I liked having Moon in my arms. He was so warm against my chest, our breaths rising and falling in sync. I had no idea what show was playing, only that it had a lot of drama Moon seemed to be interested in. I wasn’t really paying any attention, if I was honest.
At least, I wasn’t until Moon turned slightly, forcing me to relax my hold on him so he could lie on his back and look up at me. “So, you’ve never done that?”
“What?” I glanced at the TV, noticing there were two men kissing against a wall in a dark, moody-lighted area. “Kiss someone?”
“Not just someone, Em, a guy.”
“Oh.” I looked back down at him. “No, I can’t say I have.”
He tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. “Have you ever wanted to?”
This conversation was reminding me all too well about the one we’d had in the car earlier. It made me feel hot all over, also reminding me of the realization I’d had. That I liked Moon a little differently than I’d expected to. I glanced from his eyes, down to his nose, trailing the slope of it, falling down the curve, to the cupid’s bow just above his lips.
I swallowed, pushing the thick lump that was in my throat down into the depths of my stomach, along with the incessant fluttering there. It was more like a constant rumble, getting louder and louder with each passing second. His cupid’s bow looked so delicate, but not fragile. No, nothing about Moon was fragile. He was full of fire, a brat to his very core, ready to defend with a moment’s notice—for himself, or for his family. I trailed my eyes down to his lips, watching as they parted on a small intake of breath.
Looking back up, I stared straight into his eyes and nodded. “Yes.”
“Oh? Who?”
Too much, right? It’d be too much. Way too much, way too soon. There was no way in hell I was going to say it was him. “A guy who’s very special to me.” That was vague enough, right?
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, tough guy. Be like that. I guess that’s what I get for being nosy.”
When he started to turn away, I panicked a bit. I wasn’t ready to stop looking at him, watching every muscle shift across his features. It was mesmerizing. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Handsome.He was everything, whereas I had not even the slightest bit of courage.
I latched onto him, pulling him back toward me. “Wait.”
“What, Em?”
“I…” I didn’t know what to say. I kept looking at him. I couldn’t stop, actually.
He huffed and squirmed a bit in my hold. “Spit it out.”
“It’s you.”
He looked shocked, his lips parting once again, showing two of his top teeth. They were shiny with spit gleaming beneath my bedroom’s lighting. I was lost in the small gap between them, barely large enough to notice if I hadn’t been looking close enough. “You’re lying.”
I jerked my head back a bit. “What? What do you mean?”
“You’re lying, Em, that’s what I mean.”
“And how the hell would you know that, exactly?”
“Because I just do. You, the straight dude who just waltzed into my life all hunky-dory, do not want to kiss me. And if you do, I refuse to be an experiment.”
“You aren’t an experiment, Moon. Jesus, don’t insinuate that.”
“What else would I be, huh? Just the first guy you ever thought about touching lips with?”
Shaking my head, I tried my best to keep my hold light on him, even though I wanted to grab his shoulders and shake him around. “No, you brat. When have I ever said no to the idea of being something other than straight?”
He looked up and to the side, thinking.
“Exactly. I said never say never, because I’ve only ever been with women, but I haven’t shot the idea down completely. I’ve just never felt any particular way with a man.”
“Experiment, Em. That’s all I’d be. Some one-time experiment, and then you’d get rid of me, and our friendshipwould be ruined. I’ve never fucked with a straight guy, and even if you are totally hot, and I definitely want to kiss you too, I know better.”
“Know better? Ruin our friendship? Moon, do you even know me?”
