He shrugs. “So. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to be there. I would have rather been down here fishing with you.”
Redness flushes in my cheeks. I throw my line out and look away from him. I don’t want him to see me flustered.
Last summer our relationship changed. For the better or worse, that’s something I’m not sure of yet.
For as long as I can remember we used to sneak out of our beds right after a thunderstorm and meet each other at the creek to watch the lightning bugs dance along the water of the creek. It’s a beautiful sight. When the bugs flit across the waters it looks like the surface is glittering. After we’d sit together and talk about silly things and complain about our parents, Edward would walk me back to my house and help me climb back up to my bedroom window.
But that night he decided to be playful.
He said, “Let’s race.”
I scoffed, “You know I’ll beat you.”
There was a mischievous glint in his powdery eyes. “We’ll see about that.”
I shook my head and got down into my running stance and waited for him to give the command, but when he finally gave the command I took off and he didn’t move. Instead he stayed behind, swept his arm out and grabbed my ankle. “What the?”
Before I knew it I was falling, my right foot jutted out and knocked Edward off balance.
He wobbled.
Tried to catch his balance.
Then he fell.
Right on top of me.
I frowned up at him. “You mule,” I snapped. “What the hell was that for?”
He had this awestruck look on his face, like he’d never really seen me before. Our eyes locked with a deep unwavering gleam of intensity in them. With steady fingers, and his warm body pressed against mine, he exhaled and brushed my strands of hair away from my face. “Rory,” he breathed and I felt a surge of anxiety trail through my nerves at the husky tone in his voice. Then he kissed me.
Edward kissed me.
His moist lips rested a top of mine and I wasn’t sure how to react. I did the opposite of what I assume most girls would have done. I pressed my lips together. My skin felt like it was on fire.
“Relax,” Edward murmured against my lips.
And I tried.
Really, really tried.
I closed my eyes, hoping the butterflies in my stomach would subside, and let out a breath into Edward’s mouth and he took that as an invitation. He slid his tongue into my mouth and that’s when something clicked in my brain. I began to reciprocate the kiss, one hundred percent certain that I wasn’t doing anything right.
The kiss itself…
It felt weird yet right.
Sloppy but beautiful.
Like a deep bond was branded onto our hearts.
Edward hoisted me up into his lap by the thick straps of my dress. My fingers skimmed the bare skin just above the rounded collar of his wife beater and his hands trailed up my back, getting tangled in my long hair. Our kissing became less sloppy and more desperate. I pulled away breathless, resting my head in the crook between his neck and shoulder, “Edward,” I say trying to steady my breathing. “What are we doing?” I swallow hard. “Why did you do that?”
Things between us were so casual. So natural. Now, I knew that out relationship was going to shift from casual to complicated.
Edward’s hands slid out of my hai
r and he wrapped me up in his muscular arms, holding me closer to him. His lips rested against my bare shoulder. “I don’t know,” he says into my skin. The hot breath leaving his mouth sets my skin on fire all over again. “It just felt right.”