Page 59 of Let's Get Textual

“Amazing, right?”

“I am never drinking coffee from anywhere else ever again.”

“That’s a hefty promise to make…”

“Yes, but have you tried this?”

He lifts a shoulder. “I might be the one who invented it here.”

“I could kiss you right now.”

I say the words, and I mean them. Sure, I’ve thought about it, but I don’t think I realized how badly I want that to happen until right now.

“That so?” He doesn’t miss a beat. “Because I wouldn’t object to it.” His hand snakes out, brushing back the lock of hair that’s fallen over my eye, lingering on my cheek for the briefest of moments. “This is the most forward thing I have ever said, but I would kiss you so hard if you’d let me.”

My chest feels like it has a thousand pounds pressing into it. Breathing is a strenuous effort, and my head is spinning like a pinwheel caught in the wind.

I want him to kiss me—hard, soft, any way I can get it. I want to feel his lips on mine, want to know if they’re as soft as they appear. I’m dying to feel his stubble brush against me as his mouth moves over mine. I want to know if he kisses the way he talks—sweet with just a hint of dirty.

“We’re in public,” I manage to scratch out.

“We are.”

“I don’t think this is a good place for that.”

“No?”

“No.”

“And why is that, Delia?”

“Because I’m certain once I start kissing you, I won’t be able to stop.”

Leaning away, he rolls his straw in his fingers, eyes focused solely on his movements. “You make a fair point, but one of these days, Delia, I’m going to kiss the hell out of you.”

“One of these days, Zach, I’ll let you.”

Hopping off his stool, he claps his hands together. “All right, we need a distraction. Let’s do this. We’re playing.”

“Me against you?” I scoot off Mrs. Pac-Man. “Why do I have a feeling I’m about to have my ass handed to me?”

“Probably because you’re about to have your ass handed to you.”

“Speaking of asses…wasn’t I supposed to get to touch your butt? I vividly remember that conversation.”

He throws me a look. “Remember how we couldn’t kiss because we’d get carried away? There will be no butt touches tonight.”

“But…”—I wink—“on our next date, right?”

He rolls his eyes and cocks his head toward the games. “Get over here so I can beat your ass at pinball already.”

“Didyou have a good time tonight?”

“That coffee was orgasmic. Everything else paled in comparison.”

“I sure know how to break out the panty-melters.”

“What? Those dimples?”

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