I let out the breath.
“Welcome to Glendale, Ms. Bailey.” He winks at me. “Meeting adjourned.”
The crowd goescrazy.
Erupting in victory screams, they swarm the floor and practically tackle us to the ground. Benny and I are squished against each other as they start jumping up and down, chanting:GLENDALE, GLENDALE, GLENDALE,like we’re in the tunnel before the football game. Benny’s arms are around my waist, stabilizing me against his strong middle. I wrap my hands behind his head and bring his face down to mine.
“Well this is crazy, huh?” he tries to yell without actually yelling, his forehead pressed firmly against mine.
“So crazy!” I yell back, my smile is hurting my cheeks as we just stare at each other.
The students chanting changes to:KISS HER! KISS HER! KISS HER!
We both look around at everyone, they’re all expecting a big gesture, and the moment feels like the perfect build up. But . . . isn’t that weird? I look back at Benny, telepathically questioning if we should go for it. He receives my question and shrugs, grinning from ear to ear.
Malcolm leans in from the crowd circling us. “Make it quick!” he yells over the chants, then starts to back the circle up.
The size of the circle grows as they give us space, smiling and chanting. Sarah is bouncing up and down. Devon has Garrett hoisted up off his bad leg. Birdie is leading the squad in some weird cheer claps. The baseball team is huddled together watching like it’s about to be a grand slam.
I’m cheesing so hard when I look back at Benny and he says, “Oh, what the hell!”
And he kisses me.
The crowd goes wild for a moment, then I hear nothing. I see nothing. I feel nothing, but Benny’s lips on mine—his hand on my cheek and the other on the small of my back, pulling me in closer to him. The kiss is tender and intense as his hand moves into my hair, sending bolts of electricity surging over every part of me. My heart is pounding, then stopping, then pounding again as if it didn’t know what its purpose was inside my body.
Benny’s body is controlled as he slows to a stop, smiling against my lips. We’re both breathless after a very G-rated kiss, and I refuse to let my mind wander, thinking about what it would have been like if we were alone.
Everyone in the room starts to quiet down and Benny is still holding me tightly. “So . . .” His smile is curious and beautiful as he asks me, “Are you going to stay?”
Still buzzing from the high of his lips, almost rendering me incapable of words, I announce to him and the entire room, “I’ll stay!”
And just like that, we were lost in the crowd again.
“Do you think we can sneak away, or will she catch us?” Benny whispers into my neck. He just pulled me onto his lap in the middle of this faculty meeting, wrapping his arms around me like he’s my own personal heated blanket. I could live here.
“She will kill us,” I whisper back as he kisses my neck, and I feel them all the way down my toes. Fighting back the giddy giggles I nudge him with my elbow. “Stop, you’re going to get us in trouble.”
“What can they do, send me to detention?” he whispers against my ear, his hot breath smelling like spearmint.
“I swear to God if you two don’t knock it off, I will dump water on you,” Malcolm growls at us from the floor. He left the couch the second Benny and I sat next to him in hopes to avoid our PDA.
“It’s not me.” I wave my hands in innocence. I wholeheartedly planned to behave, but Benny can’t seem to get with the program as he kisses my shoulder and brushes a piece of my hair behind my ear.
“I mean it,” Malcolm growls.
Benny chuckles against my back then clears his throat. “Fine, my bad.”
“Alright, people, we have an hour until the block party!” Emma carries a huge plastic box labeled:BLOCK PARTY NECESSITIESinto the living room, setting it on the coffee table with force. “Can y’all not do that right now?” She rolls her eyes at us and begins digging in the box.
I lean over and kiss Benny on the cheek and resist the temptation to get lost in his sad puppy dog eyes. “Yes ma’am!” I salute Emma as she starts to hand each of us block party t-shirts and clipboards. “Wha—What are these for?”
Malcolm cackles, probably at the disgust on my face as I look at the pile of papers on top of these clipboards. “You thought we’d be havingfunat this thing?” He laughs and pats his knee like an old country boy before standing up and pulling on his block party t-shirt over his fishing shirt.
“These are your itineraries, please follow themprecisely.Or the whole event will fall apart.”
I return my eyes to Benny, telepathically asking, “Is she serious?” He receives the question and mouths, “So serious,”with a slow head nod. He makes me laugh, and I hear Malcolm scoff at us.
“Don’t hate us cause you ain’t us,” Benny calls to him over his shoulder.
