Blindness(41)

He holds them flat against his chest with one hand, while he slides his other hand along the side of my neck, his thumb stroking the line of my chin first, and then my bottom lip. His eyes leave mine for the first time when he does this, his attention lost to my mouth, and when his tongue slips slightly from his parted lips and grazes his teeth, I shiver.

Cody is taking his time; it’s sweet and wonderful, and achingly torturous—I never want this to end. He pushes his fingers deeper into my hair while he erases the few inches left between us. He drops his other hand from mine, which are now locked onto his chest, and slowly sweeps the few strands of hair blowing across my face to the side and behind my other ear.

He pulls my face close to his, and I watch as his eyes lock onto mine—neither of us willing to close them, wanting to witness every moment of this. His gaze flicks to my lips again, and I hold my breath in anticipation. The first touch is gentle, a taste of what’s to come. The next time Cody pulls my top lip in between both of his, teasing me with his teeth and a soft stroke of his tongue, which fills my body with a rush of need and want so strong that I open wide in response.

My hands slide from his chest to his back, holding him closer, and not wanting to let go. With my permission, Cody slides his tongue deeper into my mouth with a sensual push and pull, his lips strong and hungry against mine. He keeps one hand in my hair, holding my head tightly to his, while his other hand slides down the side of my body, his thumb barely grazing my breast along the way. His hand comes to rest on the lower part of my back, and I bow to the pressure of his strength as he moves me even closer into his body.

I feel him, every bit of him, hard and hot and strong against me, and I’ve never felt more alive. I know in that second that if we weren’t in the middle of a field surrounded by families, and strangers, and—oh god—Cody’s best friends…I wouldn’t be able to stop. I would give in—give myself over to him.

We both pull back at the same time when we hear the familiar giggles closing in on us, but our hands are still linked when Gabe and Jessie round the corner and scream out of surprise from running into us. I feel the sweat cover my body instantly—unsure if it’s from the panic at being caught or the desire coursing through me.

I notice Jessie’s reaction, and I’m not sure if it’s a smirk or a warning, but at this very moment I don’t care—I don’t care that what I did was possibly the most wrong decision I’ve ever made, or that I might be throwing away everything safe based on a kiss. All I care about is that Cody’s fingers are still looped through mine, and our pulses are in sync.

“Look!” Gabe says, holding up a baggie with a complete set of puzzle pieces, completely oblivious to our out-of-breath panting, “Free pie!”





Chapter 9: Sober





The doorbell has rung six times—no one is getting up to get it. Jim stopped in overnight before flying out early this morning for Atlanta. I heard him and Shelly arguing when I came home from my night out with Cody, and I was pretty sure Shelly cracked open a fresh bottle of wine when they were done.

After the kiss, things between Cody and I changed—an instant wall grew between us, awkwardness crept in. That comfort that had done nothing but grow since the minute I met him was stilted, wilting. Our drive home was silent, and we both kept our hands to ourselves, not even venturing as far as the center console for temptation’s sake.

I’m pretty sure he’s ringing the doorbell. Though, I don’t know why he doesn’t just let himself in. I’ve been watching the clock the entire time—about five minutes passing between each ring. I know another one is coming in less than a minute.

I drag my feet to the floor and head to the shower, a clean T-shirt clutched to my chest. It’s Wednesday. I have some studying to do before Dr. Rush’s class, and then I want to spend the rest of the day refining my portfolio work for my Thursday critique at the internship. I’ve been distracted lately, clearly, and I’m worried that it’s starting to show in my drafts. They aren’t nearly as far along as I wanted them to be for my first critique.

The water is sobering against my face. I slept in fits last night, drifting between dreaming about my kiss with Cody and waking to thoughts of my weekend with Trevor. It’s strange how in the moment, there in the corn maze, everything was so clear—I was ready to throw everything I had with Trevor away. But the more distance we put between us and the scene of our indiscretion, the longer we sat there in the car—silent—the more I let regret eat away at me.

I was going to have to tell Cody it was a mistake. And then, I was going to have to hope like hell he understood and didn’t breathe a word of it to Trevor.

The doorbell chimes the second I turn the water off. He isn’t going to stop, and I was going to have to face this conversation at some point. Might as well get it over with. I throw on some jeans and my shirt, slip my feet in a pair of boots, and pull on a hoodie. The house is silent as I make my way downstairs. The harsh sound of the doorbell against the quiet makes me wince.

“Oh my god, stop alread…” I stop when I meet Jessie’s face. She’s pissed, and there’s no confusing it.

“We need to talk,” she says, arms folded in front of her, and I have this amazing fear that she’s about to punch me.

“Hang on,” I say, running back inside to grab my keys and bag. I have a feeling the talk is going to go on for a while. I lock the door behind me when I return and notice Jessie’s at the end of the driveway, leaning on the hood of her car.