Page 2 of Falling for Ezra Thomas
For a few seconds, I’m not sure what to do. Should I stop him? This is ridiculous. He’skissingme! But then my brain slips into overdrive, and now Ican’tstop him. Iwanthim to kiss me, so I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer. This emboldens him, and he takes more control of the kiss with less tentative movements.
He eases me onto his lap into a more comfortable position and the kissing slows, but it doesn’t cease. It’s crazy. We probably shouldn’t be doing this. Why are we doing this? I don’t know, but I don’t want it to end or pause. I like kissing Ezra, which in itself is shocking enough to make my mind swim. Just when I think he’s come to his senses and is about to end the kiss, he hums against my lips, takes a breath, tugs me close again, and goes in for another.
The way he holds me, claims my lips, and murmurs words against my lips I can’t decipher in my mental haze sends ripples of happiness through me.
It’s been a long time since something made me happy, but as most spontaneous things often end, our kissing is cut short by the front door opening and a light flickering on. We leap apart, red-faced, and try to cover the fact that we have been kissing for who knows how long.
“What the…What is happening?” Vivien asks, her gaze bouncing between us. She’s angry, but I can’t tell who she wants to rip apart more—her best friend or her sister.
“It isn’t what…I mean…It was…” I can’t even formulate a coherent sentence, let alone explain to my sister that I just spent a precious amount of time making out with her best friend. Like an idiot. What on earth was I thinking?
“I don’t know, Viv. It just happened.” Ezra sighs and runs his hands over his face.
Vivien narrows her eyes, and so begins the most harrowing night of my life—having to explain to my sister how I let myself get into this precarious position. She lights into Ezra while Beck tries to calm her, and I know I’m next. Fortunately, Beck seems to get her under control before she can eviscerate me.
My hands shake, but I need to work this out with her. “Viv, can we talk in the bedroom?”
Chapter Two
Ezra
Several weeks ago…
“Are you going totalk to me?” I ask, glancing at Beck, who still has a death grip on the steering wheel.
“I’m still in shock, that’s all.” He lessens his grip, but not by much. “You promise you’re going to make this right? You’ll talk to Lorelai and figure it out?”
“Yes, I said I would. I can’t make her talk if she’s not ready, though.”
“Do you want a relationship with her?” he asks.
Isn’t that the million dollar question? Do I? I’m not sure, but I’m not opposed to exploring the possibility…except, I’m about to leave town. My family doesn’t even know that I joined the Army, let alone my best friend and her sister, but I can’t exactly tell Beck that after what just happened between Lorelai and me. He’ll pull over, beat me to death, and leave me in a ditch.
“I don’t know. I never did before, but I mean…I guess I must have hadsomekind of feelings for her or else I wouldn’t have had the urge to kiss her. Right?”
“How would I know?” Beck shrugs and silence fills the car again. He rotates his hand, likely trying to ease the pain in his broken wrist. True. How would he know when basically the same thing happened to him? Only Vivien didn’tknowit was Beck when she kissed him.
Instead, I gaze out the window and try to focus on what happened. The snow comes down hard, but Beck has everything under control. My mind wanders back to that moment. The second Lorelai Mays becamedifferent.She’s been my friend as long as Vivien has, but with a two-year age difference between Lorelai and me, Vivien and I have always been closer. Still, it isn’t like I don’t know Lore. The Mays and Thomas families have vacationed together more than once, and we’ve spent practically every moment at each other’s homes during summer breaks.
That was before Lorelai graduated early and went to college, then veterinary school. I sigh and sink deeper into the seat. That’s a problem. Not her being a vet, but her drive. She has dreams, big ones, and me swooping in and kissing her, knowing I’m about to leave for basic training was probably a jerk move.
But one I could not help if I had tried.
Lorelai isbeautiful.Her drive and tenacity only add to her attractiveness. There’s no denying that, but until tonight, they were things about her I simply knew. Like a checklist of data about my friend.
Beautiful.
Intelligent.
Courageous.
Driven.
A person whose whole life is planned down to the second.
And I amnota part of her plan. At least, I’m pretty darn sure that I’m nowhere on her radar. She hasn’t dated since high school and it is highly unlikely that she would suddenly decide that Ezra Thomas is her new priority.
I want to bash my head into the window, but I refrain since it will only perk Beck’s interest further. Fortunately, he’s too focused on getting us home in this storm to grill me with more questions.
