The Space Between Us(23)

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled through my fingers. I can’t believe I just moaned, like, right into his mouth.

“Hey,” I heard him say as he turned me around by my arm to face him. “Hey, Bit,” he said as he ducked down to look at me. “Don’t be embarrassed. I’m not embarrassed. That was good. I’m glad you were enjoying yourself.” I rubbed my hands over my face and I could feel it was flaming red and hot. “Hey, look at me. Charlie, look at me.” I growled in frustration but tilted my head up to look at him. “Hi,” he said softly. I couldn’t help but smile. “I missed you.” I melted a little inside.

“I missed you too, Asher. I’m sorry again. I’m not sure why I did that.” He took his hand and ran it through my loose, black hair, causing tingles that made me shiver.

“You were enjoying yourself. There’s nothing wrong with that. People like kissing. That’s why they do it all the time, I assume. And I’ll admit,” he said tugging on my hair just a little so that I looked up into his eyes again, “I liked that you were enjoying it so much.”

“I’m so glad you’re home,” I said as I moved into his arms.

“Did you have a good summer?” He asked, his words a little mummbly from his cheek pressed to the top of my head. I shrugged my shoulders and loved the sound of his laughter echoing through his chest. I pulled back from him and saw his eyes glide down my body. It might have been the first time I didn’t feel self-conscious about his eyes running over me; I wanted him to look, to see me, to like what he saw.

“Do you like my dress?” I held out the hem of my skirt and gave a little twirl. I heard him swallow and saw his head bob up and down in a nod, his eyes not leaving the flesh of my bare legs. “Good.”

He caught himself staring and returned his attention to my face. “Do you want to walk around the park?”

“Sure.” He took my hand without hesitation and I was elated. From under the bridge we walked toward the path that led around the park, circling the small pond that was in the center. We strolled along the path talking about our summer apart, filling in the blanks of what we’d already covered in phone conversations and emails. We came up to the gazebo that sat along the shore of the pond and Asher headed in, pulling me along with him.

We went to the far railing, looking out over the water. There were tall cattails sticking up from the water and a few smaller ducks navigating through the tall reeds. I pressed into the railing, hoping to see the swans that sometimes congregated near the shoreline. I felt Asher’s chest press against my back and every sense was magnified. The low hum of the crickets turned into an orchestra of chirping, the gentle breeze was now a gust swirling the fragrance of the surrounding flowers around us. But the touch – his body pressed into mine – was my favorite.

“Bit,” he said quietly.

“Yes?” I breathed rapidly and hoped he didn’t notice, his nearness making it hard to draw air into my lungs normally. I felt like I was starving for oxygen.

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

Of all the words that he could have uttered at that moment, those were some I wasn’t expecting.

“You want me to be your girlfriend?”

“Um, yes?” Now he sounded unsure of himself. “Don’t you want to be my girlfriend?”

“Um, yes?” I offered, hoping to make him smile by using his words. He did smile, but not as brightly as I would have liked. “But, I don’t think I can be your girlfriend. Not yet anyhow.”

“Let me worry about your dad,” he said confidently. I turned to look at him, but his hands remained on the railing, caging me in.

“You think you can convince my dad to let me date you an entire year early?”

“Like I said, let me worry about it.” His confidence and demanding words made me fill with warmth.

“I’d love to be your girlfriend,” I managed to whisper, still holding his gaze.

“I’d really love to kiss my girlfriend.” His mouth came down to meet mine and the last thing I saw before I closed my eyes were his gorgeous eyelashes and dark freckles across his nose. I felt his lips press into mine again and wondered instantly if every kiss for the rest of my life would be better than the last. This kiss felt effortless and perfect. His hands moved from the railing to my waist making the muscles in my abdomen jolt alive with his new touch.

We were exploring each other, but also exploring the idea of kisses. I learned that when I pressed my lips firmly onto his I could make him lose his breath. I heard him inhale so quickly that it seemed as though he was caught off guard by how he felt. I learned that Asher liked to run his fingers through my hair while we kissed and in turn, I enjoyed the feeling of his fingers raking through my long hair just as much.

When I felt his tongue press against the seam of my lips, I hesitated for a moment, but opened for him. At first I was stunned into paralysis. I feared I had no idea what I was doing, but then I felt Asher run the back of his hand along my cheek and knew I could trust him to lead me. I concentrated on matching him and trying not to embarrass myself, but felt all the anxiety was worth it when I felt him slow down. When his mouth came to almost a complete stop and our lips were simply connected, as if he were savoring and cherishing that moment, that was when I let my guard down and gave in to the kiss.