Both of us groan at the impact. Neither of us moves for a few seconds as we recover and I can’t help but enjoy the feel of her lying on my chest with her legs between mine. The moonlight washes over her beautiful face as she lifts her head and her eyes widen when they meet mine.
“Reid? Crap! Are you okay? More importantly, are you going to shoot me?”
I laugh and shake my head. “I’m good. I think you’re safe for the next few minutes as long as you don’t shoot me.”
She blows out a breath of relief that fans across my face and I catch a hint of cherry, making my eyes drop down to her lips. I’ve never wanted to kiss a girl before, but right now all I can think about is kissing her. When she traps that pouty bottom lip between her teeth, I start thinking about more than just kissing her, and my arms tighten around her. She makes a small noise that has me tearing my gaze from her mouth and meeting her eyes.
“You have the prettiest freaking eyes, Reid. I’ve always wanted to tell you that but I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
My mouth goes dry at the compliment but it’s her caring about my anxiety that starts a warm feeling in my chest. I slide one of my hands up and cup her face.
“I’m not uncomfortable right now.” I half groan.
A small smile tugs at her lips as she whispers, “Can I tell you something?”
I give her a small nod, unable to form words at the effect she’s having on me.
Her voice is still a whisper when she says, “I really want to kiss you right now.”
I wait for the anxiety to tighten my lungs, the stiffness that usually takes over my limbs to happen, but it doesn’t. All I feel right now is a want, a need I’ve never felt before. Right now, it feels like I’ll die if she doesn’t kiss me. I give her another small nod.
Her eyes are soft and cautious as her hands slide under my jacket and up my chest. That’s when I get it. If this is how it feels to be touched by a woman… willingly, how it’s supposed to makeyou feel, then I get why Jules has been with so many. For me though, I doubt any other woman but Luna could make me feel like this. Looking up into her soft eyes has something dark and cold that I’ve carried inside my chest for so long… lightening, lifting.
Her face lowers and her soft, sweet lips press against mine. There’s no demand behind the kiss, just a gentle, unhurried exploration of each other’s mouths. I groan at how fucking perfect this feels with her. How it feels so completely right. I tighten my hand that is cupping her face. I want more of this, more of her, and the rest of my body wakes up hard and fast. Her fingers dig into my chest and I’m seconds from rolling her to her back, desperately wanting to know what she would feel like underneath me when she pulls her lips from mine with a moan.
Her eyes are soft and hazy. So fucking beautiful as she blinks a few times and then smiles. It’s the best fucking smile I’ve ever seen in my life. She blows out another breath as I lick my lips, chasing that wisp of sweet cherry flavor.
“Wow, just wow, Reid. That was…” She shakes her head and then pins me with a serious look. “You need to believe me when I tell you that kiss was not planned, and it was incredible. I’ll never forget it, I promise. But…”
She rolls off of me in a quick move that leaves me confused for a second before her hands come up. In one hand is her slingshot and as she lifts the other hand to pull the band back, I see the flag that was tucked into my jacket in it. I barely feel the hard dog food nugget slap into my thigh as doubts and insecurities flood me. She pushes to her knees and leans over me again so I have to meet her eyes.
“I might have just won the game, Reid, but the real prize… it was kissing you.”
And then she’s up and running. I lay there for my five-minute time out, looking up at the stars and the moon as a smilespreads across my face. I might have lost the game, but I think I won the real prize too.
Chapter 11 - Luna
Best birthday present ever! I can’t stop smiling at how much fun playing capture the flag was as I finish taping up another box to take to university. It wasn’t even the game so much as being included in something my brother and his friends have been playing for years. My smile gets even bigger when I think about what happened with Reid… and Mars. My stomach is filled with butterflies as I remember how Mars snagged my wrist as I ran past to escape Atlas and hid me in a tree hollow. His hard body pressed against me, chest to chest. The way his fingers tightened on my hips the longer we stood there, our mouths so close I could feel his every breath. I thought for one breathless second he was going to kiss me before Atlas spotted him and shot him in the ass. We went from an intense moment to him yelling how much it hurt, and me ducking away to escape getting taken out myself.
Something has been building between Mars and me this summer. He stopped being just another one of my brother’s friends to me. Long looks across the dining room table duringfamily dinners, subtle brushes of his hand as we walk past each other, and what used to be fun, flirty banter that feels like so much more now. I shake my head at my foolishness. I’m about to move three hours away to start school. Whatever I think might have been happening is dead in the water with my moving away.
Kissing Reid, on the other hand, was one of the sweetest moments of my life. I admire and like him so much. The way he pushes through his crippling anxiety to keep going is awe-inspiring to me. I’ve seen him in the midst of panic attacks and tried to help where I could but it’s really his internal strength that always pulls him back. I don’t think he even knows how strong he is. The fact that he’s gorgeous to look at with all those golden curls and amber colored eyes doesn’t hurt either.
I hum out a small laugh at how much teasing I’ll get from Kara if she finds out I kissed him. She already makes fun of me for crushing on her brother.
I tape the last box closed and scan around the bedroom I’ve had all my life. I’ll miss it and all my family and friends but I’m so freaking excited to start this new chapter of my life. I’m finally eighteen and ready to go out into the world to adult. I’m going to love every minute of what’s to come.
Chapter 12 - Mars
I’m working through an assignment on my beat-up laptop at the kitchen table, trying to make as much progress as I can in this online course while the construction site I work on is closed down due to the extreme cold snap we’ve been hit with. I want to be more than just a guy who’s good at framing houses. I want more… period. I can’t afford to not work full-time while I go to school, even with the cheap rent I pay in the house Torrin and I share. High school graduation was a year and a half ago, but I’ve barely completed one semester's worth of courses online at night and on weekends. I have no choice but to keep going, even if it takes me four years to complete what should be a two-year degree.
The doorbell rings, breaking my concentration, and I yank my fingers through my thick dark hair. I shove away from the table and go to the door. All the annoyance fades away when I pull it open and get pushed aside by the prettiest girl I know.
“Holy heck! It’s brutal cold out there,” Luna squeaks with a massive shiver. “Shut the door!”
I pull the door closed and turn back to her with a grin. “When did you get back?”
She tosses me a Christmas gift bag and unzips her long, puffy winter jacket and then drags the knitted toque off her head, sending waves of her red hair everywhere as static lifts it. She bats it down in a cute way, but errant strands still float around her head like a halo. “I made it back two days ago, right before the deep freeze hit. Thank goodness for that, because I would have been stuck in the dorms until it warmed up a bit. There’s no way I’d make that long drive when it’s this cold.”
