Page 63 of One Little Kiss
His lips tip up on the side. “I think we can’t just…go back, you know?”
Why not?I stop the words with a swallow. I know why not.
“Things have been…weird between us,” he says.
He’s not asking it as a question, but I nod anyway.
“So maybe this is the next step, you know? Maybe we can make this work.”
Fear is like a burst of cold air in my lungs. It floods my veins and makes me shiver. “What if it doesn’t work?”
His smile is small and smug, and so very familiar, for a second I forget to be afraid. Because this is Elijah. This is my friend.
What’s there to be afraid of?
And that’s what his tone says too, when he continues, dropping his hand from my cheek and sounding more sure of himself. “If it doesn’t work then we know.” He shrugs like it’s a no-brainer. Like it’s no big deal. “Let’s try it once. No pressure for it to mean anything, just…a night out as…notfriends.”
A laugh bubbles up that’s more nervous hysteria than amusement. “A night asnotfriends?”
He lifts a shoulder, his lips twitching slightly. “Some might call it a date.”
“A date,” I repeat. “With just us.”
“That’s typically how dates work, yes.” He sounds so calm and cool. If I didn’t know him any better, I’d say he actually was relaxed about the thought of us messing with our friendship.
He starts the car, and doesn’t push the issue. We drive in silence during which I will my mind to work.
But I lost all sense of reason the moment his lips met mine, and so I’m not more sure of anything when he pulls up in front of my house and parks.
“Tomorrow night,” he says.
And I swear it’s like he’s made the decision for us. During any other circumstances, that would annoy me. But right now, I cling to his certainty in lieu of my own.
Elijah is smarter than me, after all. And he definitely seems like he has a plan.
His lips hitch up in that crooked grin that never fails to make my heart clamor. “What do you say, Noelle? Is it a date?”
I hesitate, but only for a second. With a sigh, I reach for the door handle and force a smile. “It’s a date.”
SIXTEEN
Elijah
It’s a date. It’s a freakin’date. I eye my reflection like maybe something’s changed since the last time I looked. It hasn’t. I’m still wearing a blue button-down that Leah picked out and my best jeans.
I should not be this nervous. It’s so ridiculous. And yet…
My palms are sweaty and I haven’t even left to pick her up yet.
I turn to face my cousin. “This is a mistake.”
Leah’s lying on my bed, and she rolls her eyes yet again. “How many times are we going to go over this?”
“It’s too late to cancel, right?”
She laughs. “Seriously, you’re worse than my girl friends.”
“Leah…”
