It was getting damned difficult! Now she wished she had worn better shoes for trekking.
“You OK?” He turned back now and then.
“I’m OK,” she squeaked.
“No worries. There’s a guy selling water and bananas on the other side of the hill. I come here quite often.”
The other side of the hill! And they weren’t halfway up it yet!
At the top of the hill, he paused to let her rest. They seated themselves in a gorgeous little depression which overlooked a valley. In the near distance, the buildings of the suburbs were lighted up by the hot noon sun. Birds flitted in thick foliage of the trees overhead and the air was redolent with the scent of pine. Even though her thigh muscles were aching from the protracted climb, she felt healthier and better than she had in a long time.
“You know,” he said solemnly, “we can rest for a while longer if you want to. Not everyone is as used to hiking as I am.”
“I’m fine,” she said, even though her lungs were burning and she had to do her best not to gulp for air.
“You don’t have to put on a brave front for me. The first time I hiked up this hill, I thought my legs would fall off.”
She glanced at his face to see if he was serious. He was.
He nodded to affirm this. “It’s true. My father was coaxing me on and telling me that at the other side of the hill, there was ice-cream. And if I would just take one step further, and another step, there would be chocolate ice-cream with sprinkles and whipped cream waiting for me in a big, fat cone made of wafer and honey. And so I pushed myself. One step more, I told myself. And another. And another. I saw that ice-cream cone in my mind and that was how I got over the hill.”
“How old were you?”
“Nine.”
She wanted to laugh.
He added quickly, “There’s a moral here. The important thing is you don’t have to pretend to be someone else when you’re with me. If you don’t want to do the long hike, then you don’t want to do the long hike. You don’t have to do the long hike just because you think it’s something I’d like to do.”
“I’m OK, really,” she protested.
“No, you’re not. I’d say you need another twenty minutes of rest, at least.”
“Ten minutes.”
“Fifteen.”
This time she laughed. “How did you know I was struggling?”
“Your face is red all over and you were kind of heavy breathing all the way.”
“I was?” She was horrified. “Did I sound like a choo choo train?”
“Not quite. But I’m flattered. Every time a girl heavy breathes around me, I take it as a compliment.”
“Ohhhhh.” She flushed redder than ever.
“I know I’m irresistible.” When she didn’t say anything, he peered into her face. “Hello. Earth to Jessica. I meant what I said earlier about pretending. Don’t be someone else when you’re with me, OK? Say what you think. Do what you want.”
He paused for effect, and she held her breath.
“If I wanted to date someone else, I wouldn’t be here with you. You’re great the way you are, Jessica.”
He was so earnest that something in her chest expanded and swelled like a rush of a thousand birds. She had to blink back her tears.
“Hey, he said softly.
“Hey back,” she said in a small, muffled voice.
He leaned over. His face was very close to hers. Every fiber within her body was tense in heightened anticipation. She could smell his sweet, fresh scent of soap and healthy sweat, unadorned by aftershave. His eyes were so blue and beautiful that she was scared of being trapped in them forever.
His lips closed in upon hers. Her first kiss from a boy. Ohhhhhh!
His lips were so soft and yielding and they molded themselves onto hers so perfectly. She completely forgot to breathe. All her sensation was focused in those two wedges of flesh which formed her lips, and he puckered his own, sucking her in. She felt his hand go around her waist, and he was so warm, so gentle and so hard at the same time.
Her core went into mush and her legs turned into jelly. The sound of a soft kiss exploded in her ears.
He came up for air. She still couldn’t breathe.
“Was that nice?” he whispered.
Her vision swam from lack of oxygen. She took in a gulp of air.
“Y-yes.”
He smiled mischievously. “Then we should do it again.”
He leaned over and sealed his mouth over hers again. Another kiss that turned everything inside her into a mess of combustible emotions followed. And this time, his tongue probed into the crack between her lips.
Her first open-mouthed kiss!
Without being conscious of it, her lips parted to let him in. And it was heavenly! Such a smorgasbord of sensations. His tongue entwined itself with hers and explored, tentatively darting and tasting her mouth.