Page 61 of The Second Kiss
“No trick. I cut my foot. See.” I hold on to his arm and balance on one foot. There’s a gash on the side of my heel. Drops of red slide over my ankle and into the moonlight water.
“I told you that you were going to cut your foot. You’ll probably get some kind of horrible infection.”
So much for sympathy. “I have a first aid kit in my car. I can wash it off when we get back there.”
“A first-aid kit? How un-spontaneous is that?”
“Hey, when you’re being spontaneous, it never hurts to be prepared.”
"You're shivering." Nathan takes off his sweatshirt and holds it out to me.
"I can't take your sweatshirt. You’ll freeze to death Florida boy," I say between chattering teeth.
“I don't want you to go into shock or something. Besides, it’s ruined anyway.”
I take the sweatshirt. Nate's wet t-shirt clings to his chest. He doesn’t have the bulk either of his brothers has, but his chest is smooth and muscular. He catches me looking and looks away, his face red. "I'll get you back to shore, but I’m not carrying you up that hill.”
I put my arms around his neck and lean into his chest as he scoops me up. “How ungentlemanly of you.”
“I told you not to take your shoes off.”
Despite what he says, he carries me all the way back to the car. When he puts me down, I open my trunk and rummage through it for the first-aid kit.
“Talk about chaos.” Nathan peers into the mess.
“It’s called being prepared.” I pull out a water-bottle, the first-aid kit, and a towel. I sit on the towel and use the bottle of water to wash out the gash on my foot. “See, there’s a reason for everything.” I study the cut on my foot. “I don’t think it needs stitches.”
“Good,” Nathan replies. “I don’t want to spend tonight in the emergency room.”
He drives barefoot, his soggy shoes in the jumbled mess of my trunk. We don’t talk on the way home, but it’s a comfortable silence. I feel like I’m getting to know Nathan.
Nathan opens my door and carries me to the porch. He sets me down on the top step and stays at the bottom so our faces are about even. He smiles at me shyly. “Despite the fact that you ruined my sweatshirt and tried to freeze me to death. I had an okay time.”
“Even though you chased me until I sliced my foot, I did too.”
He glances at the house across the driveway to our rental house. A corner of the curtain lifts, just a bit. “It looks like we have an audience.”
“Gage?” I ask.
“Probably.” A mischievous look crosses Nathan’s face. “Should we give him a show?”
“What–”
He dips me backward and presses his lips to mine.
When he releases me, I step back in shock. “What was that?”
“I think it's called a kiss. Didn’t you just give me a lecture on being spontaneous?”
I take in a shaky breath. “I guess I did.”
“I hope that was okay. I should have asked.”
“It’s okay. Actually, it was... nice.” I take a breath. I don’t want to embarrass him, especially if Gage is watching. Besides, it was a very nice kiss.
“Really?” he looks happy.
“Really. Really nice.” The curtains in my front window stir. “Oops. We might have been playing to the wrong audience.”
