most definitely regret, I found my voice, whispering, “I…I’ve never kissed anyone, either.” There, my lameness was out in the open now. Calum knew everything about me, so there really was no point in continuing this, was there? Surely he’d withdraw his hand from me, turn away and lead me back to the car and take me home.
The problem? The problem was I wasn’t sure if that’s what I wanted him to do or not. Fuck, I was so conflicted. So much more confused than I’d ever been.
“That,” he whispered, his breath hot on my face, “is something I can help you with, if you want.” The fingers on my jaw moved; his hand cupped my cheek, those same fingers curling around my head and tangling in my hair. His other hand came up, mirroring the first. He now held me in place, with a firmness and a strength I could not fight. He practically held me up; my legs were close to giving out.
This wasn’t happening. This was not happening.
Though it was probably the stupidest thing I’d ever done, I found myself nodding slowly.
Calum said nothing, no quips or further embarrassing statements. His head bent to reach mine, his nose brushing against mine as I felt the first grazing of his lips. His eyes had closed, and I allowed mine to shut, too. He was too close to be anything other than a blurry haze in front of me, anyway.
A blurry haze whose lips were currently on mine, giving me my first kiss.
His lips pressed against mine, heat following shortly. His entire body leaned into me, or was it the opposite? Did I lean into him instead? Into his wide chest, allow his muscles to be my crutch? I was too stunned at first, too shocked to do much other than accept the kiss and memorize the way his lips felt on mine.
It was…it was anything but sloppy. It was soft and slow, tender and warm, everything good in this world wrapped up and given in a kiss. It was enough to make me forget all my worries, enough to make me lose myself in the feeling rising inside my body. To say it was nice would be the biggest understatement of the year.
It was more than nice. It was freaking spectacular.
I tried to reciprocate, tried to kiss him back, but I was certain I fumbled. I was new to this, after all. This was my first. I did, though, slowly reach up and touch his chest, feel his warmth under his shirt, the soft fabric easy to grip.
I had no idea how long it lasted, honestly. It could’ve lasted a few seconds, or minutes. Either way, by the time he pulled his lips from mine, I could barely breathe, could hardly feel my heart in my chest, for it beat so fast. My lips felt the loss of his immediately, and I panted, slowly opening my eyes to meet his stare.
He looked…well, at this point, I wasn’t sure how he looked. Did he enjoy it? Was I good at it? Was it terrible? Oh, God, it was probably the worst kiss he’d ever had.
I wanted to pull away at that thought, wanted to run and hide, but Calum’s hands still held onto my face, his thumbs caressing my cheeks.
A smile grew on his face. “Not bad for a first kiss,” Calum whispered, leaning his forehead down on mine. Again, our noses touched, but he made no moves to kiss me again, which I was thankful for. If he did, I was pretty sure I would’ve exploded. “Just wait. They only get better.”
This man had given me my first kiss, my first date. I knew better than to hope he’d give me more. More dates, more kisses. No, Calum would leave, and I would be left with nothing but the memory of him.
Calum’s smile softened as he finally released his hold on my face. He took a step away from me, but before I could say anything else, before I could apologize for how awful that kiss surely had to be, his hand found mine, and he tugged me along, walking us through the trails.
He probably didn’t want me to apologize for anything. He’d probably get annoyed with me if I tried to, so maybe it was best to swallow it down and try to forget about it.
That kiss…I could see why some people made such a big deal out of their first kisses. When done right, they were