I was falling so deeply in love with her, and this bet of ours was going to come to a crashing end due to me losing.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Aren’t you grounded?”
“I snuck out.”
“Chick...” I sighed, feeling a knot in my gut. She wasn’t the type of girl to sneak out. She wasn’t the type of girl to break rules, or to skip school, or to lie. And now she was doing all of those things.
Why did I feel like my badness was rubbing off on her a little too much?
“Are you going to invite me in?” she asked, still smiling. “Or am I just going to stand here like a dork with this box in my hands?”
I stepped to the side. She walked right in, heading toward the kitchen.
“What’s in the box?” I asked.
“A surprise for later,” she said, opening the fridge and sliding it inside. “No peeking.” She then turned around, and I was still falling, falling, falling... “I figured we could hang out tonight, and we should order pizza and watchFriends.”
A perfect day with a perfect girl.
I am falling in love with you...
“For sure.”
I would’ve been surprised if she didn’t hear my heart beating wildly.
We sat on the living room couch, and I was so damn thankful that she appreciated the gem that wasFriendsmore than her grandmother. Every time she laughed at something Joey said, I’d capture her smile in my mind. Every time she chewed on her T-shirt whenever Ross and Rachel were on the screen together, I’d capture her beautiful eyes.
“You always stare at people when they aren’t looking?” she joked, peeling a pepperoni off her pizza.
“Only you.”Only ever you.
She turned to me, seemingly surprised by my words. She placed her pizza down, wiped her hands on a napkin, and moved in closer to me. Her finger traced my lips while her eyes studied them as they parted. Then she placed her forehead against mine and closed her eyes.
Her mind was moving, yet still, I couldn’t hear it.
“Is this still a game...?” she asked, her voice so low and shaky.
“I don’t know.” That was true. I didn’t know if we were still doing this because of the bet or if this was becoming something real for the both of us. I didn’t know if she was beginning to feel things the way I felt them, too. I didn’t know if she was falling, falling, falling...
“It scares me a little,” she confessed. “Whatever’s happening in my heart when I’m around you... it scares me.”
“It scares me too, but I know one thing for certain,” I said, placing my fingers beneath her chin and lifting it so we were looking into each other’s eyes.
“What’s that?”
“I am going to love loving you as much as I loved hating you.”
She kissed me, and the last sleeping part of my soul finally woke up as she fell against my lips. I tasted her heaven as I fed her my sins.
“Can we go to your room?” she asked. I tensed up a little.
“No good comes from us being in each other’s bedrooms, Chick, and if I take you up there, I’ll want to—”
“Break your headboard?” She smirked.
I chuckled. “Exactly. And—”
She cut me off again, this time placing her mouth against mine. Then she whispered her words against my lips. “Can we go to your room?” she repeated, giving me small kisses afterward.