last time I had this much fun.”
“Me neither.”
“We should do it again sometime. The group of us, I mean… assuming Seth and Jenna can stop bickering at each other.”
Drew laughs. “Yeah, we should.”
“Anyway, um…” I step back. “I’m going to go get some sleep.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
“Drive safe.”
“Will do.”
I open the screen door and step inside, letting it close behind me. I kick off my sandals, leaving them with the intent to come back and shake off the last of the sand later.
“Every night, I lie awake and I think about kissing you.”
I stop. I turn around to face Drew standing on the porch behind the door. For a second, I think I imagined it. I think my mind went on some exhausted fantasy overload and told me what I wanted to hear, but the look on his face tells me everything. His eyes, tired and tortured beneath a furrowed brow. His partially open mouth, hanging between the shock of what he said and the desire to repeat it.
My breaths come shallow. My senses go numb. All I can do is stand here and stare at him.
“Heidi?” Drew asks through the screen.
“What—” I wet my dry tongue. “What am I supposed to do with that, Drew?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “Tell me you think about me, too. That our kiss meant more to you than it should have.”
“You said that we were friends.”
“I know what I said.” He opens the door and steps inside. “It’s not true. I wanted it to be true so badly, but I can’t…” He stops in front of me. “I can’t keep pretending that I don’t want you.”
“What about Seth?” I ask.
“I don’t care.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Okay, yeah. I do. But I can’t get over you, Heidi.” He looks me in the eyes. “Every night, I lie awake and I think about kissing you… and if I don’t kiss you again, it will tear me apart.”
I blink twice. I stare at him as every nerve in my body screams with shock.
Drew cants his head. “Heidi?” he asks. “You going to say something?”
I swallow, but my throat is still so tight and dry. “Seriously, dude?” I ask.
“What?”
“You…” I stutter. “You think you can just walk in here and say stuff like that to me? Me?”
His face tilts, unsure how to react. “I’m sorry?”
“You tell me all of that and then you expect me to just be normal afterward? Are you serious?”
“Yes,” he says.
“Are you serious?!”
“Yes. Are you done? Because I’d like to kiss you now.”
“Yes, I’m done!”
Drew crushes his mouth on mine. His hands come to my face, softly pulling me even closer. I let myself sink into it. I touch his arms. I part my lips. I taste the sweetness of his kiss as my heart threatens to break open my chest.
It’s everything the first kiss was and more. It’s firm and tender. It’s bitter and sweet. It’s right and wrong.
But mostly wrong.
I take a breath as Drew clings to me. I try to speak as his lips travel up my cheek to rest on my forehead. His hands crawl around me to settle on my back, and my words get lost somewhere in my throat again. I think to walk away, but the thought just hurts. Instead, I hold on to him. I grip his shirt. I touch his jaw. I draw his lips back to mine and accept the fact that they belong there.
I kiss Drew. I ignore the voice in my head telling me all the different ways this can go wrong. I let him hold me, to touch me like no man has before. It’s thrilling and wild, but an aching reminder of the unknown. What comes next for us? Do we stop? Do we tell Seth? Is this just a two-time thing?
Drew pauses, breathing hard. “Fuck,” he whispers. “I want to stay, but…”
I nod, reality breaking in again. “Seth is…”
“Outside.”
“He could…” I look up into his eyes, not wanting to leave them. “He could wake up.”
Drew’s arms loosen around me. “I should drive him home.”
“Yeah.”
“Then…” He bites his lip. “I could come back.”
I smile. “To be honest, I’m trying really hard not to pass out here…”
He laughs. “I know what you mean.”
“But we can talk later? Maybe meet up for coffee and… talk?”
“Sure.” He steps back, his hands gliding down to mine. “I’ll text you.”
I raise a brow. “I thought you deleted me.”
“Oh, that was a lie,” he says. I chuckle. “A big, fat lie.” He kisses me one more time before