Page 99 of Derivation

“But what? No but. Things were going really well there for a minute.”

Sarai laughed and replied, “They still are. I want to relax with you tonight, but I don’t think I’m ready for anything else just yet. Is that okay?”

“Anything else? Meaning sex?”

“Meaning anything else, and that includes sex.”

“Ah…” Gabi said and took the spoon. “You mean no goodnight kiss?”

“Gabs, I want to kiss you. I wanted to kiss you on that boat, too. But I wasn’t going to.”

“Why not? Was it because of that bitch with a ring light? I’ll find her on social and troll her. What are people against right now? I can hack her and make it look like she’s so for it, they’ll all unfollow her.”

“You can hack someone’s social media accounts?”

“Yes. So can Arlowe. It’s not all that hard if you know what you’re doing. I normally choose to use my powers for good, but if she got in the way of us having our first kiss, then it’s definitely using my powers for good to make people hate her.”

Gabi pushed her glasses up her nose. Sarai watched her minor freak out and smiled wide. This woman was adorable and funny. She cared so much about their first date that she’d almost worried herself out of a second one.

“I wasn’t going to kiss you there because I didn’t want to do that in public; not for the first time, at least,” she shared. “I just couldn’t help myself when we were standing there – I had to hold you.”

“We’re not in public right now. Arlowe and Enya are watching a movie.”

“Enya will get sleepy within the next few minutes and leave Arlowe’s room. She’s probably going to come out here for a quick snack and maybe even fall asleep at this very table. Arlowe is the wild card. She might be listening in to this conversation outside the kitchen right now. And even if she’s not, she could come out of her room at any time. She codes late at night sometimes, and I don’t want to risk our first kiss being interrupted by either of them or anything else.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Sarai, we can literally go anywhere right now. We can even go into your room or my room and share our first kiss there. There’s something else going on.”

“I’m really nervous,” she admitted.

“Why?”

“Because once we kiss, we can’t go back.”

“Would you want to?”

“Of course not. But it’s still a–”

“Risk?”

“Yes, but not in the way you think. If I kiss you, I know I won’t ever want to stop.”

“Oh,” Gabi said.

“I’ve never wanted to kiss anyone more than I want to kiss you, Gabi. So, I want it to be right, and I want to be ready for it because it’s so important. You, Gabrielle, could end up being my last first kiss.”

Gabi’s mouth opened to say something, but she didn’t.

“Too much, too soon?”

“No.” Gabi shook her head. “It actually makes the fact that I’m not getting a goodnight kiss feel okay now.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. Now, can I at least be held while we sit on a sofa, please?”