“That bad, huh?”
His voice jerked me back to the present, and I struggled for a moment to remember what he’d asked me. “Bad?” I said, my face flushing. I shook my head quickly as my senses returned to me. “Oh! No. It’s just, uh...a little too soon to tell.” I twisted back around on the blanket, locking my eyes firmly on the stars. “It’s only my first night.”
“Your very first?” he asked in surprise.
I nodded silently.
He leaned back and looked at me with a thoughtful gaze. “We must make it memorable then.”
But you already have!
Chapter 4
We started talking about everything from sports, to movies, to music we both loved. Talking to him was so natural, like we known each other for a lifetime. We laughed and talked and kissed and snuggled together. I could spend the entire night just talking and laughing with him. I loved the way he made me laugh. We had this spark, this amazing connection.
He told me a few stories about his childhood and I ended up telling him about my famous food fight story.
“So you started it?” he asked.
“Not on purpose!” I giggled.
“Sure.”
I playfully hit him. “You don’t believe me?”
“So the food just slipped out of your hand?”
“Yes, I was telling a story and my carrot flew out of my hand and hit Marcie in the face. She broke off a piece of her granola bar and whipped it right back at me.”
“Like this?”
The next thing I knew, I felt someth
ing cold and wet against my face, something that sent a bit of a chill through my whole body that had been significantly heated up just from being near him in that astoundingly gorgeous place.
“What the fuck!?” I laughed.
I bolted up with a shriek as a large dollop of crème dripped off my chin, and it tasted suspiciously like the dessert I’d been eating a second before. My mouth fell open in shock as I slowly lifted my eyes to see my mystery man staring back at me, the remains of the pastry arsenal still clutched in his hand.
“What happened?” he asked with a dumbfounded gasp, his enormous eyes widening with faux concern. “I do believe someone smashed dessert all over your face.”
I couldn’t seem to find my voice, couldn’t even blink. All I could do was stare in open-mouthed amazement at the enchanting person sitting beside me, a perfect picture of innocence, haloed by the silver light of the moon. “I-I can’t believe—”
Another drip of crème slid down my cheekbone as I stared at him in shock.
“I can’t believe you just did that.”
“Me?” He shook his head, scooting closer to me on the blanket. “Why, I’d never! How can you even suggest... Why, I don’t even know your name!”
“Don’t!” I held a hand up between us and glared at my attacker through the mask of sugar and chocolate. “Don’t you dare make me smile right now. This is not funny.”
“I agree.” He slid even closer, his lovely eyes sweeping over my face with heartbreaking concern. “This is terrible...and on your first night here!”
A reluctant laugh finally broke through my disdain, but it left quickly and was followed by another unimpressed glare. Of course, that was followed by more helpless chuckling as he climbed delicately on top of me.
“Just hold on,” he soothed with the air of a seasoned rescue pilot. “I will get you out of this mess, but you must hold very, very still.”
My breath caught in my chest, and I did just as he said, not moving a muscle. He lowered his lips slowly to my face, placing them first on my forehead to kiss away a bit of the crème, then journeying downward, smearing the sticky mess playfully as he went. He trailed his tongue lightly over my lips, then finally pulled back and offered me a little grin.