from me as possible and telling me to slow way down. He’d said one day at a time, not one lifetime at a time.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I shook my head and focused on the movie. I could do this. Maybe.
About halfway through, Ray’s fingers brushed mine, one of his overlapping one of mine. He looked at me like he wanted approval, and I nodded, because my throat was way too tight to say yes without a squeal.
His hand enveloped mine, and he squeezed. I laced my fingers thorough his, wanting to feel every inch of his hand on every inch of mine. It was more wonderful than I’d ever dreamed it could be, just holding hands. Like being tethered to the most amazing adventure, knowing I’d go along with it wherever he led.
His thumb stroked the back of my hand, igniting fires and putting them out in its wake. My eyes watched our connected hands just as often as they watched the film. I didn’t know much about the opposite sex and dating, but I was pretty sure a guy who only wanted a one-night thing didn’t hold hands. They didn’t caress you like you were a precious jewel. No, they got what they wanted and didn’t waste any time doing it. Ray was...different.
What that meant for us past tonight, I had no idea. But I realized I was eager to find out.
We reached my favorite part of the movie, and Ray sniffed beside me.
“Are you crying?” I asked.
He cleared his throat, putting on a show. “No way.”
“You’re totally crying!” I propped myself up and pointed a finger at him. “You’re lucky we’re under the blanket fort or everyone would see what a baby you are.”
“Real men can show their emotions,” he teased, sniffing and blinking quickly. He let out a groan. “Ugh, dirt...trucks...chicks in bikinis.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re so weird.”
“You like it,” he teased.
To be fair, I did.
I rolled over and rested my chin in my hand. “So, does that mean you liked the movie?”
“I did.” His eyes seemed brighter now—whether from the non-tears or having adjusted to the low lighting, I didn’t know. “Do you ever feel like that?”
“Like what?” I asked.
“That people see you how they want to, not as you are?”
The only sound between us was the soft inhales and exhales inside the barrier we’d created from the rest of the world—from reality.
“Of course,” I said quietly. “Because if they saw me as I really am, they’d have to treat me like it matters.”
“What do you mean?”
I stared at the blue blanket above us. “People act like I’m just an AV nerd they can partner with or a chubby, freckled girl they can ignore. They use me for the butt of their jokes without ever seeing me. If they knew I had a heart—dreams, goals, feelings that could be hurt...maybe they’d treat me differently.” My last words came out more bitter than I’d intended. “But they’d have to see me first.”
“I see you.” Ray turned to his side and propped himself up before reaching out and cupping my cheek with his hand.
I bit my lip, working up the courage to ask the question my mind was screaming to know. “And what do you see?”
The pad of his thumb traced my cheekbone, and then his fingers tucked back my curls. “I see...the most amazing girl in the world. One who is stronger than she looks. Who has a sense of humor that can’t be taught and the most beautiful green eyes that see twice as much as others. A heart that wants to share all the extra beauty she sees with everyone else.”
My breath was gone. “You really feel that way?”
He nodded, smiled. “And don’t even get me started on your curves.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What about them?”
His hand left my cheek and went to my side, tracing a path from the dip of my waist to the rise of my hip. “Sexy as hell.”
The words leaked through my skin and heated my cheeks. His touch was fire, burning perfection, and I wanted to be engulfed by the flames.
He shifted closer, and his breath poured over my skin. In the most glorious change of events, his lips were on mine.
I came undone.
My mind melted and my skin simmered and all that mattered was that his lips stayed on mine. One of his hands reached through my hair, weaving his fingers into the curls and tugging gently.
Even though my brain had died and gone to heaven, my