Page 65 of Seeing Grayscale

His eyes drop to my mouth again, causing my heart to skip a beat. “Would you do it?” he asks softly, flicking those pretty hazel eyes back to mine.

“Do what?”

“Be brave enough to go for it?”

I swallow, reading too much into the question. With my head spinning, pulse pumping, and residual adrenaline from watching the airplane, I bite my lip. “I might.”

What are you doing, Gray?

His breath catches, the space between us vanishing with speed. “What would be the deciding factor?”

Fuck, I’m going to regret this later.

“If I’m given an opportunity—”

I barely get the last syllable out before he leans forward and kisses me. He must’ve picked up on the hints I was throwing down because he comes willingly as I grip his jacket sleeve, pulling him even closer.

Soft brushes of his lips over mine send tiny tremors through my body. There’s a timidity to how we subtly taste each other—as if we are both trying to decide if this is okay.

When he twists his body and gently cups my cheek, I sigh against him.

Keeping my eyes closed, I let him guide the kiss because I’m sure I suck at it. He presses little pecks over my top lip, then the bottom, before nuzzling my nose. I dig my fingers in harder, knowing I should stop him, but I can’t find the motivation to do so. When his tongue teases me, playing with the idea of pushing deeper, I breathe harder, sliding my hand up to his shoulder. To my disappointment, he doesn’t make out with me.

With one final soft press, he pulls away. I don’t open my eyes immediately, afraid of what I’ll see.

“Gray,” he whispers.

“Yeah?” Still not opening them.

“Look at me.”

“Do I have to?”

He chuckles softly. “I’d really love it if you did.”

Slowly, I crack them open.

“Thank you,” he tells me.

My eyebrows pinch together. “For?”

Scanning my face with a small smile forming, he brushes the hair away from my eyes and says, “Making this a good day.”

TWENTY-NINE

Nowthatthemomenthas passed and we are back in Hunter’s car, leaving the little airport, I’m all fucked up inside.

What does this mean?

What the hell happened back there?

Hunter seems fine—like that was just a friendly kiss—a kiss between friends. A thank you kiss. Or maybe he’s already forgotten about it, and I’m an idiot.

Gnawing on my thumb until I taste blood, I keep stewing, keep thinking. Why did I let it happen? Why the fuck did I want to?

Even with Caleb, we didn’t move this fast. It took a fewmonthsbefore the kissing and…everything else happened. And even then, I didn’t feel half as confident as I did back there on the tarmac—I didn’twantit that badly. How do I even approach this now?

Hunter claims that he wants to help me, right? Help me get back on my feet?

---