Time ticks by slowly. My perception shrinks to the space between us.
“I should have,” I murmur. “I wish Icouldhave, but I was so shy. I’ve always wanted to be someone different, someone who could talk to cute boys and race around in a yellow boat.”
“I like the person you are. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“No edits?”
“Not a single one.”
I become aware of three things at once: My nightshirt is made from the thinnest of cotton, the hem has shifted up my thighs, and Charlie’s hand is still on my leg.
“I can’t believe it was you all this time,” Charlie says. “And now you’re here.”
We both watch as goose bumps dapple my skin. His thumb smooths over my knee, and the touch zags through me like lightning. A whoosh of air leaves my lungs. His gaze shoots to mine.
Kiss me, I think.
I hold my breath as Charlie lifts his hand to my face. He traces my jaw. “I want…” he says. His eyes move to my lips, and his fingers follow, skimming the corner of my mouth. “But I shouldn’t.”
“You shouldn’t what?” I whisper.
“Want,” he says, his gaze still fastened on my lips.
“I strongly disagree.” I take a breath. “I think you should.”
A groan rumbles in his chest, and he brings his eyes to mine. He cups the back of my neck, fingers tangling in my hair. He pulls me closer, until our foreheads meet.
The heat of his skin, his smell, the way my blood races to the apex of my legs—it’s too much to look at him. My eyelids flutter closed. We breathe each other in. Charlie’s nose nudges mine, and even that innocent touch reverberates through my body.
I want to kiss him like nothing I’ve wanted before. I want to know how his lips feel against mine, and I want to know what he tastes like. Kissing someone for the first time is like learning a new dance, and I want to master Charlie’s choreography.
“Kiss me,” I whisper.
Charlie’s lips coast over mine.
“Because you want to cross off number five?”
For a second, I have no idea what he’s talking about. I shake my head when I remember.
“Kiss me because I want you to.”
I tilt forward to close the shred of oxygen that separates us. But instead of kissing me, he leans away and I fall into his chest.
I scramble to my feet, mortified, and make a beeline for my room.
“Alice, wait.”
Charlie sticks his foot in the threshold just as I’m shutting the door. I glare at him, but he slips inside and closes it gently behind him.
“Let’s talk about this.”
I don’t like confrontation, but I’m sick of smothering my feelings all the time. “Why?” I ask. “So you can tell me we shouldstay friends? Believe me, I’ve got the message now. It won’t happen again.”
He shakes his head. “Because I care about you. You believe me, right?”
There’s so much pleading in his eyes. “I believe you,” I say quietly, and then we sit together on the edge of the bed.
“I didn’t misread things, did I?” I ask, staring at our legs. “You were touching me, and then talking like you wanted something to happen. We were so close to kissing, right?”
