“Get around guys and pretend that they don’t eat anything. If you’re hungry…just eat,” he said and shrugged his shoulders as he ate another. “Here try one. They’re good.” Before I could protest, he held one to my lips and force fed me while smiling. I rolled my eyes at him and chewed grudgingly. There was chocolate all over my lips and a string of caramel stretching from my lip to my chin. I couldn’t have been more embarrassed.
AJ smiled and licked his lips as he finished his last piece. His eyes were glued to my mouth and I just knew he was looking at my messy face. I had no tissue and chances are he didn’t have any in his car either; most guys don’t. When AJ first reached toward me, I thought he was going for the glove compartment, but I was wrong – very wrong. He touched my lip and swiped the strand of caramel from it and then sucked it from his finger while watching my reaction. My mouth forgot how to chew. Instead, I sat there with a mouthful of Twix, staring at him. All traces of embarrassment faded.
I was beginning to read AJ’s signals loud and clear. It felt like it became swelteringly hot inside the car all of a sudden. “Why is it so warm in here?” I asked, struggling to find the switch to roll my window down further.
AJ smiled and threw the car into drive and left the gas station. We drove straight down the same road we’d started on and didn’t worry about where we’d end up. “Do you need to call and tell your parents anything?” He asked.
I checked the time. “No. As long as I get home by like seven, they probably won’t question me. What about you?” I asked. “Do you need to check in or something?”
“Nope. I’m on your schedule.” He was so nonchalant. I relaxed in my seat again and watched him frequently from the corner of my eye. We approached a yellow light and AJ put his foot on the brake abruptly, deciding at the last minute to stop; probably only because I was with him. The bottle of juice he’d bought rolled to the floor, causing both of us to reach for it and narrowly escape a collision like the one we’d had in Government the Friday before. We both stopped just short bumping heads and stared at one another. My fingers grazed the side of the bottle, but I couldn’t move to pull it up. My mouth couldn’t have been more than an inch away from his and I was spellbound. Our eyes were locked on one another and I felt warm air steadily caressing my bottom lip as it escaped AJ’s lungs. Slowly, his gaze dropped to my mouth and I felt it coming. He wanted it. I wanted it. The need to kiss him was so strong in that instant.
It didn’t take me long to completely forget about Antonio and come to the conclusion that I was about to let this happen. AJ moved toward me ever so slightly when he decided to make a move. Subconsciously, I closed my eyes and prepared myself and my heart for what was about to take place, licking my lips just before we would make contact. My fingers and toes began to tingle with anticipation and I was desperate to know what kissing him would be like.
The sound of a horn blaring behind us startled my eyes back open, and just like that, our moment had passed. AJ and I both sat back in our seats as the world around us began to rotate again after stopping for those few short seconds that gravity could no longer hold us down.
He turned around and glared at the driver angrily as if they should’ve known they were interrupting such an intimate moment. While he accelerated, I retrieved the bottle like I’d originally set out to do. I separated the metal cap from the glass bottle, causing it to pop when the seal was broken. I hadn’t even thought to ask if AJ minded before opening it, but figured I should before drinking. “Do you mind if I get some?” I asked.
He gave me a weird look. “Why would I mind?”
I shrugged and took one dainty swig, being careful not to put my mouth on it just in case he had a pet peeve about that. As I was screwing the top back on, I could see him shaking his head from side to side. “Such a girl,” he accused.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It is when it keeps you from being yourself. We’re not in Kindergarten. I know you don’t have cooties,” he replied.
I smiled and removed the cap again, drinking from it like I owned it this time. “Better?” I asked.