Chapter 14
“I was hoping we were going to get around to that tonight,” he murmurs. I respond by kissing him again, hard, but we don’t last as long this time.
“I’m a little…” Kieran breathes when we part.
“Lightheaded?” I wheeze, because I’m definitely dizzy right now.
He runs an index finger along my lower lip. “Yeah, and kind of sleepy. Sorry.”
“No…it’s okay,” I tell him, caressing his cheek. He leans back against the wall, and I willingly follow, leaning in to rest my head on his chest as he gathers me in his arms.
“I’ve never kissed anyone before,” he admits before brushing his lips across my forehead as if he’s trying to make up for his lack of experience. So I chime in with “Me, neither. Not successfully, I mean.”
“Successfully?”
I think back to poor, stupid Billy McCaffery collapsing in pain in Cassie’s basement almost four years ago. “Let’s just say I got ambushed once,” I explain. “I ended up kneeing the guy in the junk.”
Kieran flinches, which brings the bonus of him holding me tighter. “Remind me never to surprise you with a kiss.”
“You can surprise me any time you want.” I snuggle into him, a question burning a hole in me. “Hey, Kieran?”
“Mmmm?”
“Did you…did you dream this?”
“Kissing you?”
“Yeah.”
“You mean before or after we met?”
I smile. “Both.”
“Well, after we met, I dreamed about kissing you all the time. Like, daily, pretty much.”
“And before?” I ask.
“Okay—you’re going to laugh,” he says. “I did kind of get this flash of us here, although no kissing. Guess what I did dream about, though?” He pauses for a beat before answering his own question. “That stupid bear. Not even kidding.”
Of course, I start giggling as soon as he mentions the bear. He starts laughing, too, but not for long, as his head grows heavy on mine, but not so much that I’m uncomfortable. To make sure I don’t fall asleep as well and we don’t end up out here all night, I keep myself awake by listening to his heartbeat before shaking him back to me after a few minutes.
“What? Okay—I’m up,” he says, lowering his head and lifting my chin to kiss me.
“You know,” I begin when his lips leave mine, “As much as I’d like to stay out here with you forever, I don’t think it’s an option.”
“Which totally sucks.”
“Yeah, but if my grandparents find us, I’m not sure you’ll want to explain what you’ve been doing out here alone with their granddaughter.”
“Good point,” he says. “Anyway, it’s still our birthday. We’ve got a few hours left in the day nobody’s managed to ruin for us yet, so we should probably get on that.”
“True.”
“And while the idea of going to my house doesn’t exactly thrill me right now, your birthday present’s there. I’d kind of like to give it to you while it’s still officially our birthday.”
“I left your present at your house, too. So if you want the Range Rover I parked in the driveway with a big red bow, we’ll need to go back to your house in this lifetime.”
He snorts at my mention of buying him a Range Rover and says “I guess you also bought me a driver to go along with the Range Rover?”
“You already have a driver,” I point out, squirming in his arms so I can sit up. “Kayla.”
Kieran’s mouth twists to a frown at the mention of his sister, but I start defending her before he can say anything. “Look—you said you sort of understand why your parents and Kayla did what they did. Your parents sat her down when she was eleven and told her everything you found out tonight, and then told her she couldn’t talk about stuff with you or anyone else. Think about how you’re reacting right now, and you’re eighteen. She was eleven. That’s a lot to lay on a kid, at any age.”
“I know,” he says, sighing. “I’m so sick of being protected all the time, though. And I get how they think they kept those secrets for my own good, but I wish they’d told me when they told her and gotten everything out in the open years ago. If they thought Kayla could handle knowing, then why couldn’t they tell me?”
“I can’t speak for your parents,” I tell him. “All I know is the one person you shouldn’t be mad at right now is Kayla. Be mad at your parents, and be mad at your real parents, but don’t be mad at her.” I don’t want to, but I wriggle out of his arms and stand up, turning to reach my hands down to pull him up. “So get over being a jerk to your sister and let’s go back to your house and try out your new Range Rover.”
He pops up in front of me, his hands in mine, but when I turn toward the door, he tugs me back. “Wait a minute, okay?”
“Yeah?”
“So,” he starts, looking at the floor. “there’s this Prom thing all the kids at school are worked up about.”
“That’s the rumor.”
“Well, I was wondering…and, I mean, I’ve never been to a dance before, and I kind of don’t know how to dance, even, and I’ll probably end up passing out on you half the time anyway—”
Raising my eyebrows at him, I try not to smile from ear to ear but I can tell I’m failing. “You’re doing an amazing job of selling yourself, Kieran.”
“Thanks.” He smiles back. “I’ve never asked anybody out, so I’m probably screwing this up royally.”
“Well, I’ve never been asked out before, so you can screw up all you want and I won’t know the difference.”
His head jerks back slightly. “I have a hard time believing no one’s ever asked you out.”
“I’m everybody’s friend.” I shrug. “I’ve known every guy in this town since about birth, so I either think they’re disgusting or they’re like brothers to me, and some guys probably kind of forget I’m a girl anyway because of the sports stuff. So I’ve never been asked out on a date date before. I’ve just always kind of gone out with guys in big groups and stuff.”
“Their loss. Anyone who doesn’t realize you’re a girl is totally missing out.”
I laugh. “Thanks.”
“No problem. But, anyway, what I’m trying to say is…” He pauses again and squints at me, pretending to be confused, but his grin gives him away. “Should I be down on one knee or something? I have no idea how this is supposed to work.”
“I think the down-on-one-knee stuff comes later,” I say with a straight face. “Like, way way later.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Anyway, what I’m fumbling around about here is that I really want to take you to Prom, if you’ll go with me.”
I lean in and wrap my arms around his neck, answering his question with a kiss.
“So, that’s a yes?” he breathes when I pull away and rub my nose against his.
“I’ll think about it and get back to you.”
“You’re killing me, you know?” he says, holding me to him.
Raising my lips to his ear, I whisper “That’s a yes.”
He kisses me quickly and smoothes some hair off my forehead, his smile so full-wattage it could almost power the shed.
“You realize this means I’ll be wearing a dress, right?” I warn, as if I need to tamp down his enthusiasm.
“I can’t wait to see how amazing you look in a dress.”
“Prepare to be disappointed.”
Kieran sighs. “We can wear matching tuxedos to Prom and I won’t care. I just want to be with you.” He lowers his mouth to mine once again, and I press my body against his, half-waiting for him to go slack and collapse with sleep, half-waiting for me to go slack and collapse because my heart’s exploded. Thankfully, neither scenario comes true.
He pulls away after what seems like a minute and an eternity all at the same time. “Okay, we really need to get out of here,” he whispers. “Or I refuse to be held responsible for what might happen next.”
“Me, too.” I smile, fighting
the urge to kiss him again by heading for the door. “You okay?” I ask, noticing his worn-out look when the porch light hits him.
“Yeah. Little tired, I guess. I think I can get back to the house, though.”
“Well, tell me if you need to sit down or something, okay?”
Kieran nods and we step out onto my grandparents’ lawn. As I shut the door behind us, I hear a swishing noise, like something—or someone—moving in the low grass. “What was that?” Kieran asks.
I survey the immediate area. “No clue, but I definitely heard something.”
Other than the light over my grandparents’ back door, their house is dark. Taking Kieran’s hand, I lead him around to the back of the shed, but we find nothing but the scrubby grass extending through the darkness and meeting the tree line a few yards away. “Just the wind, I guess,” I say, shrugging.
“Yeah. We’re both probably a little paranoid after everything those people masquerading as my parents laid on us tonight.”