Page 53 of The Bad Boyfriend Curse
“I wanted to tell you before,” he says. He has a kind of shy awkwardness on his face, and it’s so adorable. “That skirt you’re wearing. I like it a lot on you.”
I smile. “You prefer this to the jeans and shorts I wear to CROP? Not sure I can plant perennials in this.”
“No, I like those, too. I think I like you… I mean, you look amazing in everything.”
I smile. How is Noah Jacobs the sweetest person in existence?
“Are you going to kiss me?” I ask, tilting my face up to make it easier for him.
He smiles again, a small chuckle on his lips. “Is my game that awkward?”
“Hmm maybe.” I sidle up closer to him. “But maybe I like awkward. I know I like—”
I don’t finish the sentence, because his lips are finally on mine.
And wow, it’s good. His mouth is hot, and he’s devouring me in the best possible way. Noah Jacobs may only be the second person who’s ever kissed me, but I somehow know that this is a thousand times better than any other kiss in the world. His hand on my waist tightens as his other hand goes to my hair. He’s surrounding me, pushing me up against the wood post, and I don’t care. All I can smell, feel, and taste is him.
Noah.
My hand goes to the soft skin on the back of his neck. I pull him even closer so there isn’t even a millimeter between us, and it still doesn’t feel close enough. I put my other arm around his waist, pulling him into me, and he makes a happy sound at the back of his throat.
This is intense. It’s amazing. I want to stay here, kissing Noah Jacobs like this, forever.
We eventually do have to come up for air. When Noah lifts his face from mine, his lips are a bit swollen, and his eyes are glassy. I’m sure I look just as shell-shocked, because I certainly feel it.
“Wow,” I say. “I take it back. You haveamazinggame.”
He laughs again. I think that’s my favorite thing about Noah. He presents this image of being a broody bad boy, but he laughs so easily. Okay, maybe my second favorite thing. Because I really—and I meanreally—like his lips.
“So that was okay?” he asks me. He still looks so unsure, like he’s woken up from a dream.
“Better than okay.” But I want to know what it means. Are we going to stop fake dating and start really dating? Or keep fake dating but hopefully keep real kissing, too?
“That’s good, because I’ve wanted to do that for a while.”
I laugh. Remarkable. Noah Jacobswantedto kiss me. I’m not cursed. I’m the luckiest girl in the world. “You’ve only known me for two weeks.”
He leans down and puts his face into my neck, the warm tickle of his breath making me shiver. “How is that possible, that we’ve only known each other for a few weeks?” he asks.
I don’t know. Maybe we’ve always been fated to end up like this. Maybe we’ve both been waiting our whole lives for each other. I don’t say anything because his lips on my neck are jumbling my brain.
Eventually we sit, him leaning back on a post, and me on his lap. His hand is on my lower back under my purple tank top. Neither of us is talking. Which is weird because normally talking is the easiest thing between us.
“So…,” I say. “Do you think…” I don’t want to mess this up by saying the wrong thing, but I also really need to put words to whatever is going on right now. “So… I didn’t think that would happen,” I say.
He chuckles, pinching my side lightly. Noah is so tactile. Like he needs to not only be touching my skin butinteractingwith it. I tickle the back of his neck.
He huffs a laugh. “No. I wanted…” He blows out a puff of air. “I’m really into you, Meera.”
“Same. I’m really,reallyinto you too. But… this is complicated.”
He frowns, his brows knitting together. “Complicated how?”
“Because I’m hopefully leaving town soon. And because my stepfather and your father are mortal enemies. And because we’re working together every day for weeks. And because half the town already thinks we’re dating, and the other half thinks we’re pretending to date to make our families angry. Or because my curse says—”
“You’re overthinking, Meera,” he says, and gently knocks his forehead against mine.
I giggle, pressing my forehead back at him. “Aren’t you even a littleworriedabout my curse? Something bad could happen to you.”
