she asks, interrupting my thoughts.
I start scrolling through the options.
“I can’t really pick right now. Do you have an idea?” I ask, setting down my drink on the coffee table and turning to face her.
She sets her cup down too then her eyes find mine. “Seriously, best hot chocolate I have ever tasted,” she praises once more.
“My mom used to make it for me all the time,” I tell her.
Her hand finds my knee and she rests it there. “That was sweet of her.”
I nod.
“Do you want to talk about her?” she asks, her eyes fixed on mine.
I shake my head. I don’t want to ruin this night.
“Give me the remote, then!” Ari says, extending her hand toward me with a smile on her face. I can tell she wants to lighten the mood.
“I changed my mind. I don’t think you should have the remote. I don’t know what you like; I’m scared.”
“Pass it over, don’t be a hog! You had the remote in your hands and didn’t pick anything,” she exclaims.
I shake my head and back up. “If you want it, you’re going to have to take it from me.”
“Is that a challenge?” she asks, and I know I’ve got her. Ari can’t turn down a challenge.
I nod. “One you will lose.”
“I’m on a streak tonight, I’m not about to change that,” she says then lunges at me.
I start laughing when she begins tickling me. “Stop, stop!” I tell her, laughing so hard my sides hurt.
“Oh wow, you’re ticklish, who would’ve thought,” she replies, not stopping.
I hold the remote farther back so it’s out of her reach. “It’s not fair when you tickle,” I tell her.
“All’s fair…”
“In love and war?” I add then instantly drop the remote on the floor and bring my hands to her hips. I pick her up and then put her on her back so it’s me over her instead of the other way around.
“Woah! What the—” she starts.
I bring my hands in the air as I pin her with my thighs. “You said all is fair right, does that mean I get to tickle you?” I ask, lowering my hands toward her hips slowly.
She rises up quickly to try and stop me. Her movements result in us getting closer than either of us expected and we find ourselves face to face, with barely any space left between us.
“Please don’t tickle me,” she says, her words coming out breathy, and I can’t tell if it’s because of how much she laughed while tickling me or because she’s feeling the tension I’m feeling.
“Okay. Can I do something else instead?” I ask, my eyes focused on her lips. I know I shouldn’t ask, but I can’t help it right now.
She bites her lips. “It depends on what it is.”
“I think you know,” I tell her.
Her eyes instantly go to my lips, confirming we’re both on the same page.
She nods. So slightly I almost miss it, but I don’t.
And I don’t miss my opportunity to crash my lips to hers for the first time.
ARI COLE
A knock at the door startles us and causes us to pull away. “I’ll be right back,” Kayden says, and it looks like the thought of walking away from this pains him.
I sit there on the couch a little lost, confused, and oddly satisfied. I never imagined what kissing Kayden would be like, and honestly I’m glad I didn’t because nothing would have added up.
I can’t believe I gave Kayden Harrison my first kiss.
What does this mean for us? What’s going to happen when he comes back?
“Hey, Ari,” Kayden says, and I get up from the couch and walk toward the front door.
“Yes,” I reply taking slower steps than he did to give myself the chance to wipe the I’ve-just-been-kissed smile off my face.
“Your dad is here,” he replies and before I have a second to process what he’s saying, I see my dad standing in front of Kayden with his arms crossed and my mom standing behind him.
Oh shit.
MAGICAL SHOW DOWN
* * *
A Demon Days, Vampire Nights Short
K.F. BREENE
ONE MORE STEP would mean certain death. And if he took it, I’d kill him again.
I put my hand out. “Look, all I want to do is have a conversation. No biggie.”
The guy in his late forties, wearing a tight leather body suit around a loose body, turned slowly, standing in front of a man-sized hole in a crumbling stone wall from yesteryear, the structure’s other walls barely standing and the roof long since rotted