Page 9 of Until You're Breathless

“No. You?”

“No.”

“Have you ever wanted to?”

“No. You?”

Kids are far enough away from us that they can’t see us. The bussed in kids are already gone and there are no sports playing tonight, so it’s like we’re all alone. “Not....not until now.”

He looks at me, searching my eyes. “God, you are so brave. It would take me a year to work up the courage to say that to you.” He licks his lips. “Do you want to kiss me?”

I nod. “Yeah. Do you want to kiss me?”

“Yeah. Wait, do you mean, like, a French kiss, or just a regular one?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never done either. What about you?”

“Me neither. But I just thought I better check, you know? I don’t want to try to stick my tongue in your mouth and make you gag or something.”

I snort a laugh. “You’re funny.”

“So are you.” He licks his lips, eyes on my lips. “So, do you want to try it?”

“Do you?”

“Yeah. Kinda.”

The warmth coming from him next to me is making my thighs ache. I’m dying to kiss him. To know what his lips feel like on mine. They look so soft and full. We start to lean in and he parts his lips, so I part mine, and the next thing I know it’s like we’re in a movie. What was supposed to be an innocent first kiss turns into the hottest kiss I could ever imagine. His tongue tickles mine, his lips suck mine, like we’ve done this a thousand times before. His hand moves into my hair and my hand grasps the hair at the nape of his neck. My insides are quivering, my private area is pulsing and wet, and all I can think about is straddling him, but I don’t.

He pulls back. Both of us are breathless. “Man, that was hot.” He breathes.

I lick my lips, still tasting him. “It was.”

“Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

“Definitely.”

Boston ends the call as he walks up to me, as I stand by the window, a million miles away. My skin immediately crawls as I turn around and see him. I try like hell not to show it, but I see the look on his face change, and I know that he’s read me right.

“Something’s wrong.” He guesses.

I get straight to the point. “I’m giving you one chance to tell me the truth, Boston. We made a promise to each other in the beginning to be transparent, and I believe that you haven’t kept your end of the bargain.”

For a split second I think that he’s going to refute. The flash in his eyes comes and goes as quickly. Then he looks at the floor and swallows. He says nothing. He’s calculating. He’s bargaining with himself. I decide it’s been too long and he’s going to come up with something to make this worse. But then he speaks. “Look, I did it because I got spooked. It was a long time ago and I’ll put the money back if you want.”

A ‘v’ forms between my eyes. Something tells me that I should just let him talk and see what else the fucker will confess to. So, I say nothing. I just stand there glaring at him, and I can feel my nostrils flaring. He glances up at me to see if I’m satisfied with his response. “Keep trying.”

“What do you want me to say...I’m sorry? Well, I am. I was going to tell you about a year after I did it, but the money was growing exponentially, and I figured I’d keep it from you so that when we retire, we’ll have some hidden money. Or in case the business flopped and then we would have some money left.”

I speak through gritted teeth. “You’re reaching.”

He rakes a hand through his hair. “I’ll get on the phone right now and put it back with the rest of our money.”

“God, you are such an asshole.” I practically growl. “Why don’t you tell me about Rita Lindsay.”

His eyes close tightly and then they open again, as he tilts his head, defeated. “Fuck.” He mutters.

“No, that’s whatyoudid. Youfucked up. You fucked up so bad you need to invent a new word for it.”

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