Page 23 of Run
“Yes, I’m sure.” Her voice is shaky as her hands fall to the sides and rest on my hips.
I step into her and kiss the tip of her nose, her forehead, her other cheekbone. “This won’t change anything, right?” I dip and slide my dry lips over the corner of her mouth. “You’ll still be my best friend?”
“Always.”
I lock eyes with her and a beat passes before I finally press my lips against hers. I let the pressure sink in for a moment, then slowly move my lips, moving hers along with mine. Pulling away just a fraction of an inch, our bottom lips sticking together, I then press back into her mouth, slowly sliding the tip of my tongue against the seam of her lips, and she practically whimpers.
But then she opens the lightest bit and lets me in.
Hummingbirds race up and down my spine at the feeling. I open my mouth more, bringing her lips along with mine, and nearly faint when her tongue comes to dance with mine. Then she giggles, and I pull back a tiny bit. “What?” I kiss the corner of her mouth. Then the other.
“It feels …”
“How does it feel, Ari?” My stubbly cheek runs along her smooth one. Her eyelashes flutter against my skin.
“Good. It feels really, really good.” To my utter shock, turns her head and initiates the next kiss. She pulls my hips into her,but I don’t think she even knows it. I know we should stop, but I don’t give a damn because this kiss is everything.
Sucking her bottom lip between my teeth, fireworks, lightning bolts, tsunami waves, and freaking alien missiles fire off inside me. I’m curled over Ari, kissing the life right out of her, nibbling on her face as her hands fist my shirt, when I pull back suddenly, resting my hands on her shoulders.
Ari pops her eyes open. “Did I do something wrong?” she asks, panting.
My head shakes. My hands shake. “No. No, Red. You definitely didn’t do anything wrong.”
Damn, why am I out of breath?
“Oh, OK. You pulled away, so I didn’t know if you didn’t like it.”
I chuckle, wiping a drop of spit from her chin with my thumb, and use that same thumb to wipe my own lips. “No, Ari, I liked it very much.” Taking her face in my hands again, I kiss her forehead, then her lips quickly. “But I think it has to stop before we both go into cardiac arrest.”
Keeping one of her hands in mine, we round the side of the house and start crossing over her gravel driveway. Halfway across, I feel a tug on my hand and turn to find Ari rooted in place.
She points at my bare feet. “You don’t have any shoes on, and you’re walking across the pointy rocks and you’re not crying about it hurting your feet.” A smile stretches across my face as I realize she’s making fun of me. “Ethan,” she drawls dramatically, placing a hand over her heart, “are you getting used to running around barefoot with me?”
“Yes,” I quip. “Thanks to you, the bottoms of my feet are turning into leather. I will soon be barefoot in the creek letting crayfish nibble on the webbing between my toes. Are you happy?”
This time it’s not a giggle that escapes her mouth, but a full-on laugh that she tries to muffle with a hand but is unsuccessful. Tears escape the corners of her eyes.
“Yeah, OK. Laugh it up.”
“I’m sorry.” She wipes away the wetness streaming down her face.
I join her in laughing at my sorry ass, then grab her hand again and trudge toward her house. “C’mon. Get inside before Axel comes home and graces us with his presence.”
Her laughter subsides as she takes the first two steps up the stoop, then turns around and—because I’m still at the bottom of the steps and that puts us at about the same height—throws her arms around my neck, pulling me in for a hug. My arms automatically wrap around her middle.
“What’s this for?” My face is buried in her neck and hair, and again there’s that smell of citrus and flowers.
“For being you.”
We stand like that for a second before she releases me.
“G’night, Ari.” I take two steps backward and she stands in the doorway.
“Night!”
I turn to walk away, but only get two steps before I hear, “Ethan?”
“Hmm?” I turn around and look at her, standing in that beautiful green dress, the light from inside the house backlighting her like a halo.
