Page 58 of Lessons in Chemistry

I sit beside him, cup his jaw, and kiss him again. It’s what he wants. It’s what I want. Technically, I think we both want a whole lot more, but tonight at least, kissing is where I need to draw the line.

His tongue tangles with mine as he puts his hand on my hip. He whimpers as I deepen the kiss.

“You okay? Is this too much?” I ask.

“I’m fine. Better than fine. It’s not enough.” He licks his glistening lips.

I was afraid he’d say that. “Let’s stick to kissing for now.”

He frowns. “Don’t you want me?”

I lean my forehead against his. “Oh, Emory, I do. So much. But we don’t need to rush into anything. You should take your time exploring the things you enjoy. Starting with kissing.” I stroke his cheek. “This is partly my way of proving I want more than sex.”

He blinks slowly.

“I’m not going to fuck and run, Emory. Not this time. I-I want to take the time to get to know what you like, what turns you on, and what makes your toes curl. Fuck. This is scary.”

“Scary?”

“Yes. I’ve never taken the time to build a connection with someone before sleeping with them. But we have a connection, don’t you think?”

“Yes.”

“It’s like what the Jung guy said. You’ve transformed me, Emory.”

He glances at the table of elements on the wall and smiles.

“What?”

“Talking about Jung made me remember something else.”

“What?”

“When Casey was procrastinating instead of studying, he was trying to find elements that matched the first two letters of our first names.”

“Aw, that’s cute.”

“Right?”

“You two are so sweet together.”

“That was before everything changed.”

“Casey’s taking a while to emerge from his chrysalis. He’ll get there.”

Emory frowns.

“Oh, come on, surely you get it? Transformed? Butterflies? Chrysalis? No?”

He giggles. “I get it now. Um, what were we doing before I distracted us?”

“Talking?”

“Before that.”

“Kissing.”

“Let’s do more of that.”