Page 10 of For Three Seconds

There shouldn’t have been a reason for me to be this nervous. Maybe it was because I was tired from running, and it made me deprived of oxygen.

Yeah, that’s why.

Gavin smiled. His eyes crinkled with amusement.

“Have you like been here the whole summer? Have you been hiding? When do you go back?” I asked.

There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but mostly it was so I could keep talking and forget about three seconds of my life I couldn’t ignore.

“Scarlett.” He put his hands on my shoulders, steadying me when I didn’t know I was floating off. “Breathe.”

His voice was low. His eyes sparkled green, and as much as it was making me feel uncomfortable, I couldn’t look away. He commanded my attention.

“You look good, Scarlett.” He smiled and turned around back to the lawnmower.

I stood there, watching him take three steps, and I knew I couldn’t just walk away. I had to find out if it was him or if it was a fluke.

“Gavin,” I called after him.

I don’t know who was more surprised—him, that I pulled him back, or me, when I went up on my toes. The roles were reversed this time.

One second I grabbed his nape and pulled him against me. The heat of him was scorching. Both of our bodies were slick with sweat, but instead of feeling icky, I wanted to get closer to have his smell on me.

Two seconds, and my lips pressed against his. Everything inside me shook. My whole being was rearranging; it was happening so fast I couldn’t breathe. I needed air. Gavin didn’t miss a beat when I felt his hands at my hips, bringing me closer to him. It was like getting electrocuted. My eyes snapped open, and I remember thinking how good he smelled, how flawless his skin was. He was perfect.

On that third second, his lips moved, trying to get mine to open, and that was when I pushed him away, turned on my heel, and ran away.

When we first kissed, I thought it was new, that it would always feel this way, but what I couldn’t comprehend at twelve as I did now at sixteen was that it didn’t feel this way with just anyone. It never had. Gavin freaking Dunn was my unicorn.

I talked myself down from freaking out. There wasn’t a point—Gavin didn’t even go to my school. It was all fine.

I looked forward to telling Gigi all about seeing him; maybe I wouldn’t mention the kiss. I mean, she liked him, but that was sixth grade. It was a lifetime ago.

Life got in the way, and every time I would open my mouth to tell Gigi about Gavin and me kissing, I backed out. He was my secret; he was mine.

That was one of the many mistakes I made, because when the sophomore year started, Gavin was back. When I saw him at school, my blood hummed. We smiled at each other from across the room; all the other two-hundred-something students in the hall didn’t matter. By the third period, he cornered me in the hallway.

“I can’t stop thinking about that kiss, Scar.” He tugged at my wild curls, not hard enough to cause pain, but enough so I would feel my scalp tingle, and my body was aware it was him.

I almost blurted out “me too,” that I couldn’t stop thinking about our kiss since we’d played spin the bottle, but the ringing bell reminded me I had to go to class on the other side of the school.

“Bye, Gavin,” I said, smiling at him as I made my way up the stairs.

Maybe it was my way of saying “I liked that you liked our kiss,” or “we’ll talk about this later” or “how soon can you make my heart miss a beat again?”

Too bad for me, that never happened. Gigi was still into him.

For a second, I almost said screw it, he was mine, he was my unicorn, my three seconds, but I didn’t have any more claim to him than Gigi did. Besides, I couldn’t do that to her, not with her parents’ nasty divorce and the pressure the cheer squad was putting on her.

I hated the team. All the chicks were bitches. They said I was too big to join. A few other things that were not worth repeating. That was fine. I had joined poms; dancing was way more fun. That way, both Gigi and I could be at the games even if we were in different squads.

School spirit. Rah-rah-rah.

Gigi set her sights on Gavin, so I backed away. I had to let her do this. Maybe he wouldn’t pick her, right?

He did.

Gavin and Gigi became a thing, and my best friend started dating the guy that made my world stop when he kissed me. Things changed, but on the outside, they appeared the same. Gavin was the person between my best friend and me, even though she didn’t see it. I’d made it the last two years just fine. One more year would be a piece of cake.

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