Page 79 of Wild Hit
Yeah, me too.
Non stop.
With every cell of my being.
I stay silent, though, unwilling to put my seventeen size foot in my mouth.
Audrey shifts a little. “It’s just—yes, I’m very sorry for how that came about. I know for a fact that it was very unfair to you, and I’ll be apologizing for it the rest of my life. But…”
Another roll of thunder. The wipers seem to make even more noise than normal.
“But?” I press.
Finally, she lifts her eyes to me and as serious as a doctor delivering bad news, she says, “I haven’t been kissed like that in a very long time.”
At first, I’m just a statue of Miguel Machado, father of one and All-Star slugger.
But then my eye twitches a little.
Wow, okay. So the kiss was not the best in her life. Maybe if I’d had time to prepare… No, the point is that I’m just one in thelist of guys she’s played tonsil hockey with. Not the best, not the worst. My competitive spirit cannot freaking take it.
“Like what?” I prod for a hint that will let me rank myself in her roster.
The look on her face, as lit up by more lightning, is like she can’t believe I’m asking. “Like the guy knows what he’s doing, you know?”
Hmm. So better than her average, but not enough information to know if I was the best. And Iwantto be her best.
“The thing is…” She tucks her hair behind her ears, hands falling back down to clutch at my jacket. “It reminded me that it’s not too bad to kiss a guy.”
“Not too bad?” I blurt out, offended.
She catches on right away and bursts into chuckles. “What I mean is that I forgot how good it can feel to forget about the world in a kiss.”
Oh.
Yeah, I did that too. I forgot what year we were in the second her lips crashed on mine.
“So I was wondering…” Her amusement ebbs away and she no longer keeps eye contact with me. “Could we… do it again?”
Pretty sure this time the thunder is in my head alone.
“Do what?” I ask, unable to process whatever the hell is happening right now.
“Kiss,” she answers very calmly. “Without duress, that is. Like a good, proper kiss where we give it our best but it means nothing. Just out of curiosity, while we wait out the rain.”
I don’t think, therefore I don’t exist.
She turns back to me and studies my face. “Erm, you know what? Forget about it. That was way too unhinged even for my standards, especially after?—”
“Bueno.” I shake the glitch off my head and say, “Okay.”
“Okay?” She jolts a little.
“Sure.” I sound way calmer than I really feel on the inside, the normal life version of speaking into a glove so no one else can tell what you’re really saying. “That’s another way to pass the time.”
“You don’t think it’s weird?” Her eyes widen to the maximum possible.
“Weird how?” I shrug one shoulder. “We’re two single, consenting adults.”
