Page 72 of All Your Firsts

Vic walks back a minute later with the mask in his hand and a smirk on his face. It’s crazy to think that this didn’t even affect him. He was calm throughout the whole thing.

Once he opens the door, he gives me a weird look before lunging at me. Grabbing my face, he puts his thumbs in the hollows of my cheeks and kisses the shit out of me. My head is swimming as he ends the kiss as quickly as it came. That... I was not expecting.

“Let’s get outta here.”

We drive in the opposite direction, away from the scene of the crime. Vic pats his pants before pulling out a cylinder, popping the top, and then pulling something out.

“Can you reach into the center console and get the lighter in there? I lost mine.”

I give him the lighter, and he proceeds to ignite something, inhaling deeply before exhaling a cloud of smoke.

I’ve never seen him smoke, nor has he ever carried the scent of it, but something is undeniably attractive about the way he looks while doing it.

“Number five, I stole it from Trey’s stash,” he says with a smile before handing me what I now know is a joint.

Getting high was on my list.

I hold it between my fingers before looking at him. “How do you remember everything I wanted to do? You’re even numbering them.”

“Photographic memory.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Following his lead, I place the joint between my lips and inhale deep. The citrusy sweet but earthy taste dances on my tastebuds while the smoke fills my lungs. I pass it back to him like I’ve seen in movies.

Despite feeling lost, I’m determined to exude maturity and competence around him. I don’t know when his perception of me shifted to where I care, but it did.

I hold the smoke in until my lungs burn and then exhale. The next thing I know, I’m coughing so hard my eyes water, and I think I might throw up.

“Shit, you’re going to be high as hell,” he says, looking at me with a grimace. “I should have told you to take it slow.”

So much for not looking lame.

“Drink this.” He hands me a water bottle that I gulp down to tamp down the inferno in my lungs.

Apart from the fiery sensation in my throat, my head is swirling, and I have a sensation of being adrift. Something similarto the way I feel on the back of his bike or floating in the water. It’s kind of nice.

The earlier excitement fades away and brings forth a calmness that’s hard to explain.

I grab my bag and pull out my list, but stop.

I can do it later when I’m alone.

“Do it,” Vic says in a light voice.

“Do what?”

“You can cross them off.”

I look over at him, but he’s looking at the road. I open the paper and cross off two more firsts. The joy that fills me when I cross them off my list is indescribable.

It’s satisfying but also warms my heart.

“Thank you,” I say as I peek over at him.

“Of course.”

Sixteen

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