When I glance up from the ground, where his feet have suddenly appeared next to mine, my breath hitches as I realize how close he is. His face is dark as he peers down at me, his eyes soft and gentle again. Over his shoulder, the sky continues to light up with every color of the rainbow. He lifts his hand to my elbow and skims the tips of his fingers against my skin. Delicately, he traces a line down to my wrist before moving his hand to my waist. He gently grips my body.
“What’s happening?” I whisper. The atmosphere is too charged to speak any louder, and I can feel myself becoming breathless. I want to object, to push him away, because I know that this is wrong. But I don’t. I don’t, because I like the feeling of his skin against mine.
My eyes are locked somewhere between the tip of his shoulder and the window, but they’re not quite focused. He must pick up on how rigid I am, because his thumb begins to soothingly rub circles by my hip. His breathing is slow, and the scent of firewood and mint captivates me, drawing me in and charming me completely. He moves his lips toward the edge of my jaw. Softly, he places them against my skin, moving in a slow line toward the corner of my lips. He stops when he gets there.
“Let me kiss you,” he murmurs. He breathes against my cheek, hovering in trepidation.
“But you’re my stepbrother,” I whisper, my throat dry. My voice quivers, and I just can’t control the anxiety that is rattling every inch of my body.
I sense Tyler swallow. “Just don’t think about it,” he tells me, right before he takes the plunge and presses his lips to mine.
And this time around, it’s even better than before. His lips are soft and moist as they lock with mine. I can almost feel his nervousness, like he can probably feel mine. The fireworks are still exploding. His grip on my waist tightens as he pulls me against his body. I don’t mind. I like the feeling.
“Hey!” a loud voice yells from somewhere along the hallway, but it doesn’t quite register in my mind. And quite frankly, I wouldn’t care even if it did. “Cut it out, guys.”
But we ignore the faint cry, too caught up in our wrong embrace to pay attention. My lips part as Tyler carefully wraps a hand around the back of my neck. He holds me close against him as his other hand drops from my waist to the small of my back. He dominates the kiss, controlling the speed and the intensity. But I don’t mind this either. I like this too.
The voice in the background grows louder, as do the footsteps that come along with it. “Get out of here before I arrest you both for trespassing.”
But I am still too wrapped up in Tyler. The heat from his hands radiates against my skin as he moves from a fast, light pace to a much slower, much deeper kiss. He tilts my chin up to get a better angle. I sure as hell don’t mind this, and I sure as hell like it.
“Alright, wrap it up,” the voice orders. It’s suddenly piercingly loud and gruff. My eyes snap open, my body stiffening beneath Tyler’s touch as a police officer meets my frozen stare. His arms are folded, and there’s a frown etched on his lips. “Cut it out already!”
“Damn it,” Tyler hisses as he finally tears himself away from me. With a hand thrown back through his hair, he slowly turns around to face our intruder. He folds his arms across his chest, his hands balled into fists. “You got a problem?”
“You are trespassing,” the officer states matter-of-factly, shrewdly eyeing us in a rather degrading manner. It’s like he’s just discovered mice in the school cafeteria.
“Trespassing?” Tyler repeats, but his tone is contemptuous. “Don’t you have better things to do? Like sorting out those drunk fights out there on the field?” He gives a curt nod in the direction of the windows, where the finale of the firework display is underway. These fireworks are bigger. More dramatic, more colorful. Below, the football field is still heaving with the locals and police officers. Events on such a large scale as this are bound to be policed. It’s the same in Portland.
“Enough with the attitude,” the officer snaps. He takes a challenging stance, his legs spread wide and his hands on his hips. “This school is closed apart from the designated hallways. You are trespassing, and I am giving you the chance to leave by yourself before I have to make you.”
“Make me?” Tyler echoes sharply. I begin to take a step in the direction we came in, but I pause to reach out for the hem of his T-shirt. It doesn’t look like he’s about to move. He’s too busy fixing his eyes on the man opposite. “Can’t you just give us a second? We’ll get out of here, but you kind of interrupted something.”
“Tyler, just come on,” I murmur. I’m a little out of breath from all the kissing, and it’s exhilarating. I want to do it all over again.
“Yes, I figured I interrupted something,” the officer remarks, and he takes the time to glance between the two of us in disapproval. It causes my cheeks to flood with color. “I’m not asking to reason with you. I’m asking you to leave, and I expect you to do it. Don’t try to waste my time, son.”