Page 31 of True to You

I know I shouldn’t push the subject, but I can’t help thinking about it again. “Matt, seriously, you don’t have to hide this stuff.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“But why?”

“I’m not you, Izzy.” He turns away. “And I don’t mean just being as comfortable as you are with everything you like. You …” He takes a deep breath. I can feel how difficult it is talking about this stuff and I begin to regret bringing it up. “You don’t care.”

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t mean that in a bad way. I mean, whether you like something or not, you don’t care what people will think. It’s pretty amazing.”

“Why do you care so much?”

“I just do.” Something inside me wants to comfort him, so I walk over and grab his hand. “I wish I didn’t care if people laughed at me, but I do. I’m one of the popular jocks. I mean, I’m senior class president for crying out loud. I know the role I play, and I play it pretty good. And most days, I like the role I play. Besides, school’s almost over. I’m fine with everyone thinking they know who I am.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper to him. I wish he didn’t feel like he had to hide something that seemed to make him so happy.

“Don’t be.” He finally looks at me with a grin. “I am really glad you’re getting to know me. The real me, I mean.”

“Me too.”

It’s then that I realize I’m still holding his hand. He looks down at me, and his serious look from our conversations has morphed into a smoldering one. His hair falls just over his forehead, but his eyes stay locked on me. Looking up at him, I can’t keep my eyes from looking at his lips, as I lick my own. My eyes shoot back up to meet his.

Bringing a hand up, his palm cups my cheek, before sliding along my jaw, as he runs his fingers through my hair. I’m not sure if he pulls me closer or I pull myself closer, but we’re as close as we’ve ever been. Finally letting go of his hand, I slide mine up to his shoulder. It’s as if time’s standing still, his lips so close to mine I can feel his breath. Then our lips meet.

My other hand shoots up, as I wrap both arms around his neck. His one hand still cradles the back of my head, fingers in my hair, while his other wraps around my waist, pulling me closer to him. There’s no feeling out stage. We don’t test the waters to see how he or I will respond to each other’s kiss. It’s like our minds have been waiting for this moment and we both knew it was going to happen.

His kiss does more than warm my lips; it heats my entire body. I pull him closer to me, taking a delicate bite into his bottom lips. He lets out a soft moan, and before I know it he lifts me up, and now my legs are wrapped around him, as I’m leaning down to kiss him.

He steps back, sitting down on his bed and I stay on top of him, kissing and running my hands through his hair. His tongue glides across my bottom lip, and I wrap my arms around his neck tighter, attacking his tongue with mine. His hands move around my waist, finding the hem of my shirt and then snake underneath the material. My skin tingles as his finger runs across my back, then back down, as he cups my bottom, and I attack his lips feverishly.

Our lips break away suddenly when we both hear a door shut and someone yell.

“Matty!”

Matt’s eyes meet mine and the disappointment he shows echoes within me. I jump off him, adjusting my clothes and I see his swollen lips, shiny from my lip gloss. I quickly reach over, a finger sliding across his lips as he smirks at me before his door swings open.

“Matty, I just—”

Isaac stops abruptly, his eyes jumping between Matt sitting on the bed and myself, standing a couple feet away.

“Oh, sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I smile at him, still feeling my heart pounding inside.

Isaac stares at me for a moment and then back at his brother. “Were you guys exercising?”

I look over at Matt with an embarrassed smile and can see his chest still heaving as much as mine. He lets out an awkward laugh. “Uh … yeah, buddy. We were exercising.”

“Oh, okay,” Isaac says and then jumps on Matt’s bed next to him. It’s only after he’s sitting next to Matt that I see him holding a Nintendo 3DS. “I just got a new high score, check it out!”

Matt’s eyes meet mine for a moment, as he licks his lips and I have to take a deep breath to calm myself. “Cool,” he finally says as he looks over at his brother’s game.

“Hey.” Isaac’s head snaps up to meet my face. “I know you. You’re the contest judge.”

“Yeah,” I’m finally able to squeak out.

“Isaac, this is Izzy,” Matt says, his normal, confident smile returning. “Izzy, you’ve met Isaac before. Or, as I like to call him, iBoy.”

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