He’d be gentle with me. He’d take care of my needs and make it good because he knows I’m not afraid of throwing his cell in the trash if hedoesn’t.
He’s safe.
So why is my heart pounding?
“I liked that kiss.” It’s not a lie. “I didn’t… I haven’t pined for you, Zach.”
He blinks at my harsh tone. “I never thought you did.”
“Most girls do,” I reason. “I didn’t.” It’s important that he knows that. “I’m hyperaware of your looks because everyone fixates on them, but I didn’t sit in the corner and hang out with you in the hopes that one day, you’d see me.
“You’re used to low self-esteem in the girls you fuck, but that’s not me. I may not be conventionally pretty, but I like who I am. And I’m definitely no pick-me.”
“As if I didn’t know that your bite’s as bad as your bark,” he grouches, making me smile in satisfaction.
“No. I’m just laying it on the line here.”
“Who says you’re not conventionally pretty?”
“Me.”
“You’re so wrong.”
I refuse to argue with him over nonsense, but I still feel the heat in my cheeks. “I liked that kiss,” I repeat primly. “I’d like another one, please. It was a good first kiss.”
“I was your first kiss?”
Before his Neanderthal brain can even think about crowing, I punch his arm. “Do you remember our prom?”
“I guess?”
“Clearly not. You scared away anyone who asked me out. That was the culmination ofyearsof sabotaging my love life. The only reason I didn’t castrate you is because the three of us went together.”
His chuckle’s deep. “Young Zach must’ve had his shit together.”
“Funny how I mustn’t have whenyoung Dennygot called a whore because everyone thought the fat freak was fucking both you and Peeks!”
His jaw tightens. “I never heard that.”
“You’re Zach Bradley,” I mock. “Why would you have?”
Scowling his displeasure, he brushes the backs of his knuckles along the curve of my cheek again.
This time, I sigh and let my eyelids flutter to a close.
“I’m s-sorry, D. If I’d known…”
“Yeah, yeah. A lot of people would be needing nose jobs.”
He might be half-smiling, but I can hear the regret in his voice. “I have a lot to make up for.”
My breath catches when he dips closer. “Now’s a good time to start.”
As his mouth finds mine, I grow tense. This time, those expectations have me in their chokehold because I want to know if it’s better than at the bench, where shock and hurt diminished a good heap of the delight that stemmed from Zach kissing me.
Gentle pecks, soft pressure. Tender movements of his head, rocking back and forth as he anoints my lips with pecks that steal the air from my lungs and make me want more. Deeper. Faster. A variety I never anticipated.
It fills my heart with a want I didn’t permit myself to feel past the age of fourteen, when I realized the stinky boy who was also my best friend had the face of a demigod.
