Ruin .(36)

    Kiersten was quiet. I quickly ran over to my side and jumped into the SUV.

    Kiersten’s hands ran down the leather seats, her eyes taking in every single detail of the interior. Funny how years ago I would have never done that, but now? Now I got it. Because you never knew when a moment would be your last. So why not soak up every last memory? Like now, the sun was just starting to go down, which meant part of it was shining into the car directly across her red hair making it appear like it was glowing.

    I sighed.

    She turned to look at me. “What are you doing?”

    “Staring,” I answered honestly. “I think you owe me that, especially since you felt me up the first time we met.”

    She hid her face in her hands. “I did not!” Her cute voice was muffled by her hands still covering her face.

    “Um, you did.” I started the car. “I’ll take it to my grave, don’t worry.” Shit, I really needed to stop with those comments.

    I checked my watch, hopefully I-5 wasn’t a complete mess. I really didn’t want to miss our first stop.

    “So?” She fidgeted with her seatbelt. “Where are we going?”

    “Bungee jumping,” I answered with a deadpan expression. “It is on your list isn’t it?”

    Her eyes widened as she looked down at her skirt then back up at me.

    “I won’t look. Promise.”

    She swatted me across the stomach.

    “Fine, fine.” I laughed. “Just don’t hit me. We’re going on a date.”

    “I know that.”

    “Then…” I took the first exit. “That’s really all you need to know, isn’t it?”

    It had been years since I’d actually taken a girl out. With football practice and the fact that Lorelei refused to go anywhere in public unless it was some sort of celebrity event, it had been a while.

    “Almost there.” I took the next left and drove down the private road. I knew she probably didn’t have any idea where we were, which kind of excited me. I didn’t want her to freak though. “Still got your whistle?”

    “Why?” Her eyes darted to mine. “Am I going to need it?”

    “No.” I laughed. “Just checking.”

    “Are you taking me into the woods to kill me?”

    “Um, no.”

    She exhaled.

    “If I was going to kill you, I probably wouldn’t make it known that we were out on a date at all. Pretty sure Gabe would come running around the corner, guns blazing the minute you didn’t text them to say you were okay.”

    Kiersten laughed. “That’s true, I guess.”

    I loved her laugh. I was turning into a lunatic — a craving, needing, drug-addicted insane person. I put the car in park and turned it off.

    “What are we—”

    “Get out of the car,” I said nicely. “And I’ll show you.”

    We were at Lake Washington, in a private, secluded spot owned by my family. No interruptions and nothing crazy. Just us. Thank God. I even told James and David that if they showed up I’d find a way to get them fired.

    Pissed, they’d finally given up when I told them they could at least track my movements and my vitals through the freaky doctor technology given to us by my dad’s so-called experts.

    “So, now what?” Kiersten crossed her arms and looked out at the lake. She seemed nervous. Her eyes kept darting from the water down to the rocky ground as if she wasn’t really sure where to look. Apparently, anywhere but at me.

    “One,” I said.

    “What?” Her head snapped up.

    “One.” I reached for her hands and pulled her against my chest. “We can cross off number one on the list.”

    Her brow furrowed and then realization kicked in, and her eyes widened. “Oh no! I mean, we already kissed, we did that. I—”

    “Shh.” I bit down on my lip, telling myself to take my time tasting her. This wasn’t to prove a point. This was me showing her what it was like to be truly kissed. “If I remember correctly, your list said ‘kiss a hot guy’.”