Page 32 of A Good Book

He remained stock-still. Maybe he was saying a brief prayer while looking to God. Something like: “Dear Lord, please let Gabby flunk out of school so I can gain a higher education in peace.”

“No way, Gabbs.”

“Way, Ben.Way!” I added prayer hands to my pathetic, desperate whine.

“Fine,” he grumbled.

“Yes?” I perked up.

“I didn’t say yes. I said fine. Yes implies consent. Fine implies submission as a result of emotional coercion.”

“Eek! Thank you!” I blew out a slow breath to calm down, then I laced my fingers behind my back and closed my eyes while tipping my chin up.

“What are you doing?”

I peeked open one eye. “I’m waiting for you to kiss me.”

“You look like a three-year-old who’s just been instructed to give her grandma a kiss.”

I let my hands fall to my sides. “Fine. Then what am I supposed to do?”

He stepped closer. “Look at me.”

“The whole time?”

“No.”

“How long do I wait to close my eyes?”

Ben chuckled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’ll just … know.”

“What if I don’t?”

“You’ll close them when leaving them open feels too weird. Think of it like a blink. If I do this,” he crept his finger toward my eye, “you blinked because my finger was so close it was hard to keep your eyes open. Well, a kiss is the same, but instead of blinking, you just close your eyes and keep them shut until the kiss is over.”

“How will I know when the kiss is over?”

“When your lips are no longer touching, it’s over.”

“Duh. You know what I mean.”

“No. I don’t.”

“Ben, you have to tell me things, step by step. Like when I had a loose baby tooth, my mom tied floss around it, and there was a countdown to her yanking it out. She kept me calm by telling me each step.”

“Oh yeah?” He squinted.

I nodded.

“Lucky you. My mom used to tie floss around my teeth, too. And she’d count down, but before she reached zero, she’d yank the thing out.”

I flinched. “Oh, that’s terrib?—”

Ben kissed me.

No talking it through.

No countdown.

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