Page 135 of I Don't Need Your Kisses
“What are you thinking?” he whispers.
“How amazing you are.”
He laughs as he shakes his head. “I’m nowhere as amazing as you.”
“I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.”
“Yeah, probably. I still stand by my words, though.”
“I do, too.”
He lowers my head on his chest as he holds me tightly in his arms. “I love holding you like this, Raven. I feel your heart beat against mine, and it makes me feel so much closer to you.”
“I feel your heart, too. It’s racing.”
“Because I’m feeling so many emotions.”
I raise my head and look into his eyes again. “I’m feeling so many emotions, too.”
He caresses my cheek with the backs of his fingers as he murmurs, “I want to tell you something I should have told you a year and a half ago, but I was too much of a coward.” He pauses for a moment to take a deep breath. “I love you, Raven Mitchell. I know we’re in a room full of people and it might not be so romantic, but I want to make up for how I messed up at camp. I was nervous and scared back then. I was unsure of a lot of things. But I’m one hundred percent sure that you are the only person for me. I know we’re young and some people might think it’s crazy for me to feel this way, but Iknowin my heart that I’m meant to be with you. I regret hurting you in the past, and I promise you again that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure I never hurt you again.” He rests his forehead on mine. “I love you so much, Raven. It makes my chest hurt.”
There are so many emotions coursing through my body, and I’m having trouble breathing, let alone talking. But I take a deep breath as well and let it seep out of my nose. The last time I said those three words, my heart was shattered into a million pieces. A little voice in my head wants to warn me to be careful. But I pay no attention to it because I know Kylen will never hurt me again.
I squeeze myself even closer to him and whisper, “I love you, too, Kylen. I have for a while now. I admit that I was scared to say it first because of what happened the last time, but I’m done holding onto the past. I want it to be totally behind me. I want to look forward to the future and the amazing life we can have together.”
He looks to his right and to his left and then closes his lips over mine. I think he meant this kiss to be quick, but neither of us wants to stop. This kiss is different from the ones we sharedin the past because we’re rewriting our story right now. We’re giving each other the happily ever after we should have had.
“Miss Mitchell and Mr. Barrett!” A teacher scolds. It sounds like Mr. Lewis. I wasn’t aware that he was one of the chaperones. Either way, I don’t pull away. Neither does Kylen. This moment is so important and special for us, and we won’t let anyone take it away.
“Do I really need to write you a detention slip on the night of the dance?” he demands.
Someone pulls me out of Kylen’s arms. It’s Addie. She and the others look at me like I’ve lost my mind. I just shrug at them as Mr. Lewis walks away, shaking his head.
“No one understands what this means to us,” I tell them.
“We know,” Carly says. She leans closer to whisper, “There’s a room nearby you guys can sneak into. I saw it when I went to the bathroom.”
“Awesome. Thanks.”
We wait a short while in case Mr. Lewis is watching us, and then we leave and make our way to the room. After closing the door, Kylen chuckles and cradles me in his arms. “Good thing we already got an A on the assignment or I swear Mr. Lewis would have taken off points for ourappallingbehavior.”
I giggle as I snuggle closer to him and stare into his eyes. “I think you might have a bad influence on me. I’ve never been close to getting detention before.”
He shakes his head as he strokes my cheek. “I hope I’ll only enrich your life and bring you nothing but happiness and joy and all the good things.”
“I hope the same,” I tell him. “I sometimes would lie in bed and imagine what it would have been like if things worked out between us back then. But I never imagined it would feel like this. You’re more than I dreamed of, and I know my life with you will be amazing. I also believe that we’ll be together forever. Andnow that we’ve been through what we’ve been through, I know we can overcome any other hardship that comes our way. Our bond is unbreakable.”
“I agree. I can’t wait to spend every day of my life growing even closer to you. You’re my world, Raven. My Juliet. My Little Miss Monkey. And I can’t wait for what the future brings.”
We share a deep, heartfelt kiss, and then I say, “You’re my world, too, Kylen. My Romeo. My Scrawny Monkey. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, too.”
