I am able to contain my laugh, but I can’t contain the smile. I reach for her toothbrush and uncap the toothpaste, squeezing a little onto the toothbrush for her. I hand the toothbrush to her and reach for my own. She slowly starts to brush her teeth, her eyes flickering over to me in the mirror. I watch her back. When she catches me, she blushes and looks away. She has no idea how beautiful she is when she does that.
When she finishes brushing her teeth, she places her toothbrush back in the holder and leans against the wall waiting for me. She doesn’t look as tired as she did a couple minutes ago. I spit the remaining toothpaste out and reach around her to place my toothbrush in the holder beside hers. She doesn’t move, even when I brush against her. She bites her lip, looking at me from under her long lashes.
Placing my hands on her hips, I walk her backward to the bed. She doesn’t take her eyes away from me as I move her. She complies but stops when the back of her legs hit the edge of the bed. My heart begins to race the longer she watches me. Her long hair is piled over one shoulder. I reach forward and tug on the end of it, without breaking eye contact. She stops biting her lip, but her eyes lower from my eyes to my mouth. I wait the agonizing seconds for her to look back up at me before I kiss her.
When I swallow audibly, she drags her eyes from my mouth back to me, a slight blush rising on her cheeks. I take another step closer to her, closing the distance between us. Ugh, I can’t wait any longer. She tilts her head up and waits. I lean down and press my lips to hers. I tilt her up further as she stands a little taller. Wrapping my arm around her tiny waist, I slowly lower her down to the bed. Her small hands grip my arms as I move her.
With her back firmly pressed to the mattress, she moves her arms slowly up my arms and wraps them around my neck. I deepen the kiss and prop my body over hers, wary of the amount of weight I place on her. She’s so small. Kissing me back with everything she has, she pulls me closer to her. Gosh, this girl can kiss.
Her hands slide up the base of my neck. Running her hands through my hair, she sighs into my mouth and pulls me down further. If I knew kissing her would be this good, I would have told her about the soulmate thing much sooner.
I slow the kiss and pull back. I watch as she slowly opens her eyes and looks at me. Both of us are breathing heavily. Her hazel eyes stare back at me full of love. No one has ever looked at me with that look before. I reach down and kiss her lips lightly once more before rolling off of her. She turns so she is facing me, and I smile at her appearance. I messed up her curly hair, and her pink lips are slightly swollen. She bites her bottom lip and looks at me. I can tell from her expression that she wants to say something.
I turn so that I am facing her. “What?” I ask her as I reach out and try to tame her hair. She looks slightly embarrassed as I move her curls to the other side.
Propping herself on her elbows, she looks down at the comforter and says, “Does it ever bother you that you’re stuck with me now? I mean you’re only nineteen…”
She’s worried that I don’t want to be with her? Wow, she’s more oblivious than I originally thought. “Ryanne, I’ve wanted to be with you since junior year. We had history together, and every day you came into class with a sad look on your face, and I always wanted to make you smile. I wanted to see your eyes light up with amusement. I wanted to hear your laugh and see that little dimple on your left cheek,” I reach forward and touch her cheek where the dimple is. She bites her lip but doesn’t look up at me.
“I didn’t understand at the time why I was so drawn to you. When you came into the bookstore that day…I saw you walking across the street. I saw that guy fly around the corner, and I watched as you froze in the middle of the street. You just stared at the car. I wanted to run toward you, to protect you, but Claire told me to wait. She had a feeling that you were going to do something.
“When we saw you fly across the street, we knew there was something special about you. I knew that there was something special about you. She ran out to help you off the curb while I stayed frozen where I was. She yelled at me to go get you some Advil because I was just staring at you. I couldn’t stop staring at you. All I was able to think about was that the girl I had a crush on for a year was in the bookstore, right in front of me. When you finally looked up at me, it felt like time had frozen. I only saw you. Claire disappeared. The bookstore disappeared. There was only you. It kind of freaked me out that I felt so much for you even though I barely knew you, so I pretended indifference. You didn't know who I was. You never once looked in my direction during the classes we’d had together.