eventually, I pulled back.
Not because I wanted to.
But because breathing had become necessary.
I stayed where I was for a moment, my forehead nearly brushing his as I tried to collect my thoughts. My lips stilltingled, and my chest rose and fell a little faster than normal. I just stared at him, trying to process what had just happened.
That kiss had been… dangerously hot.
The kind of hot that made my brain short-circuit for a moment.
