slightly parted and her cheeks rosy brown, he could feel it.
She quickly looked back down at the keyboard in front of her, blinking rapidly. In profile, he could see how her long lashes brushed against the lenses of her glasses.
He put his pencil into the crease of the sketchbook and closed it.
“Reggie. Can I tell you about part two of my breakfast blush plan?” There hadn’t been a part two to the plan, but now there was. As always, he improvised best when it meant overcoming a challenge.
She licked her lips but kept her eyes on the laptop’s screen. “Sure.”
“It’s a kiss,” he said. “Can I kiss you?”
Okay, maybe that would have been smoother if he’d put some thought into it, but she was nodding as she turned her head toward him.
His whole body tingled with anticipation as he leaned closer to her. He watched her, not shutting his eyes as he leaned in to bring their mouths closer. She held his gaze, anticipation bright in her eyes until her head jerked to the side during his slow approach. Then she slammed her eyes shut, as if in annoyance, and her body went stiff. She seemed to be trying to hold herself still.
Gus didn’t say anything. He slid one hand up her neck, the last three fingers nestling into her curls to cup the base of her skull. His index finger rested behind the shell of her ear and his thumb stroked from her cheek to her temple. His mouth was so close to hers, so close to tasting—
“Wait,” she breathed, her eyes fluttering open.
Gus froze.
Her cheek appled against his palm when she smiled, and mischief shone in her eyes—along with determination. “What does this have to do with French toast?”
She rested one hand along his waist, her fingertips grazing his side as she fisted his T-shirt in her hand. Now she was holding him, too, because Reggie wasn’t the type to give in to a kiss just because he’d asked. If he held her, sneakily offering support she hadn’t asked for, she’d hold him right back.
“Let me show you,” he said, and then he crushed his lips against hers because he knew what the glint in her eyes and her knuckles twisting his shirt meant—she didn’t want him to treat her with some misguided gentleness. She’d told him earlier that she was tough, and though he had some questions about that, he wouldn’t treat her like he thought otherwise. She exhaled hard from the surprise of his change in speed, and then she moaned and, oh man, Gus felt that sound all through his body.
Her tongue slipped into his mouth, bringing with it the taste of cinnamon and sugar and sweet maple syrup, and now Gus closed his eyes, lost in the slick warmth of her and the joy of kissing someone he really, really liked. He’d been wrong in his prediction—she wasn’t a good kisser, she was a great one. She was confident and responsive, returning whatever he gave but gently guiding him to show what she liked.
“Mmm,” he groaned into her mouth, stroking his tongue against hers hard, not to dominate her, but to show her that he understood what she wanted. That he could give it to her. “You taste sweet,” he said against her lips. He brought his other hand up to her face, so that he cradled her head in both his palms as he nipped at her lips and their tongues clashed.
She, of course, grabbed the other side of his shirt, pulling him with her as she leaned back into the soft couch cushion. They kissed like that for a long time, Gus lost in the feel and the taste of her, in the scent of coffee and cinnamon, in the heat of her mouth and her skin. Eventually, he began to stroke his fingertips in feathery motions down her throat, tracing the neckline of that blue camisole that it’d taken all his willpower not to stare down during their video chat.
“Gus,” she gasped, then turned her head to the side so that his mouth landed on her cheek. “Um, maybe we shouldn’t do this? What do you think?”
He pulled away because she’d pressed the Stop button, or at least Pause, on whatever was happening.
“I like you. A lot. I think you like me, too, though maybe not as much yet. Am I wrong?”
Reggie was still holding onto him. She let out a shaky laugh and rested her forehead on his chin, then