He looked at my mouth once more.
Then he made himself look at the apple on the ledge.
I understood.
If he kept looking at me, he would ask for more.
He didn’t.
I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about that.
Kieran was very good at words when words could stand between him and the room.
Up here, after his mouth had been on mine, he seemed to have misplaced them.
For a while, neither of us said anything.
Then his breath caught.
His right hand went to his shoulder before he could stop it.
“Kieran?”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s glowing.”
His smile came back too late.
“Rude of it to interrupt our moment.”
“Was it the kiss?”
The smile failed.
“That is one of the questions I was hoping not to answer tonight.”
My hand closed around the stone edge.
“Because the answer is bad?”
“Because the answer is complicated, and I would rather keep the taste of you in my mouth than give the complication a name.”
Below us, somewhere in the building, a bell rang.
Kieran looked toward the stair door.
“What?” I asked.
“Warning bell.”
“For what?”
“Lights-out.”
I hated how quickly the roof became a place I would have to leave.
“I guess I should go.”
