have chat messages that confirm you do.”
“He’s…” I paused again because Gideon had taken me completely by surprise when he replaced his hand on my cheek with his lips. I was pretty sure an alien sound of some sort escaped my lips when I felt his breath on my skin. Suddenly, everything around me started spinning slowly.
“He’s what?” Sarah sounded more annoyed than before. My pulse was climbing higher and higher.
Gideon’s lips left my cheeks and moved up to my free ear. “Abigail,” he whispered, “Can I… may I… I want to kiss you, can I?” My grip on my phone tightened when he whispered this. Before, my heart had been beating so fast that I felt as if I were running a marathon; now, however, I was pretty sure it was racing at the speed of light.
“Please say yes,” Gideon whispered again into my ear. My body felt like it was on fire, as Gideon’s mouth on my skin was driving me insane.
“Abigail, are you even listening to me?” Sarah asked, but her voice seemed far away, “What are you doing?”
“Yes,” I said. Gideon pulled away to look at me. “Yes,” I said again, and then he took my phone away from me.
“Sarah, she’ll call you back,” he muttered into the phone before closing it and tossing it aside. The moment the phone left his hand, his lips were on mine.
My whole body went numb the moment Gideon’s lips touched mine. I kissed him back, and he deepened the kiss, his lips sending heat waves through my body. I was on fire. I couldn’t think straight, the touch of his hands on my cheeks and the feel of his lips on mine were electrifying. I placed my hands on his chest. I could feel the beat of his heart beneath my palm. I wanted the moment to last forever, to be frozen in this breathless moment for all eternity, just me and Gideon and no one else.
His hands moved from my cheeks and into my hair, and he pulled me closer into him, his lips never straying from mine. My heart pounded in my chest, racing in anticipation. I felt as if my body was an overheated volcano waiting to explode. The feel of Gideon’s lips on mine was mind-blowing. He kissed me with so much passion that I felt like I was about to shatter with happiness. I lifted my hand, brushing it through his soft, dark hair. Gideon’s hands found my waist and wrapped around it, pushing me tighter into him. I saw stars, heaven, and then…
“Abigail, I made you—” My mother’s words stopped.
Gideon pulled away, leaving me breathless and speechless. My first kiss. It was so worth the wait. I was still trying to make my heart slow down when my eyes met Gideon’s, and I stopped inhaling altogether.
It took me a second to remember why Gideon had pulled away, and then I saw my mother. She stood in the doorway looking surprised at us. Oh, boy.
I knew I was never going to live this one down. I left Gideon’s side. “Mom—”
“Gideon,” my mother cut me off. “How did you get in here?” she demanded. “What is going on here?”
I was so dead. “Gideon and I are…he’s no longer a jerk. He’s…my boyfriend.”
My mother stared surprisingly at me when I said this. “Boyfriend? Since when? And how did he get inside?” My mother’s eyes moved from Gideon and me to the balcony. “You sneaked him up here?”
“No…yes…we were just—”
“Gideon, join me in the sitting room,” my mother said, and already she was walking out. Gideon grabbed my hand and pulled me after my mother. “Boyfriend?” my mother said to herself.
“I am so sorry,” I whispered to Gideon.
“She’s going to kill me, isn’t she?” Gideon asked as a small smile played on his lips.
“Pretty much.” I nodded solemnly. I was pretty sure my mother was now blowing the whole thing out of proportion in her head.
“So, Gideon, how long have you been dating my daughter? And when did you stop being a jerk?” my mother asked without turning around as she walked down the stairs. “Where do you live? Would you mind producing a copy of your birth certificate, along with your social security number?” I knew she wasn’t kidding with her request. We had been taught to learn everything about the people around us because of the life we lived.
“Do you live with your parents? What work do they do? Do you have any thoughts about