“Why aren’t you looking at me?”
“Aren’t you supposed to close your eyes?”
“Not before we start.”
“Well, we’re friends, and it’s weird.” Also, because my heart was pounding, and my arms felt like they were on fire, and he hadn’t even moved to touch me yet.
“Fine. Second lesson—assuming you’ve learned to shut up by now.”
I nodded. “Assume away.”
“Kissing is about more than just lips.”
I raised my eyebrows dramatically. “Ohh. Do tell.”
He grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me lightly. My eyes flew open at the first touch of his warm fingers on my skin. When I could only grin up at him, he released me. Diversion was a tactic that had saved me from many an awkward circumstance, and it was almost second nature to me now. Usually, Jake was game for a laugh, but he seemed so annoyed that I couldn’t help myself with teasing. I had never seen him this way.
“I’m sorry,” I said, grabbing Jake’s arm before he turned away. “This is just a cover. Deep down, I’m actually freaking out.”
“Oh, really? I couldn’t tell,” he said dryly.
“Come on. Nobody has braces. This shouldn’t be so hard. We can do this.” I took a deep breath, trying to re-center my thoughts before Jake gave up on me. “Okay. Are you thinking about another girl right now?”
“What?” He sounded appalled.
“Since we’re just friends and we don’t want this to be weird, are you going to be thinking about another girl while you kiss me? Should I be thinking about another guy? Easton, maybe?”
He was looking at me in a mixture of amusement and disbelief. Or something else. Something laced with...confusion? Hesitation?
And then…decision.
His deep voice mumbled, “Alright. You know what?”
I didn’t have time to react before his hands were on my cheeks, just like in all those movies I’d seen but somehow even better. The momentum of his pressing into me propelled us backward until my back hit the cabin wall. I let out a small gasp as the breath taken from me became ours. Shelby and Jake’s. His mouth came down on mine softly. Much softer than I would have expected, given the abruptness of our contact. My body stilled. Eyes closed. And for a long moment, I just stood there, my hands at my side, my back to a wall, and allowed myself to feel Jake’s kiss.
His lips began moving across mine. Sweeping. Tasting. His hand lifted to my chin and, with a light touch of his thumb, pulled downward, giving himself full access to my mouth. I breathed in his heat. He began exploring every inch—teaching me, I reminded myself. He was teaching me. The sparks lighting my spine on fire were from something el?—
“For someone who insists they’re not afraid of touching, you’re sure doing a crap job of it.”
My eyes fluttered open, confused as to why I was no longer being kissed. Jake had pulled back a fraction and was looking at me now, his eyes hidden in the shadows of the porch. Ever the diligent teacher.
“Huh?”
“That’s the secret. Although, when I say secret, I mean something the entire world knows but somehow your dense little head never picked up on in twenty-seven years.”
“Hey—”
“You’ve gotta touch me too,” he said again before pressing his mouth on mine once more. My mind struggled to focus. I wanted to lean into every caress, every touch, but there was too much, too fast. Too many sensations exploding all around my body. Pull. Tug. Open. Slide. Caress. Heat. Repeat. His hands roamed. One moment they were a light press on my neck, and the next around my waist and on my back, pulling and tugging.
So much heat.
He had just said words to me. I was sure of it. My mind fought through a fog of comprehension. My hands clutched the wood of the cabin, holding on to the safety net it provided. Touching Jake, while kissing him, seemed like an action too hard to come back from. Too hard to play off as a joke. There would forever be something between us. Something that happened. Something I wouldn’t be able to forget or gloss over.
I now knew how Jake kissed.
And already that knowledge was changing things. Changing me.
Though his lips never slowed in their exploration, I could feel Jake’s body getting impatient, so I unclenched my quaking hands from the cabin behind me to make the slow journey to land on his chest, where they stayed, lightly clinging to his shirt.