Page 44 of One More Chance
“Well, I had a great time,” he says.
“Me, too. Thank you so much for dinner.”
“Of course,” he says. “So um, would you want to do this again sometime?”
“Yeah, I think so.” I smile. “That would be nice.”
“Great. Text me when you get home so I know you made it, okay?”
I nod as Steve’s hand comes up to my face and he brushes a length of hair behind my ear. He sweeps his finger down my jaw and tugs my chin toward him. Oh my god. Okay, don’t panic. He’s going to kiss you, Harper.
Steve leans toward me, his lips beginning to pucker, and he slowly presses them against mine. And it’s…okay. He presses harder, attempting to work his tongue into my mouth but only gets about halfway in, suddenly pulling back and breaking the kiss. “Wow,” he says. “You’re a really good kisser.”
I don’t know how he would know that. We barely got started.
Excuse me, Steve, but my half-kissed lips are still waiting for the rest of whatever that was.
“Oh, thank you,” I say, because it’s all I can manage. I can’t lie and say he is too. Because it was just…okay. His lips were sort of rough, like maybe he needed chapstick. They weren’t warm, either. I felt no electricity or flutters anywhere in my body. That can’t be good.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Wait, calm down, Harper.Sometimes first kisses aren’t all fireworks and awesome. Sometimes people are nervous, trying too hard to concentrate. I’ve seen enough romcoms to know that much. Yes, we were just nervous. Things will warm up. Things will flutter later.
We say our goodbyes and he opens my door for me, then shuts it and waves me off.
Besides, there are other important key factors in a person you’re dating. Stable, good job, nice, and so on. Lots of things to list off before “electrifying kiss” comes up.
Maybe I’ll talk to Lyla about it, just in case. Then it hits me. Who I really want to talk to about it is Jensen. I don’t necessarily mean about the kiss. I just realize I want to talk to him, seek him out, because I’ve grown used to having him to talk to this week.
I don’t want to tell him I kissed Steve. I won’t lie to him, of course, but for whatever reason, I feel weird about it.
After less than one day of silence, I miss talking to him.
The car ride home is quiet, and I spend most of it sighing and shrugging and sighing some more. I hate the thought of not speaking to Jensen like we have been. I hate the thought of not spending time together. And I especially hate that he’s leaving so soon. What then? Are we going to be friends via text message who never see each other again?
None of these thoughts are sitting well with me as I pull back onto the farm and park.
Getting out of the car, I rifle through my clutch to pull my phone out so I can text Steve.
“Hey,” Jensen says, his voice carrying down to me from the porch swing.
I snap my head up, startled by his presence. “Shit, you scared me. I didn’t expect anyone to be out here.”
“Sorry,” he says, hands in his pockets. “You look nice.”
“Thank you,” I say. “I just got back from the raincheck date with Steve.”
I watch Jensen’s face scrunch up a fraction, clearly not liking what I’ve said. He presses his lips together into a line and nods. “Right,” he says. “I just came to talk, but never mind.”
“What? No, let’s talk.” I step up onto the porch toward him.
“Did you have a good time with Steve?” he asks.
“What?”
“It’s a simple question, Harper,” he says.
“Uh, yeah, it was pretty good. Why?”
“Did you make plans to go out again?” he asks, his legs twitching back and forth.