we reach my lawn. “We could have gone out and had zero chemistry. That’d be an entire night of our young lives completely wasted on each other.”
I chuckle as I step up onto the porch. “I’m feeling nothing for you already,” I quip.
“I’m three seconds away from deleting you from my phone forever.”
“I was going to wait until I got inside, but,” I reach into my dress pocket for my phone, “I’ll just do it right now.”
“Me, too!”
Drew grabs his phone from his pocket. The both of us swipe in the dark, the blue-lit screens illuminating our faces as we peek up at each other.
I swipe open his contact, but that’s as far as I get. I can’t bring myself to delete him forever.
I fake it.
“There,” I say as I turn off the screen. “All gone.”
He lowers his to his side. “All gone,” he repeats.
“We are officially acquaintances and nothing more.”
I take a step back toward the door.
Drew follows. “Then, that means I probably shouldn’t kiss you good night right now.”
My breath hitches. “Definitely not.”
“To be fair, though, if we wanted to do our diligence and make sure we’re only acquaintances and nothing more, then one kiss wouldn’t change that.”
“I don’t follow,” I say, my nerves buzzing.
“Say I don’t kiss you,” he says. “I walk off this porch, go home, and never look back. We could spend the rest of our lives wondering if there really was anything between us and we’d never know.”
I nod. “Okay...”
“But say I kissed you right now. Then, we’d know for sure. I could walk off this porch, go home, and never look back, but we’d have some closure to this brief yet tumultuous affair we’ve got going on here.”
“I see.”
Drew shifts forward, his forest green eyes reflecting at me beneath the porch light. “So, what do you say, Heidi Newbury?” he whispers. “How about we end this thing?”
I swallow hard. I open my mouth, but no sound comes out as my brain rumbles between my ears. Do we? Or don’t we? Should we? Or shouldn’t we? It’s just one kiss. One kiss never changed the world.
What’s the worst that could happen?
“Yeah,” I answer. “Let’s end it.”
Drew leans in another inch, then purposefully pauses. “Do you need to take an antihistamine first?”
I cringe. “Still not funny.”
He chuckles. “Sorry.”
Our lips graze in the dark for a full second before Drew tilts closer. It starts simple and small, as close-mouthed and chaste as a kiss could be, but then his hand comes to rest on my waist and pulls me even closer to him.
Fireworks blaze down my spine. I balance on the tips of my toes and wrap my arms around his neck. I don’t breathe. I don’t think. I feel nothing but the heat of his touch and the beauty of his lips gently urging mine to part with his. His fingertips dig into my back as he shifts forward. I stumble back against the door, helplessly pinned in place as I feel his tongue caress mine in my mouth.
Drew turns his head, breaking the kiss. “Uh-oh,” he says.
“Uh-oh?” I ask.
“We shouldn’t do that again.”
I nod. “Agreed.”
“That was...”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.”
I stand still, pinned in place on the door, until Drew releases my waist and takes a step back. I let my ankles drop. Somehow, I remain standing.
“You’re right,” I say. “We shouldn’t—”
Drew cups my face and crushes his mouth on mine again. I pull him back, slamming us hard against the door. His hands travel downward, briefly touching my breasts before inching around to settle on the small of my back. We trade kisses back and forth. We breathe each other’s air. I melt from my head down to my toes. If this doesn’t stop, I’ll become a puddle in his hands. If I did, would I really care?
“Shit,” Drew says, turning away again. “You taste too good.”
I’m not sure what to even say, so I say nothing rather than say the wrong thing. I welcome the cool autumn air in my lungs as I fight the deep urge to kiss him again.
“Heidi,” he whispers.
I tremble. “Yeah, Drew?”
His fingers dig into my hips. He draws me even closer to his body. He kisses me again with his mouth closed this time, determined not to taste even more of me. I try to do the same, but the thrill of his tongue is still warm on my lips. I want more. I need more, but the facts are more than clear.
He’s my big brother’s best friend.
I’m his best friend’s