He stole a fry from my plate. “Front or back flip?”
“Front,” I said proudly. “With a chance of a concussion.”
Nate chuckled. “I’ll be there to catch you.”
My breathing slowed as I looked at him. “Will you?”
“Yes.” He pushed his chair back. “Come on.”
I coiled my hand with his and closed my eyes. “Let’s do it.”
We stood on the ledge, where a few feet below us, a massive pool was filled with cut up squares of foam. “This is really high.” I took a step back.
“You can’t back out now.” Nate pulled me closer to him. “Have you flipped into a pool before?” I nodded. “This is no different. Come on, we’ll do it on three.”
I bit my lip. “’Kay . . .”
We moved closer to the edge and Nate began to count. “One . . . Two . . . Three!”
I squealed and then jumped. I forced my body forward and flipped onto the foam, landing on my back. My body tingled as I opened my eyes. Nate lay next to me. Glancing over at him, I began to laugh. My hands covered my face.
“I can’t believe I did it!”
Nate shuffled through foam blocks until his face was near mine and our gazes locked. “Do you feel that?” Nate asked in a low husky voice.
My teeth nibbled my lower lip. “What?”
“This thing between us.”
“A little,” I lied. I felt every shred of this thing between with us.
Nate leaned his face forward. For a brief second I hoped he was about to kiss me. Closing my eyes, I waited for his lips to touch mine.
“Come on, guys!” someone shouted at us. “We’ve got to keep the line moving.”
Nate cleared his throat and my glance landed on the employee who had instructed us to move. My cheeks flushed at the realization that someone was watching us. I maneuvered through the foam and climbed up the ladder to get out of the pit.
“What do you say we hit some arcade games?” Nate asked as he reached out his hand to help.
“Sure.”
I gnawed on the inside of my lip as I wondered if he really was going to kiss me or if it was all my imagination. This was what sucked about a first date. I was having a great time but for all I knew Nate was counting down the seconds until he could ditch me. It was the not knowing. The power one controlled over you. It caused the butterflies in your stomach to flap their wings and make you crazy.
Later that night, Nate walked me to my car, his hand laced with mine.
“This is me.” I reached in my purse and pulled out my keys. He released my hand and turned to face me, reached up and twirled a curl around his finger. An innocent touch, but one that was powerful. His green eyes were glued to mine and I felt as though I was his prisoner.
“Thank you for tonight,” he whispered as he closed the gap between us.
I cleared my throat so my voice didn’t wobble. “I had fun.”
The prolonged anticipation was almost unbearable. “Goodnight,” he muttered and licked his lips.
I opened my mouth to wish him goodnight but he leaned in. Half of his lips captured half of mine and I closed my eyes, hoping he would kiss me. But instead, he pulled away. A grin grew on his face and my eyebrows furrowed.
“That’s half a kiss.” His thumb brushed along my bottom lip. “Now you’ll have to go out with me again to get the other half.”
My heart jolted and my pulse began to pound. I turned to open my car door but my feet felt as if they were drifting along on a cloud. I was high from a simple half kiss.
“’Night, Nathaniel.”
I pulled out of the parking lot, dazed and feeling intoxicated. I didn’t remember getting home or walking to my room, but when I shut the door and leaned back against it, I sighed.
“Late night?” Delaney asked. She sat on her bed with her laptop open.
“Something like that.” I brought my hand to my lips, remembering my half kiss. I knew from the ache on my cheeks that I had been smiling the entire way home.
Delaney slammed her laptop shut. “Were you just out with someone?”
“No. Maybe. Sorta.” I beamed and strolled further into the room.
Delaney fell forward on the bed and held her head up with her hands. “Spill it!”
“No.” I fell back on my bed dramatically.
“Come on, Brie. You won’t jinx it if you tell me about it,” she joked.
“Not yet.” I bit my lower lip and looked over at her. “This one was kind of different.”
“You like him?”
“I think I might.”
Nathaniel
Brielle was the reason I’d fail my first college class. One night out with her and I was hooked. I couldn’t push her out of my head. She drove away and already I was planning when I’d see her again.