Page 124 of You're The One
The breeze is stronger up here, blowing her hair across her face until she catches it and ties it at the nape of her neck. When she turns and catches me still staring, she smiles softly.
I lean in to kiss her, but she pulls back at the last second. “We haven’t kissed on camera,” she whisper-shouts, eyes darting toward the crew.
“No time like the present, right? It’s a great time for afirstkiss, if I do say so myself.”
“What about the curse?—”
“You can’t seriously think there’s any world where I send you home.” I brush my fingers along her knee.
“I would hope not. I’m not donetrying,” she huffs.
“Good.” I shift a little closer. “Then you can be the curse breaker.”
“I do like the ring ofCurse Breaker.”
“See? I’m full of good ideas.”
She lifts a brow. “Let’s not go that far.”
“So…” I drop my arm around her shoulders, tugging her gently in. We’re already pressed together from the hip down. “Should we do it?”
She gives a small nod. “Yeah.”
I close the space between us, lifting one hand to her jaw, my thumb sweeping gently across her bottom lip. It trembles under my touch before her features soften, her lips parting. Her brightblue eyes lock onto mine, only closing when I’m millimeters away.
I kiss her, trying to keep it short and sweet. I don’t want to share it with the cameras, with the rest of America… with anyone else. Her fingers curl into the front of my shirt, and I shift, tucking her between me and the wall at our backs.
I linger longer than I mean to. Pulling away is just as hard as it always is.
We’re still catching our breath, letting the moment settle, when I ruin it with a question that slips out before I can stop it. “Do you want kids?” I’ve been wondering where she stands ever since Bodhi accused me of getting ahead of myself.
She hunches forward, her forehead landing on my shoulder as she dissolves into laughter. “We go from our“first kiss” to children? No lead-up or anything? Just diving straight into the hard hitters?”
“I play hockey,” I tease.
“Slap shot?”
“Better.”
She keeps giggling, but I can see the shift in her eyes as it fades.
“You know what, never mind,” I say quickly. “We can talk about it another time.”
“No. It’s okay.” She shakes her head. “I don’t know. Honestly, I’m kind of terrified by the idea.”
“Because of your mom?” I ask gently.
She nods. “Yeah. I know the odds are in my favor, but it still happens, you know? And once my brain starts spiraling, it’s hard to pull out of it. The idea of bringing a kid into the world, and losing my life to do it, is fucking scary. So, I’ve avoided thinking about it. I’ve never really had a reason to.”
“Of course it is. I don’t want to think about it either.”
Something sharp tightens behind my sternum. The thought of losing her? Absolutely unthinkable. I don’t care about odds. I’d never risk her health or happiness—for anything.
“Forget I said anything. It’s too early for questions like that. Sorry. My brain-to-mouth filter slipped,” I add.
“I didn’t realize you had one of those.”
“Guilty.” I chuckle.
