Page 12 of The Kissing Challenge

I let her sweat it out for a bit.

Gemma:Anne??? I'm sorry! I really am! I should've asked first. You still love me, right?

Me:Of course, I love you. Now, was that so hard?

Gemma:Ugh yes! And I am sorry…but I still say the kiss made me do it!

I shook my head, typed "You're forgiven. Now, get some sleep," and then put my phone aside.

It pinged again a second later.

Wondering what else Gemma had to say, I looked and discovered the latest message wasn't from her.

Captain:Sweet dreams, Anne.

It wasn't uncommon for Captain to text at night, and I sent him one in return, glad to know he was thinking of me, too.

Me:Goodnight, Captain.

My dreams were filled with him and kisses.

CHAPTER 4

Forthe next few days, we went back to normal. Or at least normal-ish.

Captain and I did all the things we'd always done as best friends. But there was this new awareness. Whenever he leaned over to talk to me in class, it made my breath catch. If I rode with him in his car (which I did a lot because it was one of my favorite things), I felt like Captain kept finding little ways to touch me, a light brush against my thigh, his breath on my neck as he got something out of the glove compartment. It was maddening.

Dinner at his house was another minefield. First, had he always sat so close? Second, what was up with those looks he kept throwing me when he thought I wasn't looking? And third, movie nights. Oh Lord, we really shouldn't have done movie night together.

His hand accidentally met mine over and over again as we reached for popcorn at the same time. One of those times he'd gripped my hand by accident which caused me to jump. Little yellow kernels went everywhere. The mess took at least ten minutes to clean up. Captain had laughed, but I'd been mortified.

The strangest thing, though, happened right before the weekend hit.

Hero Complex was playing at a well-known hangout called Bruno's Place. Every Friday they had a live music night that drew a pretty big crowd. Captain and the guys had played here more than once, and they were starting to make a name for themselves, traveling to other places in other states as well.

I'd promised Captain I would come, so of course, I did. He and his bandmates always let me make them look pretty anyway. Again, not that any of them needed much assistance in that department. This wasn't like the alien look I'd tried on Captain. I only gave them slight touchups to smooth their skin and a bit of black liner around some of their eyes to make them even more mysterious.

Apparently, all the guys in Hero Complex saw the video and wanted to chat—aka tease us mercilessly about it.

"Did you know she was going to kiss you?" Knight said. Like Captain, he played guitar. My best friend usually took lead, but watching them together? They were something else. "Because Cap, I've gotta say. You looked stupefied for a second there, my friend."

Captain tilted his head. "Thanks, man. Appreciate it."

"I'm just saying."

"It was awesome," Jake said. He was their new drummer, took the spot after the first guy quit. It wasn't a bad change either. I didn't know Jake well, but he was good on drums and nice enough. He winked at me then. "Anne has some skills. I could see that much from the video."

"Hey," Liam put in. "Leave it, Jake. She's Captain's girl."

"Ah." Jake held his drumsticks up in the air while I blushed. "I didn't know it was like that. Sorry."

I shook my head. "It's really not," I said.

Liam lifted a brow. "Are you sure? Didn't look that way to me."

"Why did you kiss him anyway?" Brandon, the bassist, asked. His question took me aback for a second. He was by far the most quiet member of the group with a deep voice that commanded attention.

Why had I kissed Captain?

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