Chapter 24 #2
“Yeah. It does. And right there?” She followed the direction of my pointer finger. “That’s our street. We can’t see our houses because they are behind those trees, but they are there. When I was little, I recall seeing my roof before the trees got so big they acted like a screen.”
I kept showing her places, and Melinda got engrossed in the pieces of information I was providing.
“I didn’t think the river was so sinuous,” she said.
“Me neither. I was surprised the first time too.”
“How many miles ahead do you think we can—”
The jerky motion of the ride coming to an abrupt stop propelled us forward. Melinda screamed, and I extended one arm across her chest to prevent her from crashing into the opposite seat.
We heard a commotion below us, and I repeated the same words I had spoken earlier. “Don’t look down, just straight ahead. And you’ll be all right.”
“What—? What’s going on?”
“Emergency break. Huh…I think.”
“You…think?”
“Seems like it.” I framed her face with my hands.
“Breathe in. Breathe out. You’re okay, Mel.
I’m here, remember? I’m keeping you safe.
That was the deal. You. Are. Safe. I’m right beside you.
Everything will be okay. I’ll feed you that treat once we return to solid ground.
” My lips stretched at the corner, and a small chuckle passed hers.
“You won’t let it go, like ever, right?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” I intertwined our fingers. “We’re okay. Look at that view. We’re lucky because we now have more time to admire it.”
She surveyed our surroundings. The sky was picture-perfect, a work of art made of pink, orange, and purple brush strokes. “Wow. It’s even more mesmerizing from up here. Thanks. For offering me a front seat to this.”
With our fingers laced together, we watched the colorful display for a little longer before the reality of our situation came back. “Can-can we like fall?”
“Nah. Nothing to worry about. Keep your eyes on me, or that sky, and don’t stare down.”
Melinda sucked in a long breath.
I pressed a kiss to her forehead—the one thing I kept doing whenever we spent time together. We were suspended in time, the world around us spinning faster as we both remained frozen until I sat back and cleared my throat but said nothing.
“Thanks, Mase. For being here with me. Not like you have a choice since you didn’t activate the emergency brake, but still… Oh gosh, I’m rambling.”
My attention drifted back and forth between her eyes and her mouth. My body temperature soared, and I had no idea what to say or do. Other than football, Melinda Shepard was the only thing in my life that could hold my focus, and yet I was out of my depth with her, with no playbook to follow.
“Mase?”
I coughed, trying to break the spell. “Yeah?”
“What are you thinking?”
“Of doing something I should have done a long time ago.”
I leaned forward, and my heart stopped.
Her breath hitched.
My entire being felt like it was being lit from the inside as I erased every inch separating our bodies one by one.
My lips were a hair’s breadth away from hers.
My palms got sweaty.
The thrum of my heart accelerated, stronger and faster than ever before.
I moved closer. I could feel Melinda’s minty breath tickling my upper lip.
If she didn’t want me to kiss her this time, she had point five seconds to react. Either she let me mold my lips to hers or she leaned back and put an end to it.
My brain became a mushy ball.
I pushed her hair behind her ear with my fingers.
Melinda’s eyes darkened, their turquoise shade now a penetrating dark-cyan abyss.
It felt as if we were seeing each other for the first time again. “Hey.”
She swallowed. “Hi.” Her tongue swept her lips, and I followed the slow movement with my eyes.
I looped one hand around her waist, pulling her closer.
“Mase…?”
“Mel… I know a few tricks that can make you forget we’re hanging in the air and that we’re stuck here for a while. Also, I’ve been thinking about kissing you for a very long time. Permission granted?”
“Mase, I can’t…”
“Mel, I wanna kiss you.”
“I wanna kiss you too.”
“So can I? Kiss you, I mean.”
“Not sure it’s a good idea.”
I blinked. “Why?”
“You’ve kissed a lot of girls, and I don’t wanna be just another girl you do this with. The last time I kissed someone, he thought I was willing to offer more than I was ready to. I don’t want the player you are with everyone else. If I’m kissing you, it has to mean something to you too.”
“So, it’s a me problem? I’m aware my rap sheet isn’t all clean…”
“Nah.” She shook her head multiple times. “It’s about me this time.”
“Mel, I wanna say… I’m not a player around you, okay?
Never have been. I would never mislead you.
In case you have doubts, I wanna put it out here.
I love this friendship thing we’ve got going on.
It’s important to me. But it doesn’t mean I don’t want to explore this crazy chemistry we share and see where it takes us.
It’s nothing I’ve ever experienced before, and lately, I’m kinda unable to think about anything but you. ”
“Our friendship or whatever we have going on is precious to me too. For now, though…that’s all I can be…
your friend.” The lust in her eyes said the opposite.
Like she was dying to kiss me too, to lose herself in what we could be.
The expression on her face looked painful.
Was she going against everything her heart was urging her to do?
“The other night… I didn’t imagine it. I was drunk, but not enough that I would have mistaken your coming apart in my arms for a dream.”
A light blush colored her cheeks. “We must file it as a mistake. A moment of weakness. We cannot fool around because I’m not that girl, Mase. I cannot give you something without the assurance it’s real for you too.”
“I would never take something you’re not willing to give, Mel. You know me better than that.”
“I’m aware. It’s just… You’ve been telling everyone since you turned fifteen you would never date. So, what does it make me then?”
“The one.”
“Don’t stay stuff like that.”
I dragged a hand over my face. How could I make her see it was real for me too?
“I’m not interested in playing the field anymore.
I want you. I’ve always wanted you. I’ve acted stupid for far too long.
All along, you were the only one I dreamed of being with.
I know it doesn’t erase my stupidity, but it’s the truth, and it’s about time I come clean about my feelings. ”
“I don’t want you to have feelings for me. Not yet. If you do, it’s gonna mess it all up. I can’t… It’s too hard if you do. The pressure. I’m not sure I’m strong enough to deal with it. Not right now.”
“What do you mean?”
She blew out a breath, looking away. “Nothing you have to worry about.”
I gripped her chin and turned her head so she was facing me. “Talk to me. Nothing you just said makes sense.”
“It makes sense to me.”
“Let me in. Please. I wanna help you. No matter what you need.”
“I gotta do this on my own.”
“But—”
“No but. Gimme a few weeks so everything works out.”
I studied her, trying to decipher the hidden meaning of her words. “Are you like sick or something?”
The tiniest upturn of her lips told me she wasn’t.
“Do I stand a chance? With you?” I had to ask. Better knowing I didn’t now than hoping for something that could never exist.
“You do.” She moved forward, resting her lips along the column of my throat and breathing me in. We stayed like that for a beat.
“What do we do now? It’s torture spending all this time with you and not being able to act on my feelings.”
She lodged herself in my arms, and I held her close to my heart. “I don’t know.”
“Winter Formal?”
Melinda leaned back to watch me. “What about it?”
“Our deadline. I’m gonna prove to you I’ve changed, and I’ll help you figure out whatever you gotta figure out by then. We’ll reassess what we are that night.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep. I’m not missing out on a chance to be with you if you wanna be with me as well. You’re too important to me.”
“Okay.”
A heavy silence descended upon us, and time and gravity didn’t seem to matter anymore.
A squeaky sound above us caught our attention, breaking us out of the invisible bubble that had risen around us in the last few minutes. Paige and Craig’s pod was rocking back and forth, but from where we sat, we couldn’t see what was going on inside, only caught bits of laughter.
“You think they’re fooling around?” Melinda asked as we both stared at the car.
“Yep.”
We watched the motions for a full minute, and a part of me wished I could be my brother. The one head over heels in love, making college plans with the one person I cared about the most in this world. The one who possessed every fragment of my heart.