Page 51 of Never Have I Ever
“How would a raccoon break into our dorm room?”
“I don’t know,” Gabi says. “You never said anything, so I thought you didn’t know.”
“Because I’m not going to scream at you for eating some snacks.”
Gabi grins, throwing her arms over Madi. “Aw. How cute. You love me.”
Madi rolls her eyes, stepping back from Gabriella. “I need to get to class. See you later, Rosie. And you too, snack hoarder.”
Madi’s already walking away when Gabriella yells back at her. “It was the raccoon.”
“Weirdo.” I hear Madeline mumble as she walks away.
Gabriella and I laugh as we watch Madi walk towards campus.
“Do you have class today?” Gabi asks.
I shake my head. “No, I only had one class. Do you have dance class today?” I ask, knowing she usually has a dance class booked for most days of the week.
She picks up her phone, looking at the time. “Yeah. It’s in fifteen. I should probably get going,” she says.
“Okay. Have fun.” I tell her before giving her a hug, and she smiles back as we separate.
I make my way over to my apartment, dying to get my hands on a sketchbook. I’ve been doing a lot of sketching recently; I don’t know why but my brain is a catalyst for ideas suddenly. Yesterday I came up with five new designs, which were some of my best work.
But that thought evaporates the moment I see a very familiar car. I know that car. I’ve slept on top of that car. All of a sudden, my brain is consumed with the thoughts of the other night. The bike, the lake, the kiss, the way I all but begged him to touch me.
And now that I see him, everything I felt with him that day is coming back to me. I feel my cheeks warm as I look at him leaning against his car, with a cigarette hanging from his lips. Those lips. I kissed those lips, and it was nothing like I thought it would be.
A girl’s first kiss usually happens when she’s young, maybe even before puberty, but mine was three days ago, with no other than Grayson Carter. And it was perfect. The way he kissed me was like he couldn’t get enough of me like he needed me as close as possible to him. He was demanding and aggressive, and even though I had never kissed anyone before, he didn’t seem to mind it.
He took it at my pace and waited for me to get comfortable enough to the point where he could kiss me as he wanted. I thought kisses were meant to be soft and gentle, and that’s what I gave him the moment our lips met, but all of that was thrown out of the window the minute Grayson stuck his tongue in my mouth.
The groans and moans, the hair tugging and devouring each other’s taste. That was kissing. That was what I wanted, and I didn’t even know it. And I want it again.
“Hey,” I say, approaching where he is.
His eyes snap to mine, and he lifts himself from the car and smirks. Just a twitch on the side of his lips makes my gaze drop to his mouth, reminiscing on that kiss. “Hey,” he says, throwing out the cigarette. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“Really?” Did that sound too desperate?
“Yeah,” he says. “I’ve got a gift for you.”
My eyebrows scrunch. “A gift?”
He smirks again and then leans into his car, through the open window, and pulls out a huge bouquet of flowers. Pink roses. They’re absolutely gorgeous, and the fact that Grayson bought them for me makes them even better.
“You got me flowers,” I say more than ask. I’m in disbelief.
He walks towards me and hands me the flowers. I take them from him and look down at them, unable to stop staring at them. Grayson got me flowers.
“Yeah,” he says, sticking his hands in his pockets and shrugging. “When you told me that you buy yourself flowers because you don’t have anyone else to buy them for you, I felt bad,” he admits, making my breath hitch. “I know I’m not your boyfriend, but… we’re friends, right? And well, you have me now, so I’ll buy you flowers from now on.”
He's waiting for me to reply, but I’m standing here, staring at him dumbfounded.Grayson got me flowers.
“I don’t even know what to say,” I finally speak up. “You didn’t have to do that.”
He shakes his head, reaching out for my hand. “I want to, Rosie. If anything, then just purely for the look on your face when I give them to you.” His hand lifts and strokes my cheek, a smile spreading across his face. “It’s priceless.”
