Page 15 of Trust Again

“What’s wrong with you, huh?” His voice was a bit gruff and hearing it made my stomach do strange things.

Slowly, very slowly, his hand traveled up to my forearm. My skin started to tingle.

Stay strong. Stay strong.

How could a mere touch from him shake me this way? Was it because I’d been attracted to him for months already and refused to admit it? Because he was so stubborn about pursuing me? Because I secretly longed for physical contact? Or was it the alcohol that made me feel so weak around Spencer?

“Look at me, Dawn.”

My inner walls were quaking, and I could swear a few cracks were forming. I opened my eyes.

Crazy. This entire situation, this moment. It was totally nuts and totally surreal.

My throat was dry. Spencer was so close to me, I could have counted his thick, black eyelashes. Or the sprinkling of freckles on his nose. Strangely enough, now that I knew that it had once been broken, I could actually see that.

“Your nose is crooked,” I whispered.

One corner of his mouth twitched. He wrapped a strand of my hair around his finger. “Your hair is chestnut red.”

“I thought you liked it,” I mumbled as if to myself.

“That’s not all I like.”

I grabbed the hem of his shirt to keep from swooning. Spencer sighed. He came even closer, until our faces were only a hair’s breadth apart.

“Dawn…” He whispered my name as if he were suffering from torments that only I could heal. “I find it very hard not to kiss you when you look at me that way.”

It was the same for me. The air between us seemed so thin, I could barely breathe. If our lips didn’t meet now, it would be the end of the world. The planet would simply disappear, taking me with it. That wasn’t what I wanted, and apparently Spencer didn’t either. He lowered his head toward me the same moment that I rose on my tiptoes to him.

He pressed his mouth against mine, and I melted on the spot. His lips were firm and warm, soft and gentle. I clenched his shirt tighter in my hands and pulled him to me. The heat in my chest spread in all directions.

Spencer moaned softly and wrapped his arms around me. He lifted his mouth briefly from mine and gasped. Then he kissed me again.

I could have died, it felt so good. I opened my lips for him, and his tongue met mine. I sighed and then he pushed me away.

He stared at me in disbelief, holding me at arm’s length. “You’ve got to be kidding, Dawn.”

“What?” I asked, confused by his sudden hesitance.

Spencer released my shoulders abruptly and backed away from me. Then he let out a shaky laugh. “You’re drunk.”

“No I’m not,” I said sheepishly. “I mean, I just drank a little punch.”

Apparently I’d said the wrong thing; Spencer turned and walked a few steps farther into the room, running his hands through his hair. He dropped his arms and clenched his hands into fists.

“Spence…”

“Fuck!” With full force he kicked Brix’s laundry basket, knocking it over and spilling its contents everywhere.

I held my breath and wrapped my arms around my body to keep it from shaking. I’d never seen Spencer angry before.

He whirled around and just stared for a few seconds. Obviously he was thinking hard about something. He opened his mouth to speak, but thought the better of it. Instead, he swallowed and looked at the ground.

“Not like this,” he shook his head.

My ears were buzzing. Everything was upside down; I felt strangely hot, and my head was starting to throb. I touched my fingers to my lips. They were tingling like crazy. Then my hands turned to fists. How could I have let this happen?

“I’m sorry. I’m just a damn lapsus,” I groaned.