Page 54 of Walkoff Wedding

“It’s just kind of hard at first because even the slightest movement will cause you to lose the target.”

When she steps closer, I feel the warmth of her bare arm brushing against the front of my shirt, the strands of her soft curls drifting along my skin. So close that I lose my head, and now the problem is… I’m not thinking about the stars or the damn telescope any longer. I’m thinking about her.

About how sweet she smells and how warm her body is next to mine. How my hands itch to touch her. How all I want to do is pull her to me and kiss the fuck out of her.

Taking the smallest step back, I murmur, “Maybe you can show me what I’m doing wrong, then? Maybe I just need a… lesson?”

My words feel heavy with what they really mean, and I expect her to nod and scramble away, but instead, her rosy pink lips part, and her eyes flicker with… something new.

There’s the same hesitancy, but not like before. There’s heat in her gaze.

I’m not the only one that feels the chemistry between us. The invisible string of… something… constantly pulling taut when we’re together.

Everything would be easier if I didn’t have this attraction to Addie. This want that I can’t seem to push away no matter how much I try. It complicates everything, makes this entire situation a tangled fucking mess. But a large part of me doesn’t even care because I don’t think I’ve ever been so attracted to anyone before.

“We should probably… practice?” she breathes, her eyes dropping to my lips as she speaks. “Right? That’s why we’re here?”

“We can do whatever you’re comfortable with, Addie. It’s your decision.”

Her throat bobs as she swallows roughly, her gaze lingering on mine, and then she nods. “Yes. I-I think we should.”

Thank fuck. I want to kiss her so badly that everything inside me physically aches, but if she wasn’t comfortable with it, I would’ve waited forever. If that’s what she needed.

“I have an idea. About…” I rasp as I gently reach for her fingers and intertwine them in mine. “Practicing.”

She nods, biting that plump little rosy lip, gazing up at me with wide eyes.

Stepping back, I lead her back to the blanket and gently pull her down beside me.

“I think the only way to make you more comfortable… is for you to feel in control. Your consent is everything, Addie, even if this is just an arrangement. I will never touch you without your permission.” Lifting her hand, I bring it to my face and place it along the curve of my jaw. “I want you to touch me first. Until you no longer feel nervous or anxious. Is that okay?”

“Yes,” she whispers in a rush of breathless words, whether from nerves or anticipation, I can’t tell, but I stay still, waiting for her to make the next move. “Yes. It’s okay.”

My gaze is steady on her as she lifts a shaky hand and tentatively sweeps the pad of her thumb along the edge of my jaw before trailing her fingers to my lips and ghosting them across. The barest of caresses, yet I still feel my spine stiffening and my breath catching in my chest.

Her fingers trace my bottom lip softly, and I watch as her eyes shift down to where her fingers meet my mouth, and she swallows roughly.

I’m not sure if she’s even noticed that she’s leaned in, closer and closer with each brush of her fingers. Her hand moves lower until it’s resting along my jaw, and then she slides it to my neck, to the back of my nape, gently tangling her fingers in the hair there.

A shiver races down my spine, and an audible hiss tears from my lips before I can stop it, causing her to pause and glance up at me.

“Is this okay?” she asks so softly that it’s almost a whisper.

I nod, remaining silent because I don’t trust myself to speak right now.

“Would you… kiss me?” she breathes so quietly that I almost miss it. “Like you did at the chapel?”

My eyes land on hers, her eyes sparkling with trust. “You want me to kiss you again, Addie?”

Rolling her lip between her teeth, she nods. “Yes.”

Now it’s me who swallows roughly, my throat working as I bring my hand to her face, cradling her jaw tenderly in my palm. When I lean in, our gazes locked, I feel her fingers tightening in the hair at my nape as if she’s anticipating this almost as much as I am.

There’s no way that she doesn’t feel whatever this is between us.

It’s like every cell in my body is screaming to kiss her, and I know at this exact moment that I’m hopeless in my pursuit to deny this pull.

Gently, I tug her closer until we’re only centimeters apart, both of us breathing heavily until my lips finally touch hers… a crescendo of longing that finally peaks. I move my lips over hers gently at first, unhurriedly committing what she feels like to memory. Each movement is deliberate, a languid exploration that we weren’t afforded the first time.

---