Page 40 of Classroom Confessions

“You’re right. I should stay here. Right? I shouldn’t go. I mean, who wants to take a hot air balloon ride?” Me. I wanted it desperately. Eying my shorts and tank top, I chewed my lip and checked the time. If I was going to go, it had to be now. “I’m going.” I pointed at Fitz. “And don’t you try to stop me.” He huffed and stuffed his nose deeper into his pillow, closing his eyes with a deep sigh.

Guess that was it, then. I was going on a date with Ethan.

An hour later, I pulled into the parking lot for a field where hot air balloons were tethered to the ground.

Ethan stood near the gate, his arms crossed and a pair of sunglasses covering half his face. He spotted me the minute I climbed out of the car and wove between vehicles until he reached my side. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come.”

I pocketed my phone, keys, and wallet. “I almost didn’t.” I’d gotten a flash of fear about halfway and had to stop and reconsider my options. Not knowing what he wanted pushed me onward the same way it did now.

“We’re over here.” He slid a hand to the small of my back and guided me to a balloon with a geometric pattern done in reds, whites, and yellows.

A slender man nodded and opened the gate leading into the basket.

Ethan nudged me in ahead of him but never broke contact as we made our way to the far side of the basket.

Our operator worked on releasing the balloon, but I was too occupied with Ethan to pay much attention.

He removed his sunglasses, revealing dark rings around his eyes and tense lines creasing his forehead. “How are you?”

“Fine.” I shrugged. “How are you?”

“I’m not asking to be polite.” His tone sharpened and he closed his eyes, pressing his thumb and forefinger into the closed lids. “Sorry. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Why?” Curiosity prodded me forward. I ran my thumb along the line in his forehead, smoothing it away with the pad of my thumb.

His eyes snapped open. He devoured me with a look so intense it froze time. “You, Rebecca. It always comes back to you.”

The ground beneath my feet shifted. I lurched forward, planting my hands on his chest. Did the entire earth move at his words? The basket rose off the ground several inches. Right. Not the earth moving, just the basket.

Ethan’s hands were on my waist, his grip gentle as he pulled me closer and whispered in my ear. “We shouldn’t see each other. There are several very good, very personal, reasons I should not have called you.”

Great. He’d brought me here to reiterate the ‘we can’t see each other’ speech we’d already gone over.

“But there’s one reason I can’t help myself.” Warm breath feathered over my ear, followed by his lips. “It doesn’t matter how many times I tell myself to let you go.” His hands tightened. “No matter how harsh the repercussions if things end badly or we’re found out, I always come back to this.”

I didn’t dare even breathe. One wrong move and he might disappear on me. This might all be a dream. A very vivid, detailed, hot dream. And if that was the case, I did not want to wake up. Being in Ethan’s arms was everything I thought it would be and more. He smelled like the deep woods, all dark cologne and man. I wanted that scent so deep in my pores, it never came out.

The ground beneath us slipped away, leaving us riding high over the city in a flimsy basket that at any other time would have scared me to death. In Ethan’s arms, I found bliss and the spark of hope that I’d snuffed out when I ended things. “Ethan.”

He groaned and backed away while keeping hold of me.

His emotional distance severed the giddy feeling I’d attributed to the ascension of the hot air balloon. I ran my hand along his jaw. “You’re talking in circles. Why did you bring me up here?”

His head dipped forward until our foreheads rested together. “Despite all the reasons I should let you walk away, I can’t stop thinking about you.” His lips brushed over the tip of my nose. Just when I thought he’d kiss me for real, he dropped his hands and took a step back.

I barely stopped the whimper from leaving my throat. “What are you doing?”

“Making sure we’re talking and not reacting.” He turned to face the open sky and gripped the edges of the basket. “Take a minute and clear your head.”

“It’s going to take more than a minute.” I grumbled under my breath, but he must have heard because his lips twitched like he withheld a smile.

The city spread out below us, the bright green field where we’d launched nothing more than a memory in the distance. That’s what Ethan should be, a distant thought.

“I have trouble thinking clearly when I’m with you.” Ethan’s admission came while he looked straight ahead. “I agree with everything you said at Cole’s. It’s a terrible situation. If I were a stronger man, I wouldn’t be here. If I had any honor or morals, I never would’ve called you.”

“But you did.” I slid my hand over the rough basket fibers and gripped his fingers. “Why did you?”

“Because I can’t breathe when you’re not with me.” He faced me, his eyes soft and full of emotions I didn’t dare try to name. “I tried to let you go. God, did I fucking try.” A raw sort of anguish filled his face, pulling his mouth to the side as he brushed his thumb over my cheek. “If you still want me, I’m all in. No matter what, I’m yours.”

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