Page 22 of Run
“Clueless. Duh.” She looks around. “What are we doing?”
“We”—I take out my phone and find some music—“are going to have a dance. If you’ll have me.” A Carrie Underwood song starts playing as I step closer. “So, I haven’t actually done this too much myself.” I take one of her hands and place it on my shoulder, then take the other in mine and pull her in closer, resting a hand on her hip.
“Could have fooled me.”
We sway a little as the song croons on about a firefly glow before Ari speaks up. “I don’t think this is really dancing.” Istiffen, embarrassed by my apparent lack of skill, but then see a glint of mischief in her eyes. “Spin me,” she says.
It takes me a beat to catch up, but then I pull back at the same time I give her hip a little push and extend my arm all the way as she steps back and spreads her arms wide, then twirls back toward me and—surprising me—scurries under my arm. I have to turn and quickly change hands as I catch on to what she’s doing. Just as suddenly, she boomerangs back into me.
The squeal that leaves her sends chills up my spine. That, mixed with the smile on her face—zero concern for her broken tooth—and the gleam in her eyes is a look I commit to memory.
Just when she thinks we’re settling back into each other, I say, “Again,” and push her back out.
We spin and twirl, and laugh and dance through several songs. Sometimes I twirl her behind me, sometimes she spins out in front of me. Once I even dip her. Finally, when we are both breathless from spinning and laughing and giddy from smiling so hard, I pull her into me and refuse to let go. Ari curls an arm around my shoulder as I hold her hand against my chest. My other arm is wrapped around her back, pulling her into me as we sway.
There’s a moment between songs when all we can hear is the crickets chirping in the grass, the wind slipping through the trees and our own breathing. I hope to hell Ari can’t hear my heart pounding. She’s got to be able to feel it.
I pull her closer, resting my temple against the top of her head. Breathing in, I get a whiff of citrus and floral. Ari shifts her head a little, and I rub the side of my face against hers like a friggin’ cat in heat.What are you doing, Ethan?
Ari giggles. So of course I do it again. And again, she giggles. “Gosh, when did you get scruff?” She raises her hand from my shoulder and runs the backs of her fingers against my jaw. “You shave?”
“Yep! Have been for a few years now.”
“Really!?”
I chuckle. “Why is that so surprising?”
“I dunno.” She returns her hand to my shoulder and rests her head against my collarbone. “It shouldn’t be. I mean, clearly, you’ve grown up.”
I weigh that for a second. “How so?”
I can tell she’s rolling her eyes without even looking at her. “Oh, please. You’ve grown like two feet since I met you. And you’ve got muscles for days.” That makes me laugh. “What, do you deny it?” She pulls away to jab a finger in my abdomen. “I mean, look at these things! They could hurt somebody.”
The mix of her finger tickling my stomach, the playful banter and, I’ll admit it, the fact that Ari notices me gets me drunk. Slipping one arm around her waist and pulling her in, without thinking about it, my other hand cups the back of her neck and guides her so our foreheads are touching. We both swallow, and our breaths mingle hot against our skin.
Careful … she’s your best friend.
“Ethan,” Ari says quietly, but because we are so close, it sounds like a chorus.
“Yeah, Red?”
She tips her head up, and our noses run along one another. “You’re not the only one who has grown up, you know.”
I close my eyes and swallow hard. “Believe me, I know.”
The music picks back up and the haunting intro to Kenny Chesney’s “Come Over” filters through the air. “So, I was thinking …”Don’t do it, Ethan“… I could help you out with, you know, your first kiss. If you wanted to.” I lick my lips and quickly continue. “I mean, it would just be for experience. And just this once, since we’re best friends, and all.”
She doesn’t reply.
“Never mind, it was a stupid idea. Just forget—”
“Ethan.”
I swallow hard. “Yeah?”
Looking at me, into me, through me, Ari whispers, “Kiss me.”
With my forehead resting against hers, I bring my other hand from around her back and slide it up her shoulder until I’m cradling her neck. “You sure?” I ghost my lips over her cheekbone.
