Page 66 of Just One More Thing

The words don’t tremble. I do, a little. But not enough to run.

His jaw tightens, just once. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Mo.” His voice is careful. “I’m not rushing you.”

“I know.” The fear is still in me. It probably always will. But wanting him isn’t the mistake.

Pretending I don’t is.

I’m choosing differently this time. I lean in. The first brush of my mouth against his is so soft, it’s barely there.

He goes still. Completely still. For one awful moment, I think I’ve misread everything. Then his hand slides into my hair. His thumb presses lightly at the base of my neck, and that one small touch lands everywhere.

He kisses me back.

Slowly, still giving me room to change my mind.

I don’t.

It somehow makes me want him more. I grab a fistful of his shirt and pull him closer. His breath catches, and that sound—small, rough, completely Jake—nearly does me in. His mouth shifts against mine, deeper now, and I feel it everywhere.

Another meteor streaks across the sky above us, then another.

I’m kissing Jake Wheeler on the top of a lighthouse under a falling sky, and the wildest part is how much more I want.

His forehead comes to rest against mine. We stay like that, close, breathing the same air, the candle flickering beside us.

“You’re here,” he says.

“I’m here.”

“Don’t disappear on me,” he says quietly.

I lace my fingers through his again and squeeze. “I’m not planning to.”

This isn’t sixteen-year-old us making a pinky promise because forever sounded romantic.

This feels different. Terrifyingly adult. And somehow better.

Like we didn’t start something new.

We found the place we stopped.

Above us, the sky keeps showing off. Light after light after light.

He doesn’t let go.

And this time?—

Neither do I.

CHAPTER 19

EMORY

Ikissed Jake.