Page 35

It’s a hot day, the sun blinding, and the only relief is the lake. On the dock, Ender is beside me when Arya goes up to get the chicken wings and pasta salad their mom made for us to take on the boat. The only way Wiley is letting us on the boat is if we bring him beer and food. Arya’s in charge of the food and Ender, well, he’s in charge of the beer, but the six-pack is now a four-pack.
Beside me, Ender sighs. “Have you ever been kissed?” he asks, his attention on the slivers of the dock he’s picking at again.
I stare at him, stunned stupid that he would ask me that. “What?”
He glances at me, his cheeks slightly colored, and I don’t think it’s from the sun. “Has anyone kissed you yet?”
“Yes,” I lie. My eyes leave his and drift to the water. I think I might swallow my tongue at where the conversation has suddenly shifted. I try really hard not to let him know how embarrassed I am, but he has to see how red my cheeks are.
Play it cool.
He chuckles and leans back on his hands. “By a boy?”
“Well, yeah.” By the sly smile, I think he knows I’m lying. Like I know what the hell I’m doing, I lean back on my hands too.
“Sure you have.”
I glare at him. “I have.”
He turns his head and stares at me with an intensity I’m not prepared for. His gaze drifts over my body like he’s burning the memory of it into his. “You’re a baby. I bet no one’s touched you, ever. Have they?”
Nobody but you. “Shut up,” I grumble, shoving his shoulder. “It’s none of your business anyway.”
“Whatever.” With a roll of his eyes, he gets up and jumps in the lake. Water splashes around me, leaving steam rolling over the dock. It rocks with the motions and my thoughts.
I haven’t been kissed, but Ender’s the last person I want knowing that.
His head pops up from the water, and he makes the three-foot swim back to the dock, hanging on with his hands, his body mostly in the water. We stare in silence before he smiles. “Do you want me to kiss you?”
Yes!I think my heart bounces in my chest or hiccuped. “You kissed my sister,” I remind him.
Not missing a beat, his typical smugness shines. “Shekissed me. I didn’t do it becauseIwanted to.”
What the hell does that mean?
“Still, you kissed my sister,” I grumble, annoyed with him.
His brow furrows and I can hear the others coming closer, their laughter as loud as their steps on the dock. Ender lifts himself up on the dock and hangs off the edge, only supported by his muscular arms. “I wanted to kiss you, Hads. Not her.”
So why didn’t he? I don’t get my answer because Walker is near and Ender shuts down when he’s around. We spend the day on Wiley’s boat wake boarding, but Ender never makes an attempt to kiss me.
14
WHEN HE KISSED ME
“What’s taking them so long?”
“Probably Arya.” Ender sighs, throwing a towel over his shoulder. “Let’s meet them down there.”
“Are you sure?” I meet Ender’s eyes, shifting from one foot to the next, so afraid of what I will say or do next.
“Are you afraid to be alone with me?” His eagerness, every bit as intense and incandescent as mine, holds me hostage, but it’s his smile, higher on one side that pushes me forward. It’s his charming yet mischievous side.
“No.” I smile, watching him walk ahead of me down the path. We’ve just finished supper. Arya is supposed to be getting her suit on, but she’s spent more time with Carter, one of Ender’s baseball buddies, who’s staying with them for the weekend, than anyone else. We’re getting ready to go on Wiley’s boat again for a night swim.
Walking ahead of me, Ender smiles over his shoulder. My new sandals he bought me last week crunch in the gravel as we walk slowly down the steep path to the boat. “Why do you keep looking at me?”
“Making sure you don’t trip.” Ender runs his hand over the back of his neck and then holds his hand out, as if I’m supposed to take it. You better believe I do. Like I said, lead me to hell. Yep, I’ll follow.