Page 153 of Sporty Girls Don't Fall For Loners

She seems to feel the same because she stands on her tiptoes and closes her lips over mine. I’m not sure how long we kiss before we have to reluctantly let go.

Hand in hand, we make our way to the exit.

“Have you kissed anyone?” she asks. “I mean, before me. Sorry if that’s too personal.”

I shake my head. “It’s not too personal. You can ask me anything. I feel so comfortable around you and want to tell you everything.”

“I feel so comfortable around you, too. But you don’t have to answer that question if you don’t want to. I can be too blunt sometimes.”

My body fills with disgust as the memory washes over me. “Someone kissed me once. But I don’t count it as a kiss.”

She stops walking and furrows her brows. “What do you mean?”

“I was living with a foster family and they had a daughter who was obsessed with me. Like so crazy obsessed that she’d enter my room without my permission. One day, she kissed me without my consent. Her parents walked in on us and blamed me. Threw me out of the home.”

She bites her lip. “I’m so sorry.”

I shrug. “Thanks, but it was for the best. That house was terrible.” I place my hands on her cheeks. “But let’s not talk about my past. I’m so happy when we’re together and I don’t want to ruin it.”

“Sure, whatever you want. But you can always talk to me if you need to.”

I nod and brush my lips across her cheek. “Thanks.”

“You’re the first guy I kissed,” she tells me.

I smile as I take her hand. “I consider you the first girl I kissed. They say first kisses are very special.” I shrug. “Well, that’s what my mom told me.”

“Yeah, they say you never forget it.”

I bend forward and whisper, “I’m happy that you were my first. And…” I hope you’ll be my forever. I’m not sure I want to tell her that because I don’t want to freak her out. This is still so new between us.

“And what?” she asks.

I take her other hand and squeeze both of them. I think she can see on my face what the rest of the sentence was. And from her expression, I know she feels the same. The future is uncertain and it’s too soon to even think about forever, but that’s how I feel. I’m not sure I believe in fate, but Zoey and I didn’t just cross paths for nothing. There’s something deep and special about our relationship and I want to explore it further.

She’s about to say something, but her phone dings.

“It’s Mia,” she tells me. “She’s wondering if we’re alive.”

“We’d better head back.”

She nods with a frown. I know—I wish we could freeze time and stay out here together, just the two of us.

She stretches up to place a sweet kiss on my lips. I pull her close and deepen it. When Zoey’s phone dings again, we’re forced to break apart.

Hand in hand, we head back to school and into the gym. This is the best night of my life and I hope to have many more in the future.

“There you are,” Rylee says as we walk to her, Mia, and Mason. “We were starting to get worried.”

“Sorry. We were just…um…hanging out.”

Mia and Rylee try to hide knowing smiles.

The chaperones tell everyone to start emptying the gym. The dance has come to an end and this perfect, magical night is over. But there will be more dances and events in the future. I can’t wait to share them all with the girl who has taken control of my heart.

Zoey, Mia, Rylee, Mason, and I get in his car. He’ll drop us off at our houses. I’m pretty sure Rylee will be last because those two want some kissy time.

I’m the first off and I bend forward to place a kiss on Zoey’s cheek. Mia and Rylee gasp in elation as I press my hands to the sides of Zoey’s face and rest my forehead on hers.

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