Page 47 of Love at a 7-Eleven

"I can't believe you can do that, or that you've never shown me a video. Why didn't I go with you that day? I needed to see you do that."

I shrugged. "I just skated laps that day. I do it for fun now. I was at my peak about seven or eight years ago, when I was competing."

"Maybe you were at your peak for skating," he said.

I smiled at him.

"I want to see you do that in person," he said.

"You have to come to Chicago with me," I said. I took a step toward him, hoping I could convince him to come with the way I was bumping into him.

"Okay, I will," he said as if he didn't even have to think about it.

I glanced his way. "You will?"

He shrugged.

"When?"

"I wanted you to ask me to come when I said I wanted to see you skate. I was hoping you'd say I should go to Chicago."

"It's no secret that I want you to come. I want you to go back with me tomorrow."

He leaned ever so slightly closer. I felt vulnerable, and I was happy that he was regarding me with such love. I remembered the sight of him, all shirtless and nonchalant in that laundromat. I felt safe and happy with this man, and it was the best feeling in the world.

Our faces were so close now that the only logical thing for him to do was kiss me. The tension was palpable. My heart was pounding out of control. I could hardly remember to breathe. I meant it when I said I wanted him to come back with me, and he was looking at me like he was going to do it. I hoped that happened. I wanted to never be apart from him again.

"I want you and need you," I whispered, flirting and feeling desperate for him to go ahead and kiss me.

And then he leaned in and our lips touched. I closed my eyes, and for a few glorious seconds, I felt nothing but the swirling physical sensation brought on by the kiss. The contact of Caleb's lips to mine gave me the sensation of being on a roller coaster. Different. Better. Something happened to my body when we kissed. It gave me such a bodily sensation that I felt weak in the knees and I held onto him for support. I wanted to stand there all night, but I knew that wasn't going to happen with people around. After only a second or two, we both reluctantly pulled back.

I stepped away from him, smiling and squinting playfully, pretending that I wasn't all hot and bothered by the feel of his mouth on mine.

"You're trying to distract me from my big shot," I said.

He laughed and tossed his hands in the air in surrender as he stepped back. "At this point, I can't even remember what sport we're playing. I'm pretty sure you can lie to me about your score. In fact, let's just mark yours a hole-in-one. You won this game."

"No, no, no, we're not marking that. I didn't do it for real," I said. "Watch me while I win this fair and square. I'm getting that hole-in-one right now. Is that what I need to win this?" I breathed on the ball and rubbed it on my shirt as if to clean it. Then I placed it onto the little mat with all the confidence of someone who was a much better miniature golfer than I was. "Watch while I sink this one right here," I said, lining up my shot.

I didn't think about it too much. I just pulled back and hit the ball, letting it rip, hoping to match Caleb's trajectory as much as possible.

And there it went. We watched as the ball went over the hill, through the tunnel, down the slope, and around the rock. It went slower at some turns and then picked up speed. I let out a sound of anticipation as it got closer and closer to the hole. I yelled again as it approached and fell in. I jumped up and down. Caleb was looking at me in shocked astonishment when I crossed to him. He grinned and his disbelief turned into celebration. I jumped into his arms as he exclaimed. "What just happened? That was amazing! You're amazing!"

We were breathing heavily from all the celebrating, and I pulled back, smiling at him. "That was pure luck," I said, shaking my head.

"No such thing," he said, squeezing me. "You're a natural."

Our eyes were so locked that I felt like we were about to start kissing again. I was vaguely aware that people were coming up behind us. "Are you ready to go back to Drakes?" I asked.

He smiled. "You read my mind."

Chapter 18

We embraced after my unlikely hole-in-one. It was triumphant and hilarious, and there was such barely-harnessed passion in our eyes afterward that the first thing on my mind was getting out of there and going to Drake's. Caleb agreed, and we quickly went to turn in our balls and clubs before making our way to the parking lot and into his car. It was parked facing the back of the building and it was dark out, so we had privacy when we made it there.

I don't even think he started the engine. He might've. All I knew was that he locked the door and reached over for me. It was as if the space between us didn't exist. We came together, and we were kissing. It was a passionate, impatient kiss that had been building for the last three days. Things were different between us. His kiss was possessive, his tongue was in my mouth, and he claimed me, held me.

I was achy with need and I loved kissing him. Our contact became gentle after a few minutes of passion. We started kissing lightly. We would pause between kisses and say things to each other. I couldn't tell you what we said. All I knew was that I was the happiest and most content I had ever been in my whole life. We stayed in his car for more than a half hour, and it seemed like an absolute instant.

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