Page 31 of Don't Scare Me, My Love

"My mom could probably come up with twenty reasons.”

When our fingers touched, his warmth spread to me. For a moment, we just stood there, my hand in his, before he wrapped his fingers around mine, squeezing them to show me he was now taking care of me. His breaths filled the air, and I could swear that I felt his heart beating faster through his hand.

Another flash illuminated the skeleton beside us. For a millisecond, I saw Nicholas staring at me. The eye that wasn’t covered by my eye patch remained fixed on mine. He had a soft and understanding smile, which disappeared the moment the thunder reached his ears and made him jump.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, pulling me after him. He walked slowly but straight ahead to the next lantern. More eerie noises imitating ghosts, zombies, and monsters floated around us, but now nothing disturbed me anymore. Not when more lights flashed up beside us, not when a volunteer in a ghost costume jumped out from behind a bush, not when Nicholas shouted from the top of his lungs and pulled me with him to get away from the latest scare.

He was now the eye that I was missing. My pulse was still racing, but it wasn’t because of the horror hike. It was him. He was the reason I felt safe now. He was the reason I felt light andheavy at the same time. His face was the one I wanted to see as soon as we got out of here.

It was ten minutes before we saw the bonfire again at the end of the path. One last volunteer tried to scare us by appearing behind us with a leather mask and telling us to run, but instead of screaming like crazy, we just ran, laughing all the way.

We didn’t stop running once we were out of the woods. Only when we got too close to the flames, we slowed down. The fire lit up everything so that I could see again. And Nicholas’ face lit up when it saw me.

“Thank you,” I said. “That was a lot of fun.”

He rested his head on his shoulder, still clinging to my hand. The eye patch still adorned him, and his cheeks perked up so much from his smile that they bumped against the chord.

My chest fluttered. I couldn’t take my eye off his lips. They seemed to quiver, but I couldn’t tell if it was because he was so excited after the horror hike or if it was just the flames.

“What now?” he asked, his chest still rising and falling from the unplanned sprint. “Do you want to make out?”

Surprised by his bluntness, I couldn’t breathe for a second, but everything inside me was screaming yes. I nodded becausewhy not?There had been tension between us from the first moment we met. I’d been thinking about him when he wasn’t around. And as we were still holding hands, nothing was to stop us from enjoying the moment—except perhaps the many people around us.

Nicholas turned his head from side to side, looking for a good spot, but his mouth curled up. He leaned closer so that only I could hear him. “Maybe we should go to my car? I’m not exactly the type who enjoys smooching in public. If that’s okay.”

“Same,” I replied, taking control now. I pulled him back into the parking lot behind me.

Luckily, his car was so close that it only took us three minutes to get there. The traffic cones were gone. Jack must have picked them up after he saw us here. I led Nicholas around the car to the passenger’s side. The minivan was tall enough to shield us from prying eyes, not that people would look at us anyway with the bonfire so close.

I pushed him against the car, and before I knew it, he held my cheeks, leaning down so we were at the same height, his face hovering in front of mine. His lips were only an inch away, but he paused for a moment.

“I’ve longed to do this ever since I first saw you.”

“That makes two of us,” I replied.

His nose brushed over mine. I inhaled sharply as he kissed me, holding my breath as everything seemed to slow down. I closed my eyes, and the darkness that appeared was filled with warmth—his hands on my cheeks, his nose against mine, his tongue inviting me in.

People chatting and laughing in the distance, the crackle of the burning fire—I felt ten years younger.

His lips tasted of apples. His beard tickled my nose. With his right thumb, he gently caressed my cheek.

I didn’t want to let him go, but after a minute, our lips parted, though his hips and hands remained where they were. The broadest smile adorned his face, still covered by my eye patch, and I could feel the corners of my mouth moving up to my ears as well.

“Took us long enough,” I said.

Nicholas bit on his bottom lip. “I thought about leaving first so we would have more peace and quiet, but I couldn’t wait any longer.”

I looked him straight in the uncovered eye. “Don’t read too much into what I’m about to ask you, okay? But would you like to stay at my place tonight?”

“I was hoping you’d open up the old hotel.”

We sealed the deal with another kiss. We had to let go of each other eventually, but his eyes stayed on me as he walked around the minivan. He reached his head over the roof so he wouldn’t lose sight of me. We opened the doors and pushed our heads in at the same time. As soon as we sat down, he had to look at the road, but his right hand took mine and held it until we were back at my place.

I thought about offering him one of the rooms upstairs, but somehow, I couldn’t say it. The longer he held my hand, the clearer it became that I didn’t want him to let go of it until the night was over.

I couldn’t remember the last time I felt like this. It was scary, but in a good way.

SIX

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