Page 96 of Nineteen Letters

A few seconds later you pulled out of the kiss and gazed up at me. I knew my face was as red as a beetroot.

“Is that a dagger in your pocket, Mr Spencer?” You were suppressing a smile as you spoke. “Or are you just pleased to see me?”

I buried my face into the crook of your neck as humiliation consumed me. “No, it’s a torch.” It was the first thing that came to mind. “You never know when you’re going to need one. I learned to always be prepared when I was a Boy Scout.”

You tossed your head back and laughed. “You were never a boy scout.”

I pulled away from you, mortified. I’d experienced nothing like this before—you were the first person I’d ever held like that … the first person I’d ever kissed.

“It’s getting late, I should get you home.”

“Braxton.” You reached for me when I turned and started heading back to the car. “Don’t walk away from me.”

“Just drop it, Jem.”

“Please.” You slid your arms around my waist from behind, halting me. I let out a sigh when you rested the side of your face against my back. “It’s a natural reaction. I’m sorry for laughing. I like that it was me who did that to you.” I inhaled a sharp breath when your hand moved down below my waist.

I liked this brazen side of you. “You do?” I asked, turning in your arms to face you.

“Yes. You make me feel like that too, but unlike you, I don’t have a torch to prove it. They don’t teach you those kinds of things in the Girl Guides.”

This time I laughed. Leaning forward, I planted a soft kiss on your nose. You always knew the right thing to say to make me feel better.

“This is a learning curve for us both, but you’re the only person I want to experience this with, Jem.”

You smiled, and suddenly everything was perfect again. “Great, now that we’ve got that sorted, we need to finish our dance. Our song isn’t over yet.”

And that’s exactly what we did. A few minutes later the heavens opened up, but even that wasn’t enough to pull us apart. We were just content being in each other’s arms even though we were getting soaked.

When your body began to shiver, I bundled you into the car.

“I need to get you home and into some dry clothes. I can’t have my girlfriend getting sick.” I winked at you as I closed the passenger door before running around to the driver’s side.

We were both drenched, but I was more concerned about you than me. Grabbing my suit jacket off the back ofmy seat, I draped it over you, before cranking the heater up to high.

You placed your hand on my leg, which made me smile. I still couldn’t believe this was happening. Yesterday we were best friends, but now we were so much more.

“Am I really your girlfriend now?” You were beaming as you spoke.

“I hope so. I let you feel my torch, remember? I don’t let just anyone feel my torch.”

You pushed your head back into the seat and giggled. “That’s right, you did. And I sincerely hope that you don’t go around letting just anyone feel your torch, especially now that you’re my boyfriend.”

I cleared my throat before reaching over to turn the radio up. All this talk about torches was dangerous.

I held your hand all the way home and kissed you goodnight when I walked you to your door.

“Sweet dreams, Jem,” I said, brushing my lips against yours one more time. I could have stood there and kissed you until the sun came up, but you were cold and wet, so I let you go.

“I’ll dream of you, Braxton Spencer,” you whispered.

That night had started out pretty crappy for me, but it ended up being one of the best nights of my life.

What we had is far too beautiful to be forgotten.

Yours always,

Braxton