I liked that she asked. Liked that shy confidence. Liked that she wanted something and said so.
“Yeah?” I asked.
She nodded, a little embarrassed.
“Aren’t you supposed to make me work for it?”
“No.” That answer came way too fast. Josie laughed.
I closed the space between us again and put my hands on her waist. My lips touched hers, and this one hit different.
It wasn’t tentative, or wondering. We’d already crossed that bridge.
Josie tilted her face up to mine, and I took my time. Her fingers slid into my hair and mine spread across her back.
I kissed her slowly, learning and memorizing.
And for a few minutes it felt like we were the only two people in the world.
Josie smiled against my mouth and I smiled back. Which felt weird since I didn’t smile this much. Definitely not while kissing women.
Eventually, she leaned back, breathing a little harder. “Okay.”
I brushed my thumb over her cheek. “Okay?”
“I’m ready now.”
I grinned. “I can think of something else we could do instead.”
Her eyes widened and then she laughed. A full laugh with her head tipped back, just pure happiness.
And Christ. I loved making her laugh.
“Party first,” she said.
“You’re no fun.”
“I’m tons of fun.”
“We’ll see.”
Her cheeks turned pink. Cute. Dangerously cute.
I took her hand and led her toward the bike.
Josie slowed. “Oh.”
“You okay?”
She nodded. “I’ve just...” She laughed nervously. “I’ve never ridden before.”
I blinked. “Never?”
“Nope.”
“Huh.”
“What?”
