Page 117 of Reckless
His hands stayed where they were.
After a moment, I stepped back first and we looked at each other.
“I should go before I do something irresponsible,” I said.
His gaze dropped briefly to my mouth and back up.“That seems wise.”
“I hate when you agree with my bad ideas.”
He tilted his head.“You think leaving is a bad idea.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
I almost laughed again.
Then I looked at the door, looked back at him, and asked, “You’re not disappointed?”
His expression moved, just enough.
I nodded once because anything more would have required me to discuss feelings, and I needed sleep to have the strength to follow though.
I needed to be awake for him.At the door, I turned back once.
He was still where I’d left him.Hands in his pockets now.Watching me with that same unreadable, too-focused expression that had become the single most destabilizing visual in my life.
“You know what’s annoying,” I said.
“What.”
“The fact that I trust you more now.”
Something in his face softened.
“Good,” he said.
I rolled my eyes because if I didn’t, I was going to do something deeply undignified, like admit that I liked when he said it.
Then I opened the door and left before I could change my mind.
The hallway felt cooler.
Somewhere farther away, someone laughed, Charlie, probably.I made it halfway to the stairs before I realized I was smiling.
I went upstairs with my body still humming from the kiss and the conversation and the way he’d said you tell me.
We both wanted more.
Fourteen
First Time
Xerses
I spent all of graduation dinner trying not to look at Kelly.Every time she laughed.Every time her mouth softened over the rim of her tea glass and I remembered how that same mouth had felt kissing me, telling me her truth, and the heat and then trust that came with that flashed in my mind.
She wanted me.I wanted her.So at dessert, her shoulders tightened first and she stopped drinking her wine.
