He met me halfway, snaked an arm around my waist and pressed me against him. With his other hand, he brushed some strands of hair off my forehead. He dropped a kiss on my cheek and pulled away. I gazed into his eyes. Zack… so beautiful and yet impossible to have. My chest ached.
His mouth lowered and I lifted my chin as if Zack’s kisses were the most natural thing in the world. His hand moved to my nape, holding me in place, then his mouth covered mine and our tongues danced. I felt pangs of desire for him in places I could never tell my parents. My hand slid up his muscular bicep to wind around his neck and I got lost, forgetting Daniel or anyone else was there.
Slowly he released me, his eyes locked on mine. It was the only thing I could think of that would distract you. You didn’t look so good, he said soundlessly.
He’ll try to kill you, I said.
He won’t succeed. Are you okay?
“I guess so,” I said quietly. “If the kiss was to distract me, what was the second kiss for?”
“That time I was distracted.” He grinned. “We better go or we’ll be late.”
I was so engrossed in the memory of the kisses, I didn’t notice whether Daniel was still lurking or how many people saw the show. Daniel had kissed me at school before, but it had never been like that. I felt my cheeks flush.
Zack opened one side of the double doors for me to pass. Sorry again, but we accomplished a lot with that kiss.
Yeah? How’s that? It was all I could manage to say. My mind was like apple sauce, incapable of holding much shape.
For one thing, everyone’s staring. Zack chuckled as he dropped me off at class.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Later at home, I hid in my room. Sitting cross-legged with my computer balanced on my thighs, I logged into my email. I could’ve taken my laptop downstairs and sat on the couch with Zack, each on our own computer. But that would’ve been unhealthy for me. I didn’t want to be tempted into bringing up the last kiss again. Further, talking to him at all was a bad idea, unless absolutely necessary.
We would go to Ashley’s party later, have fun, come home, go for a run, then go to bed. Our own beds. That’s it. I would not stay up late at night unable to sleep for thinking of his full, perfect lips. I would not remember his musky scent, nor would I sneak downstairs to watch him sleep, hoping he would wake up and, in a sleepy haze, forget all his reasons to stay away.
Sitting alone and thinking about the kiss wasn’t healthy either. We needed to set boundaries, so we knew what to expect. If Zack were allowed to touch me anytime he wanted, it was really going to mess with my head.
When he appeared in the doorway, I didn’t have to see him to know he was there. My gaze stayed on my computer screen.
“What time do you want to leave for Ashley’s party?” he asked.
“Nine?” A moment later, I peeked up at him from under my brows.
“Sounds good.” He wiped a smudge off the door frame and made a show of inspecting it for flaws. “I think it’s better to go running after, not before. Less chance of running into anyone else the later it gets.”
“Okay.” I pretended to be fully engrossed in whatever was on my computer screen.
“We forgot to take your car in,” Zack said. “I called Timothy and he said I can use the garage over the weekend. I have a key.”
“That was nice of him.” I forced my mouth to curve up.
Zack’s gaze wandered over to the window, then to my little antique French desk I never used. He scratched his chin and turned to go.
“Zack?”
He spun around. “Yeah?”
I mustered my courage, erased all emotion from my face and met his gaze. “I don’t want you to kiss me again.”
He just stared, blinking once. Evidently, he wasn’t expecting me to say that.
“I like kissing,” I explained. “And you already know I like you. I haven’t exactly kept it a secret.” He took a step forward and my heart pounded. I held up my hand to stop him, because I couldn’t go there again, only to have him pull away. “But it’s all or nothing. If you don’t want to form any ties, because you’re leaving, then don’t.” My blood roared in my ears and I forced myself to breathe, so I could finish. “You can’t kiss me and act like it means nothing. Because it means something to me.”
He nodded slowly. “Alright.”
“I’ll come downstairs when it’s time to go. I have some things to do first.”
He nodded again, but didn’t move.
The strain in the room was stifling, so I smiled in hopes of easing it. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”