Page 68 of Movers and Fakers

I swallow, my throat feeling tight. Do people really deal with this feeling all of the time? It’s terrible.

“I mostly told them it was personal. I didn’t want them to know something before you.”

We make it to the twinkle lights, and I count the timing as fate. I stop in the midst of the glowing tunnel of trees, and Aurora stops with me.

“So there’s something to tell me, then?”

“Yeah,” I rasp, and reach for her other hand. “I like you, Aurora. I like being around you. I like studying together and seeing you at my fights and watching you dance.”

She dips her head, hiding her expression from me. I can’t tell if she’s blushing or upset.

The words come out mumbled and shy. “I like you, too.”

My heart soars, but I know there’s still more I have to say.

“I don’t want to fake date anymore,” I blurt out before I lose steam.

Her head pops back up, confusion in her eyes. Panic rattles me whenever I realize how those words sound. I let go of her hands to hold her face instead.

“Because I want this to be real. In the spirit of rule number two, I should confess it’s felt real to me for a while now.”

Surprise flickers over her expression. There’s a slight upturn to her berry-stained lips.

“You don’t have girlfriends. You’ve never gone past a first date,” she says quietly.

Her words make my stomach twist, but I can tell by her tone that they’re not accusatory. She wants me to be sure. But what she doesn’t know is that I’ve spent the past year unwittingly pining after her, and getting to fake date her only made my feelings grow. I’m not sure about my future or what to do about my parents’ expectations, but I’m certain about my feelings for Aurora Driscoll.

“You’re right. You’d be the first. Just like when I took you to Haymakers.”

I glimpse a flash of heat in her eyes. My thumbs graze her cheekbones. The desire to press my lips to hers is magnetic. My head tilts forward. I’m almost lost to the pull. But then I recall what I pieced together about Aurora. I can’t take her first kiss without permission.

“I won’t break rule number one,” I whisper, our breaths intermingling.

She places her hands on my forearms over the jacket I’m wearing. Her eyes meet mine, and I watch the wall around her vulnerability crumble.

“Hayes—I’ve never …” She squeezes her eyes shut. “I’ve never kissed anyone before.”

“I won’t say I’m worthy to be your first, but I’m willing. I won’t do anything you don’t want, and if you pull back now, it doesn’t change how I feel. We can take things slow.”

She draws in a shaky breath. Her eyes open again. I try to read the emotion in her gaze, but I can’t. Assuming she’s conflicted, I start to lower my hands and step back. Aurora grips my arms, stopping me.

“Kiss me.”

Chapter thirty-four

So Sweet

Aurora Driscoll

Hayes’s mouth is centimeters away. His thumbs brush against my cheekbones and the action sends goose bumps cascading over my arms. For a breathless moment I wonder if he’s going to kiss me at all. Anticipation coils around my stomach and tightens.

Then, his lips brush mine. I draw in a sharp breath. The touch is silken and light, so light I question if it happened at all. He erases my questions with another gentle press. Then another. Each one longer than the last, stealing my breath and my thoughts. He pauses to move my hands from his arms to around his neck. Then he slides a hand into my hair and rests the other on the dip of my waist.

I barely have time to be embarrassed about not knowing how to be held by him before his mouth is on mine again, this time with an exhilarating persistence that heats my whole body. He coaxes my lips to part with his own, blending our mouths together in a warm exchange that makes my knees weak. I grow in confidence, and my hands start to roam. Over his strong, broad shoulders and back up his neck into his hair. When my fingertips comb through the strands at the base of his neck, a low sound reverberates through his chest that I feel all the way in my toes.

His warm and spicy scent surrounds me, and the sweet taste of him overwhelms my senses. It’s then that I realize Hayes might have been joking about ruining me for anyone that comes after, but I don’t think he’s wrong. Because I can’t imagine anyone else making me feel this way, making me feel this much.

I decide to savor this moment and make the most of it. My confidence increases. I pull Hayes closer so our bodies are flush together. I feel him smile against my mouth before he deepens the kiss again, pulling me under a wave of bliss. Gone are the thoughts of if I’m doing anything right, or wondering if he really wants me. There’s no room for them when my mind has fixated on breathing Hayes in like oxygen. Hayes returns my desire to be closer, his fingers pressing into the back of my neck and the dip of my waist, sending a quiver of delight through me.