Page 55 of The Confidant
“I’d like that,” she said with what seemed like a hopeful smile on her face.
We stood there just looking at each other for a moment, like we were both trying to figure out what came next.
A hug or a kiss?
I knew what I wanted.
But apparently, I’d lost all my courage when Bash ruined the moment earlier, because after we both just looked at each other for a while, like we were both waiting for the other to make the first move, she lifted her arms at her sides and said, “Hug?”
“S-sure.” I cleared my throat. “Of course.”
I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around her waist, and she stood on her tiptoes to rest her arms around my shoulders. And for a moment, with our bodies pressed together, we were one.
I expected the hug to only last a moment or two, but when she didn’t step away after several seconds, my heart started to race.
Because this was familiar.
This lingering hug.
This was exactly like the hug she’d given me when we’d been in my room last spring, listening to the song “Electric Love.”
Is it happening?My mind chanted as her arms slipped lower and her hands slid along the sides of my hoodie just beneath my jacket.
Just go for it, Hunter,I told myself.She wants it, too.
“Is your heart beating fast again?” she asked, her breath hot on my ear.
“Yeah,” I said, my voice coming out all husky-sounding. “What about yours?”
“Uh huh.” She nodded.
I dipped my head low as I breathed in the scent of her shampoo, her cheek resting against mine.
She breathed. I breathed.
She stepped half an inch closer. I stepped half an inch closer.
We were still waiting for the other to make the move. To cross the bridge we’d been standing on the edge of for ten months.
The bridge that would take us from just friends to something more…
Not boyfriend and girlfriend, since that was still against the rules, but possibly to friends who kissed at the end of an amazing night.
Her hands slipped up my sides again, making warmth spread across my ribcage until she slid her palm over my heart.
She held still for a few seconds before she whispered, “I can’t feel your heartbeat. I think you might be dead.”
“It’s definitely beating fast.” I chuckled quietly. “You just can’t feel it through my sweatshirt.”
Because if she could, she’d probably call nine-one-one since it was beating heart-attack fast right now.
“I guess I’ll take your word for it,” she whispered back.
We stood there for a few more seconds. I knew that if something was going to happen, it needed to happen soon. Moments like this didn’t last long and who knew when we’d find a chance to be like this again.
It was also getting close to Scarlett’s curfew, and for all I knew, her dad might come out at a minute past eleven to go looking for her.
In fact, he could be watching us right now…
