I sit up.He doesn’t lean away to make space for me.He stays where he is, and we’re inches apart.
I look from his dark eyes to the water dripping from his mouth.His lips part just enough for air to enter as he inhales deeply.
I slowly lean in, giving him a chance to choose.To stop this before it happens.
He doesn’t.He meets me in the middle.Lip to lip.Breath to breath.His hand slides over my slick skin to the small of my back.Mine is pressed to his warm chest, his heart beating as quickly as my own.
We’re slow.Careful.Lips pressed together, pulling apart.Finding each other again.Then our mouths connect until we can’t breathe.I don’t need to breathe.Ever again if I can just stay here, captured in this moment for all time.
When we part, my eyes are reluctant to open, still convinced that I’ve fallen asleep on the rock and this is just another dream to add to the library of moments we’ve never shared.
He’s still in front of me when I blink back to reality.Grinning.“That was fun too.”
“Definitely.”
Why do you look like that?”
“Um… what?”I blink back to the mountain of pink and purple tulle covering my lap.
Danika raises her brows, setting down the costume she’s been bedazzling for the past half hour.“You’ve been weird for a while now.What’s going on with you?”
I bite my lip, debating if I should finally tell her.She’s going to figure it out eventually.I’m actually surprised Danika hasn’t already—but then again, she’s been pretty distracted with Oren since they started dating last month.
Danika’s the only person who knows how I really feel about Jonathan.Other than Collin.But he doesn’t count.He does.But not really because it’s like he’s a part of my brain at this point in our friendship.
“Jonathan and I kissed.”
Danika collapses dramatically to the side, splayed on the costume closet floor, lost in a mountain of tulle.“Finally.”
I roll my eyes.
“When did it happen?”
“This summer.”
Danika shoots up.“And you didn’t tell me?Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I wasn’t sure what it was.It felt… breakable.And I didn’t want it to shatter before I knew.”
“And?Did you kiss again?”
I nod.
“Is it still breakable?”
“I don’t think so.I mean, I think we’re together.”
Danika closes her eyes and shakes her head, like she’s conjuring her patience from somewhere deep within.“You two are the most frustratingly confusing people on this planet.You’ve been best friends for forever, but you can’t seem to talk about things that really matter.”
“That’s not true.”I’m defensive.Overly defensive.Probably because it’s true and I hate that it is.“We talk.”
“No.You and Collin talk.You and Jonathan feel.”
“And that’s bad?”
“Only that you don’t really tell each other how you feel.And that’s why when you finally express it with something as simple and meaningful as a kiss, it becomes breakable.Don’t you know communicating is the foundation for anything truly lasting?It’s the bane of every movie and romance novel—if only the couple talked, then there would never be a reason for all the misunderstandings.”
“Or for the story,” I add unhelpfully.
