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Wyatt helps Romy up. Turns to me. “You’re good to Uber?”

“Yeah,” I reply.

“Good to see you, Valeria,” Wyatt says.

“Bye, Val!” Romy says, cheery again.

“Bye!” Valeria says back.

Once the door shuts, the air becomes static. Heavy. It settles into my insides. The lights even seem to have slowed down, slicking their color across the black room like a master painter. The karaoke home screen plays a preview song softly.

We’re alone.

We’re alone in this room, and there are no more secrets. We like each other.

I scoot away, just enough so we’re at a conversational distance.

“Did you have fun?” Valeria asks.

“Tons.”

I look toward the door. The curtain on one of the windows is just slightly open.

I get up to move it, my stomach already tightening in anticipation.

Once it’s shut, I turn to her. “Sorry. Just realized. You know, paparazzi.”

I scurry back to my spot on the couch.

Valeria’s smiling. “I appreciate the effort, but I promise you that paparazzi aren’t as big a deal as you think. Not for me in my off-season.”

She leans in, bringing us back to within a foot of each other. And I just see everything. The way she taps her fingers on her thigh, the way her chest rises and falls, the slight tilt of her head as she watches me. She’s ethereal, otherworldly, yet for the first time since being near her, I see how human she is too. How solid. Valeria’s a living, breathing being like me. She is, when you get down to it, no different from any other person I’ve sat alone in a room with.

Except she’s better. The best person.

And her lips shimmer under the weak light.

I kiss her.

The action jolts me forward before I can even think. The space between us is gone, the air blazing hot. And I thought it was just a cliché, but her lips really do feel different. Fuller, softer, gentler, smoother. It’s such a soft kiss, a melting kiss. There’s a second of surprise before she molds against me—

I pull away, face burning hot.

“I didn’t ask if you wanted to do that,” I blurt out.

Valeria, her own cheeks flushed red, twitches her mouth for a moment. Half a moment. Then it cracks into a smile in the corner of her mouth. “Yes.”

She slams her face into mine, pulling me into a wholly different kiss. It’s a cacophony I’ve never experienced before. There’s the tenderness and restraint of the dance our lips are doing, but there’s something in the pressure of her mouth, in the way her hands slide up my neck and into my hair, that feels desperate and indulgent.

First off, I don’t know where my hands go on a girl. I settle for her waist. It’s overwhelming and beautiful and everything I could ever want, but if I could just…

She pulls her mouth from mine. Kisses the skin just under my lips. I shiver.

“How long were you planning on doing that?” she asks, her voice low.

This is real. This is Valeria. And we’re kissing.

“I mean…since I shut the curtain,” I say.