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They curled together and twisted my brain into a knotted mess. My thoughts, my heart, my insides—they were all a wreck when Neil kissed me.
Lips, and tongues, and my fists in his shirt, and his hands on my waist, and our chests pushed together, and I was pretty sure I was slowly dying, but I met him beat for beat, breath by breath.
The temptation to push him for so much more was a very tangible thing, living and breathing inside my chest.
Beggingfor release.
It was like playing with fire, kissing Neil.
But I kind of liked playing with fire.
“Well, well, well!” my mother sang as I closed the door behind me.
My chest was still rising and falling faster than the average breather. Because Neil.
Butdamn.
“Shut up,” I barely managed, but it only made her laugh. I fell into a breathless laughter of my own.
“That was surprising,” she commented.
“Yeah,” I huffed. “Tell me about it.”
I strode up the stairs but stopped halfway up when she cleared her throat. Looking over my shoulder at her, I watched her features settle through her lingering smile.
“You know I won’t tell you not to have your fun. But remember what I taught you. Attachment only leads to disappointment,” she said, and I groaned in response.
Like I needed her reminder.
Chapter 15
Double Entendre
“Higher! Higher!” Sydney screamed through her laughter.
I pumped my legs harder, attempting to surpass her height on the swings, but it was all in vain. Girl was freakishly good at getting it up, hard and fast.
(That’s what he said.)
“You suck!” she sang as she launched herself out of the swing and landed in the sand. Why we were hanging out at the park, in the kid’s playground—both of us eighteen years old, mind you—was only because of the skate park nestled in the middle of it. (Not that it deterred us from hitting it up any other time.) A.k.a.: Boys. Skater boys, to be exact. Sydney’s perfectly brewed cup of tea.Scratch that.Perfectly brewed cup ofcoffee.
I flew out of my own swing and dropped into the sand next to her—a lot less gracefully. Her eyes went wide as she turned to me.Cute boy, five o’clock,she signed. He wasn’t close enough to hear us, but she’d signed it anyway. I shrugged. At least we were doing our homework and practicing. I checked out the general vicinity of the five o’clock area.
Oh. Yeah. Definitely cute.
Make your move,I signed.
I will.
When? This year?
Shut up.
I laughed, pulling on her sleeve and tugging her toward the skate park. When we got there, I signed:Go. Now.
She rolled her eyes, giving my expert eye roll a full-on run for its money, though she did actually seem nervous for some reason.
That was new.