Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 147128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 736(@200wpm)___ 589(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 736(@200wpm)___ 589(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
‘I didn’t go back again…’ My brows drew together. ‘But, wait… you remember what I was wearing that night?’
His eyes moved between my eyes and my lips, and I stared transfixed, heart in my throat.
And just then the kitchen light came on, bright and unwelcome. We froze. My grip on his sweater tightened as if I was scared somebody would come out and pry him out of my hands.
William let out a low groan that only I could hear. His hands were still on the railing behind me, but his arms were now tight against my waist and he pushed his body against mine, locking my arms between us. If anyone looked out, they would only see his back. I was resting in a cocoon of William.
‘For fuck’s sake,’ he cursed, his voice low and dark and deep right next to my ear. ‘Don’t you dare move or make a sound.’
I couldn’t help it – I laughed, burying my face against his chest so it wasn’t audible.
Whoever was in the kitchen was making an awful lot of noise, opening the cupboards and closing them, but it didn’t look like they were about to come our way.
‘I swear to you if someone comes out and takes you away, I’m going to lose it.’
He sounded a little desperate and it thrilled me to my bones. And it was a fact that I loved grumpy William. I turned my head just slightly and rested my temple against his hard chest. I could hear his heart beating hard and strong. He took a small step forward and our legs pressed against each other, my chest against his chest.
My whole body against his.
Then I realized it probably wasn’t his phone in his pocket.
Seconds passed. I barely held myself back from squirming.
Then the noises stopped, the light went out and it was just the two of us.
‘Are they gone?’ he asked.
I peered over his shoulder. ‘I can’t see anyone.’
William waited for another ten seconds, then pushed back just a little.
I drew back from him slightly, but he didn’t step back.
I looked up at him.
He looked down and straight into my eyes.
He was just there.
Right there.
Even though there was only a breath separating us, he moved closer until his nose was against the side of my nose.
Out of all the moments, I chose that one to start panicking because I knew… I knew he was going to kiss me. I could see it in his eyes. I also knew he would ruin me, and I wanted to ruin him for other girls too. I wasn’t sure if I remembered enough to be able to do that, but I wanted to leave a mark on him, as insane as that sounded.
‘Honesty?’ he murmured, and I almost missed it.
I nodded, afraid to move.
‘I still have a crush on you, Charlie.’ He paused. ‘I think more than a crush.’
I raised my eyes to his. ‘Honesty?’
He gave me a barely there nod.
‘I have a crush on you, too. I think I’ll always have a crush on you.’ Neither one of us moved as our confessions settled between us.
‘Would you like to try me for a kiss?’ he asked softly. His words, his voice a caress on my soul.
‘William,’ I muttered, just as his lips were about to graze mine, and closed my eyes.
‘Yes, Charlie?’ he whispered, stopping.
‘I don’t know if I – God, I hate myself for saying this. To you especially. But, it’s not like you don’t know about it already. To be honest, I don’t think I remember how to do this. I don’t want to mess it up,’ I whispered.
‘I don’t think that’s possible.’
‘I watched YouTube videos.’ Quickly I covered my hand over my mouth.
He raised a single brow, giving me an incredulous look.
I lowered my hand. ‘I didn’t say that. Please say you still want to kiss me.’
He laughed quietly and rested his forehead against mine, breaking tension in my heart.
I was going to kiss this guy. No matter what happened, no matter how bad I turned out to be, I would steal a kiss from him.
I smiled up at him.
He rested his palm against my cheek, and released a slow breath.
‘Yeah,’ he muttered, eyes fixed on mine. ‘Badly.’
I nodded.
‘You’re good with that?’
I nodded even more enthusiastically, and he gave me a devastating smile.
Then he was leaning in, closing the little gap we had between us.
My eyes closed on their own. My heart was beating in my throat and the quiet night and world had slowed down to our pace.
His lips pressed against mine.
Once, and shivers covered my body, completely.
Then he pulled back.
I licked my lips, barely breathing, and tasted him when he angled his head and gently nipped my bottom lip. I tipped my head higher, searching for his mouth.
Slowly, he fitted his lip between mine and gave me one little kiss before pulling back.