Chapter Seven

After that talk by the pond, something shifted in our relationship. It was as though the last walls that were built around him were crumbling, that the space between us shrank, pulling us together.

My phone chimed. Usual place at 7?

Yes.

I wore my sneakers that had walked hundreds of miles during the past weeks, black leggings, and a gray hoodie as I walked to the park. It was becoming chillier; winter loomed on the horizon.

Jake sat on the bench, a book in his hand. Something about robotics. I slowed and watched him, the view taking my breath away. That man made me forget how to breathe. His eyes lowered to the page, his curls covering his features.

It was as though he felt me watching him because he lifted his eyes and looked at me. There was a pause as he dropped the book onto the bench and walked to me. His eyes locked on mine and then moved down to my lips. I stopped, my heart hammering, and there he was, scooping me into his arms and drawing my chin up.

The world muted as our lips met, as his hand got lost in my hair, eventually landing on the back of my neck. And I was lost, a quiet sound escaping my mouth as his tongue grazed my upper lip. I was letting him in. The twilight closed around us as two merged into one, as his strong hands held me while my legs could not. A hot feeling stirred in my stomach.

"Breathe, Emily," he said, just an inch from my lips.

Because I didn't remember how, I didn't need to breathe anymore, only melt there, in his arms.

I took a shaking breath when his lips moved down my jaw to my throat, just to crash his lips into mine again.

After what felt like hours, we slowed.

That was how we started dating. It seemed so easy, merging into one another. But as it always is with life, it's never that easy.