Page 44 of Where the Little Birds Go (Little Bird Duet 1)

I just smile.

He locks eyes with me. “I like you, Kinley. You understand what it’s like to want something so bad it hurts. You encourage me to keep going, you get my eagerness for auditions, you’re just a good person. Sometimes I don’t think I deserve you in any form—friend or not.”

“Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m being honest.” He sits back down on the edge of the bed, his knee brushing mine. “I don’t want you to like Zach because I want you to like me. I’m selfish.”

“I don’t like Zach,” I remind him.

“Does that mean you like me?”

“Is that even a real question?”

He waits.

“Yes.” It comes out a whisper.

“Yeah?”

I roll my eyes and push his shoulder. “I just said that, what else do you want? What happened over Christmas … I don’t just let anyone do that.”

He wets his bottom lip. “Speaking of, I can think of one thing I wouldn’t mind doing again.”

My eyes widen when he begins leaning toward me. I start thinking about the books I’ve read about kissing and how everyone seems to be instantly good at it. The last time doesn’t feel like it counted as a first kiss. It happened so fast that I couldn’t think about what to do or how to feel or freak out about my inexperience. I never understood why everyone in books and movies made it look easy.

Just before his lips brush mine, knuckles tap on the door and we both jerk away from each other. Mrs. Callum’s voice cracks through the sound of my wild heartbeat as she opens the door and looks at us.

Corbin is holding his script and playing it off, while I just stare wide-eyed and silently thanking her for interrupting what I assume would have been an epic fail on my part.

“No closed doors with Kinley over,” his mother reminds him.

Corbin’s face turns red. “Mom.”

She smiles at me. “Hi, dear.”

“Hi, Mrs. C.”

She looks at Corbin again with a warning eye before walking away with the door open. Corbin clicks his tongue and starts laughing.

I can’t help but join in.

When we settle down, he takes my hand in his again. Staring at our hands in awe of how good they feel woven together, I say, “Corbin?”

“Yeah, Little Bird?”

“I’m not good at this.”

He drags me back, lowering us down so my head uses his chest as a pillow. “I’m not either. We’ll make it work.”

I swallow my nerves. “Have you done this sort of thing before? You know, dated? Kissed? That … stuff.”

His momentary pause makes my body drown with disappointment. It’s a personal question that I feel like I should know the answer to, but it feels weird to ask. I’ve always assumed he’s been a lady’s man considering the attention he gets from girls at our school. It’s really no surprise. Anyone would be stupid not to like him.

“Yeah,” he whispers, “I have.”

My heart pings with pain. Sitting up, I look down at him with my bottom lip sucked into my mouth. “I haven’t done anything. I’m new at all of this. What if it’s awkward or I mess up? I don’t want you to think—”

He cuts me off. “Stop, Kinley. Look at me, okay? We don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. Just because I’ve done some stuff before doesn’t mean I’m going to force you to do anything. You know me better than that.”

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