Page 27 of Just Like in the Movies
His eyes flew open and he turned to me with a snarl. “I’m not afraid of you!”
“Not physically,” I explained hastily. “But why would you put your hand back on the same stove that’s already burned you?”
His expression changed, became thoughtful, then sad, and he let his leg straighten out on the bed again. “Yeah, I guess that’s it.”
“I can live with that. If you do the crime, you need to be ready to do the time.” Inexplicably, that made him laugh, and I stared at him in bafflement. “What?”
“That’s what Mom always says to me,” he said in between giggles. “Every time I complain about the fire jokes.”
“Fire jokes?” I asked, not a whit wiser.
He sobered almost immediately. “Yeah. I’m surprised you haven’t heard.”
Ah. “About the fire? Yeah, I heard.”
“I’m sorry about the letterman jacket.”
I suppressed a wince. “I deserved it.”
He rolled his eyes in my direction. “Yeah, you did. The jacket was innocent, though.”
“Fair enough,” I said evenly.
We both fell silent then. I didn’t know what Lew was thinking, but the only thing on my mind was whether he could find it in his heart to forgive me, give me a second chance and let us try again. But that was Lew’s decision and I was afraid that if I said anything, if he felt pushed at all, that old Lew temper would pop up and that would be the end of us. So I played it safe and kept my mouth shut, though every cell in my body was screaming for me to beg him to take me back.
After what felt like forever, Lew pulled his knee up to his chest again and let go of my hand. My heart sank—I’d really blown it. He couldn’t get past everything I’d done.
Then he looked at me and said, “Kiss me.”
“You’re sure?”
“No. But do it anyway.”
My heart pounding, I reached for him with shaking hands and gently guided his mouth to mine.
