I pushed his stomach. “Guess we’ll see,” I told him, strong and bold. I could do this. And then Jake moved in front of me, and my heart rate skyrocketed.
Stupid Chad and his words were getting into my head. I forced myself to keep calm on the outside. To play this right so Jake didn’t get scared off. If anything, this was my chance to kiss Jake Evans. The right way. Sans braces and an overprotective dog. What kind of girl could resist that?
“Alright. What should I do? Open my mouth? Keep it closed?”
“It pains me that you have to ask that.”
I gurgled out a laugh. “I’m not sure what you’re going to teach me. The kiss wasn’t that bad.”
“Wasn’t that bad?” he repeated.
“No,” I immediately sputtered. “It was fine. Good.”
“Fine and good. Not that bad.” Jake stood motionless for a minute, chewing on my words before he added, “If you’re still saying fine and good in a few minutes, I’ll go jump in the lake.”
I grinned. “Promise?”
He took another step, closing the gap between us and completely snatching the breath from my lungs.
“You ready for this?” He was all brown eyes and lashes now. He was also stalling. Maybe I wasn’t the only one being affected by this idea.
“I’d better be. You dragged me out of bed for this.”
“Well, now I’m not sure you’re ready.”
I growled softly, if only to take the attention off my shaking limbs. I had played in countless games throughout my life. Icould play this game without losing whatever cool I had. I just needed to block out all the feels and keep things light.
“Don’t be a baby. Finish what you started. You’re lucky I just brushed my teeth.” He still didn’t move, adding to the growing nerves I was trying so carefully to hide. “Go. Do it. Open or closed?”
There was a brief hesitation.
“Open.” His low voice raised the hairs on my arm. I breathed in, ignoring the sensation. I would not engage.
“Oh. It’s gonna be a good one, huh?”
Jake sighed, but it sounded like he was suspiciously covering up a laugh, which made me laugh. Good. I could only get through this if we were both laughing. I was suddenly feeling as light as a kite.
“Alright, Tuck, pro tip number one with kissing is that you have to learn when to shut up.”
“Pro tip number two: that day might not be today.”
I could not be stopped. The lightness was calming my nerves, bringing our friendship back down to earth.
“Tuck.” He was playing like he was annoyed, but his eyes were laughing.
I closed my eyes, now as calm as a summer’s day. “In the movies, the guys sometimes put their hands on the girl’s cheeks while they kiss. I always thought that was hot. Are you going to do that?”
“Why don’t you open your eyes and see?”
“Because I don’t want to watch.”
“You’ve got a lot of opinions about this for somebody who’s only done it once,” Jake said, moving closer.
“Twice.”
“We’re not counting the first one.”
I laughed. “Let’s just pretend this is my first kiss, so you better make it good. No pressure.”