Page 34 of Absorbed

Jessie put his hand on Stacey’s thigh.

Stacey’s breath caught.Wait…what is happening?

“We should check it out. Friday night?”

Her heart was racing.He’s fully hitting on me!She bit her lower lip so she wouldn’t squeal. “Yeah. Sure!” Her voice cracked.Stay calm.She cleared her throat. “Sounds good.”

She was thankful Jessie’s street was coming up. She needed to contain her excitement long enough for him to get out of the car.

Stacey pulled the Silver Bullet up to the front of Jessie’s apartment and put the car in park. She turned to say goodnight, but moved too fast and bumped her knee hard against the emergency brake. He yanked his hand off her thigh.

Please, Stacey…She closed her eyes and rubbed her knee.Don’t ruin this by being a dumbass!

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded and looked up. He was staring at her. In the dark car, Jessie’s blue eyes looked navy, a glassy sea that caught the headlights reflecting off his apartment windows.

Nervous, Stacey pulled her arms tight around her waist, her hands clenched.

The side of Jessie’s mouth lifted into a slight smile. He touched Stacey’s cheek gently with his right knuckles. “Relax,” he whispered.

She flattened her palms on her thighs, pushing them toward her knees to get the sweat off.

He reached his left fingers up to swipe a long strand of her hair off her forehead and tucked it behind her ear.

Stacey’s stomach clenched and she wet her bottom lip. Her mouth filled with saliva in anticipation of a kiss she’d fantasized about hundreds of times. In her dreams, Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” would be playing for this moment.

Sliding his hand behind her neck, Jessie leaned over, and gently tugged for her to lean toward him.

Stiffly, she leaned in and swallowed hard, digging her fingernails into her knees.

Jessie tilted his head to the left, so she tilted hers opposite his. Stacey briefly puckered her lips, then relaxed them. She closed her eyes, then fluttered them open again to make sure his were closed, too.

The smell of popcorn on his hot breath closed the space between them before their lips touched.

Jessie’s mouth pressed hard against hers. She felt his full lips. His tongue began to ease her mouth open, so she dropped her jaw open like a fish. Unsure what to do, she barely moved or breathed, letting his tongue caress hers.She could hear her heart pounding in her ears.Jessie Thomas is kissing me!

She relaxed her hands as she absorbed the touch and taste of Jessie’s mouth. The strength of his hand behind her neck, and the lingering saltiness on their mouths. The wetness of their kiss and roughness of their chapped lips rubbing against one another. She felt tingling that scared and excited her in placesshe’d never realized had such sensations. She squeezed her legs together tighter.

As Jessie pulled back, he gave her bottom lip the slightest tug between his teeth.

She sat there, her mouth agape, as Jessie set his hand on the passenger door handle.

“Happy Fourth of July, Stacey,” Jessie said.

Part of her wanted to grab Jessie’s T-shirt with both hands and pull him back, and part of her wanted him to walk away before the shaking she felt inside became visible to him. She smiled meekly.

“G’night.” Stacey sat, unblinking, following Jessie with her eyes as he got out and walked to his apartment. At the porch, he nodded back at her one last time before going inside.

As soon as his front door closed, she put the car in reverse. She pulled out of his apartment complex, her left foot bouncing.

When she was finally parked in front of her house, engine off, she sat with the seatbelt still latched and put both hands to her mouth.

Jessie kissed me.

She looked at herself in the rearview mirror. “I have a date with Jessie Thomas!”

PART TWO

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