“They’re Eli’s perversions,” I say. “I’ve never even seen—”
“No one is leaving this room until you stop talking about puppets fucking and start kissing,” Eli says, firmly planted in front of the door.
Daniel just sighs.
“Is this because of yesterday?” he asks.
Despite being trapped in an attic and being told to kiss me or else, he’s somehow the calmest person here right now because of course he is. Daniel’s almost always the calmest person around.
“Yes,” Seth says.
“Obviously,” Eli confirms at the same time.
“I’d be the world’s shittiest brother if I saw that travesty and didn’t do something about it,” Seth goes on. “You,” he nods at Daniel, “have somehow gotten yourself into a ridiculous situation where you need to convincingly make out with her,” he nods at me, “to keep custody of Rusty, and you,” he nods at me again, “have inexplicably agreed to this farce. I agreed to do your taxes, by the way.”
“Thanks,” I say.
“And by God, Daniel, I’m not letting Rusty move to Colorado with the progeny of a demon and a swamp beast, so you better shut up and kiss Charlie.”
“No one kisses normally in front of cameras,” Daniel says. “Look, we kiss just fine. Yesterday there was a photographer saying something, practically everyone we knew was there—"
“Is it just me, Seth, or do those sound like reasons to practice?” Eli says, turning to his brother. “Call me crazy, but maybe they should get better at kissing in public instead of just hoping it never happens again.”
“I do believe you’re correct, Eli,” Seth says. The two of them are talking like they’re in an infomercial, and it might be the most irritating thing I’ve ever heard. “And since they’re not leaving this room until you and I are satisfied, they may as well get—”
“Fine,” Daniel finally says, then unfurls his arms and looks over at me. “Sorry,” he says, his voice softer, gentler.
“They do kind of have a point,” I say, even as my insides twist. “Yesterday wasn’t great.”
Finally, Daniel half-smiles, and he smiles at me, not his dumbass brothers, runs one hand through his hair in his nervous-and-trying-not-to-show-it gesture.
“It was pretty bad,” he admits.
“You jammed your nose into my eye,” I say, laughing.
“You bit my chin,” he teases.
“You—”
Eli clears his throat obnoxiously.
“Come on,” Seth says, spinning a finger in the air in the universal can we get a move on gesture.
I take a deep breath, turn to Daniel, quiet the flutters, and look up into his sky-blue eyes for a split second.
Then we kiss.
It’s slow, gentle, tentative. It’s polite. I can feel his brothers’ eyes on me as I kiss him back, mouth closed, one hand on the back of his neck. I can’t forget where I am, and I can’t lose myself in it like I want to. I can’t pretend for just a few minutes that he’s not my best friend, that this isn’t all for show.
It still thrills me. I can still feel the kiss as a shiver down my back that goes all the way to the soles of my feet.
I rock back slightly. Our lips separate but Daniel’s hand cups my back, draws me in again, and then his hand is on my face, thumb on my cheekbone and we’re kissing again. Harder. There’s still no tongue and I’m still acutely aware that we’re being watched, but now it’s fervent, needy, barely constrained.
After a long moment, feet shuffle. Someone clears his throat. One more beat and we both pull back, still standing in each other’s arms. I glance over at Eli and Seth though Daniel doesn’t, his eyes still on me.
Eli and Seth look at each other, both suddenly uncomfortable.
“Um,” says Seth.
“Probably tilt more,” Eli says.
“Yeah, needs a little more head tilt,” Seth says. “Just, you know…”
He tilts his head slightly to demonstrate.
“Thank you,” Daniel says sarcastically.
“Anything else?” Eli asks Seth.
“I think the tilt is all,” Seth says. “Is Caleb still down there with the sauce? Did you need to—”
“Yeah, I should make sure nothing’s exploding in the kitchen,” Eli says. “Dinner’s in ten, guys.”
They open the door. Eli steps through. Seth flashes us a thumbs up, and then follows.
I’m still in Daniel’s arms.
“I am never letting you talk me into anything again,” I hear Eli mutter as they descend the stairs.
“I didn’t think it would….” Seth protests, but then they’re gone and I don’t hear the rest.
I pull back. Suddenly, I’m blushing, a full-body blush that I can feel rising from my chest and blossoming. My knees are probably blushing.
I step back and Daniel’s hands fall away from me, his eyes still on my face. I’m lost for words. I’m a little lost for everything, so I swallow, and I rub my palms along my jeans just to ground myself, and then I smile because that seems like the right thing to do with my face right now.