“The night of the middle school dance. After you left.”
I stared at him, my ears starting to get this weird buzzing. “Seriously? Why?”
“She told me she could tell I liked you from the way I looked at you during the show.” He shrugged. “She was right.”
I was vaguely aware of students milling by, but I couldn’t drag my gaze off Rafe. “But why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t know if you liked me.”
I hit him again. “Are you an idiot?”
He grinned and caught my hand. “Well, you did ask Chris to the dance, not me.”
“You had a girlfriend!”
“I didn’t, actually.” He leaned toward me, his thumb rubbing over my chin. “But you didn’t kiss him. So I decided to come today.”
My heart fluttered in my chest. “Maybe I just don’t kiss on the first date.”
“Maybe.” He moved even closer, so near I could smell his toothpaste. “Do you kiss in broad daylight in rehearsal halls?”
I swallowed hard, my heart beating so fast I could feel it smashing against my ribs. “Depends.”
He dropped his gaze to my lips. “On what?”
“Um...” I couldn’t remember what I was going to say.
His hand curved around my chin and he lifted my face, and then he kissed me. His lips were warm and soft, but there was no mistaking his kiss. It wasn’t a kiss intended for a boring, uptight classical pianist. It was a kiss that was hot and daring, the kind of kiss that a tattooed drummer would deliver to the girl who could rock a stage with him. It was a kiss that plunged to my toes, ignited every cell in my body and screamed for more. Which he gave me.
It was a kiss that was made of all the passion that Rafe had brought to life inside me. The fire he’d ignited in me as a pianist, as a person, as the girl who he was holding in his arms so tightly that it felt like he would never, ever let me go.
No more lies for me. I was done. From now on, if someone asked me if Rafe was my boyfriend, I was going to tell them the truth.
And that answer would be: yes, he is, most definitely, mine.
Because right now, with the way he was kissing me, I was pretty certain he was.
Hey world, guess what? Lily Gardner has finally lived up to her potential! Rock it, baby, all day long. I was on fire, and so was my life!
Sneak Peek: PUTTING BOYS ON THE LEDGE
(available now)
I finished sweeping and leaned the broom against the wall. “And what if he tries to kiss me again?”
“You should kiss him,” Allie said. “Not a long one. Just a little one, and then cut him off.”
Natalie nodded. “Don’t push him away too hard. He needs to see that you’re worth the chase.” When we all gave Natalie a surprised look at her Allie-type advice, she shrugged. “I’ve been listening to Allie for so long I know what she’s going to say.”
“Well, okay, that’s great advice, but there’s one small problem with that.” Or rather, one big problem. “I still don’t know how to kiss! That was why I didn’t kiss him in the first place. Not because I was putting him on The Ledge.”
“Who didn’t you kiss?” Colin appeared in the doorway of the barn, a big, annoying grin on his face.
Oh, God, I wanted to die right then, right there. Why, oh, why, did he keep walking into our conversations like this? This was completely humiliating.
“Heath Cavendish,” Allie announced.
“Allie!” Okay, I was wrong. Now I was completely humiliated.
“Really?” Colin leaned against the doorjamb and folded his arms across his chest, as if he was going to stay and join the conversation. “I can’t imagine many girls refuse to kiss Heath. How’d he take it?”
“I don’t know,” I muttered. “I left.”
“You refused to kiss him and then took off?” Colin grinned. “I love it.”
I was not getting into this discussion with a boy. “Why are you here? Mom said you weren’t coming today.”
“Plans changed, so I thought I’d swing by and see if there was anything to do. I could always use the extra cash.”
“Well, I’m covering all the chores tonight, so you can leave.”
Something flashed in Colin’s eyes, then he shrugged. “Fine. I’ll see you around, then.”
“Wait a sec.” Allie jumped off the feed bin and grabbed Colin’s arm. “You should stay. We could use your advice.”
Was she insane? “No, we can’t. He should leave.”
“No, no.” Allie tugged Colin back into the barn. “Colin, I have a question for you.”