Page 37 of Falling for the Unexpected

After a couple more minutes of debate, I relented. It really did sound like fun and I enjoyed spending time with the three of them. It felt nice that they wanted to include me.

We had skipped some rides earlier because Stella wasn’t tall enough or they were a little too scary for her so those were the ones we hit up first. My first choice was Space Mountain; I had always wanted to ride it. As we approached the front of the line, Trent started complaining to Kyle about the two of them not having enough legroom if they rode next to each other.

“Simone, care to join me in my row?” Trent asked formally, with a smile on his lips. I had to laugh.

“I would love to,” I answered with the same level of formality.

When I looked back at Kyle he was glaring at his best friend. When I looked at Addie she looked away from her brother and winked at me. I didn’t know what was going on, so instead, I focused on enjoying my evening.

After a couple more rides, we decided to catch the fireworks show. It was extremely crowded so Kyle standing right up against my back didn’t surprise me. He placed his hands on my hips and I shivered.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

I shook my head even as I shivered again, feeling his breath against my cheek. “I forgot to bring a sweatshirt, but I’m good,” I answered, trying to keep my voice even. The warmth of his hands on me was distracting.

“You have goosebumps, Simone. Here, you can wear mine,” he said as he pulled it off.

I immediately felt the loss of his hands on me but then he placed his sweatshirt over my head. Once I had it on, he put his hands back where they had been. I couldn’t help it; I leaned back and rested my head against his chest. We watched the entire show like that, neither of us moving away from each other.

I felt a huge pang of disappointment when the show was over, but it quickly went away when Kyle grabbed my hand as we tried to move through the crowd. Of course, once we were clear of others he let my hand go. While all these little gestures had made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, I had to remind myself that he was only acting as a friend. We were just comfortable with each other and it was nothing more than that. However, I wasn’t sure how to deal with my feelings for Kyle, which continued to intensify whenever he was around. It was both confusing and exciting.

The rest of the night was spent full of laughs, the four of us running around the park like a bunch of overgrown kids. We had a blast. When it was finally time for us to leave, we were all a little bummed. We spent the drive home talking about all sorts of things; the fun we’d had, how work at the law firm was going, baseball, and anything else we could think of. When we hit the San Diego city limits it was decided that we would drop off Trent first, then Addie, and I would be last. My apartment was the furthest away from the freeway so it made the most sense.

Once it was just Kyle and me in the car, I felt the atmosphere turn a little awkward again. I was so attracted to him and it made me nervous.

“I hope you had a good time tonight,” he said as he turned into my apartment complex.

“It was the most fun I can remember ever having,” I told him truthfully. My answer seemed to make him happy if I was judging by the huge smile on his face.

I expected him to pull up behind my car to let me out. Instead, he parked in one of the visitor spots. Once he put the car in park, he hopped out before I could say anything. He walked over to my door and opened it for me. It was a gesture I had been on the receiving end from him before and each time it warmed my heart a little bit. I never had anyone do that for me before.

“Such the gentleman,” I teased. “Always opening the door.”

He smiled. “Yeah, you can blame Jim for that one,” he explained. “When Trent and I were teenagers, he constantly lectured us on the proper way to treat a lady.”

“Well, it’s very sweet. Thank you,” I said as I went in for a hug.

Kyle put his hands out in front of him to stop me. I was confused for a moment because we always hugged goodbye. Then he said, “He also taught me to walk a lady to her door to make sure she made it home safely, especially at night.”

“All right then, let’s head up,” I suggested and started to lead the way to my apartment.

I unlocked my door and opened it. Once Kyle was convinced everything was safe, he leaned in and hugged me. When he started to pull away, he didn’t remove his arms from my body. Instead, he moved his hand up and gently cupped my cheek. I stared into his eyes and for the first time I saw the same attraction I felt reflected back at me.

Just a second later I felt his lips come down on mine. I was so caught off guard it took me a minute to realize what was happening. His kiss was soft at first, but as soon as I kissed him back, he pushed against me harder. He traced my lips with the tip of his tongue and when I opened for him, it was like he couldn’t contain himself.

I had never been kissed like this before. It was filled with lust and passion and I couldn’t get enough. But then he pulled away.

When I finally opened my eyes, I looked up at him only to find him staring at me in disbelief.

“Oh, my God, Simone, I’m so sorry,” he said as he reached up ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know why I did that.”

Well, that wasn’t what a girl wanted to hear after the best kiss of her life. I was still feeling the moment and my mind still in a fog, saying nothing in response. I wasn’t sorry. Not at all.

“That was totally inappropriate. I just got caught up in the moment, in you…” He swore under his breath, looking like he made the biggest mistake of his life by kissing me. “It won’t happen again,” he continued, not giving me a chance to say anything. Then he turned and sprinted down the stairs.

I walked into my apartment feeling horrible. I knew I wasn’t the type of girl he went for, but was kissing me really that bad?

I don’t know how long I stood there in my empty living room, staring out at nothing, still seeing him in front of me and feeling his mouth on mine. I finally forced myself out of my stupor and closed the door. A little numbed by his… rejection… I went through the motions of getting ready for bed. I thought about the day and all the fun I’d had. I couldn’t believe it had ended this way. After tonight, how was I ever going to face Kyle again?