Crave (Harlequin Teen)

grabbed my still-buzzing phone from my pocket and answered it. “Hey, Nanna. I’m sorry, I went out for pizza after the game and forgot to call you.” Good, no lies there. Technically.
    “Mmm-hmm. Well, next time be sure to call. I was getting worried. You coming home now?”
    “Yes. See you in a few minutes.” I ended the call, put the phone back in my pocket and turned around.
    And nearly collided with Tristan’s chest.
    “I would really like a second date with you.” He gave a crooked half smile, but his eyebrows were still drawn together.
    He wanted to see me again.
    Part of me was leaping around inside, whooping with joy. He wanted to see me again!
    But the other part of me didn’t know what to do. Obviously I wanted to go on another date with him. Desperately. But…
    He slid his hands up my arms to my shoulders and ducked his head until his mouth was an inch above mine. “May I?” His breath whispered over my lips, making me shiver.
    Oh, Lord. Should I? No, I really shouldn’t.
    I nodded anyway.
    He touched his lips to mine, a small brush, then again, lingering. The need rose up, making me want to fall through the floor and fly at the same time. Someone whispered, it couldn’t be me, I’d never sounded like that before. I grabbed his shirt at his lower back, hanging on to the soft folds for dear life as the kiss deepened. This was what I had needed so badly in history today. I knew how to define that craving now. His mouth on mine, his arms around me, was food and water enough to survive on for the rest of my life.
    He moaned, the sound filling my mouth like a dessert to savor. Something told me I should stop kissing him now, that continuing this kiss could be bad in a way I didn’t understand. There was something I was supposed to remember. But that nagging thought was gone, lost beneath the swamping need. He tasted so good, his warmth filling up that cold cavern inside that had tried to drown me in icy waves in class.
    Then he staggered, breaking off the kiss, and rested his cheek against the top of my head.
    I listened to his ragged breathing with a dazed smile of my own, and had to bite my still-tingling lower lip. Wow. I could swear I’d just swallowed the sun. I was filled with light and heat. Kissing Greg had never felt like this. Not even close.
    When I eased back, I was surprised to feel Tristan shaking a little. Wait. Boring, plain-Jane me had made the most gorgeous guy in school shake? Impossible. I stepped away, and he leaned back against the wall with a grin.
    “Um, are you okay?” I asked with a laugh. Now he was just being goofy.
    He gave me that little-boy grin and laughed, too. “Yeah. Your kisses are…a whole new ball game for me.”
    Hmm. “Um, is that good or bad?” Biting my lower lip, I moved over to our picnic area and began to gather up our drinks and trash. I let my hair fall forward to hide my face. Could he tell I’d only kissed one other boy besides him?
    “Definitely good. Maybe too good. I’ll probably need some practice to get used to them.” He startled me when he was suddenly there beside me and pulling me to my feet again.
    I laughed, my hands grabbing on to his shirt for balance. “Tristan, we have to go! I don’t want to go, either, but I told Nanna I would be home in a few minutes and—”
    “I know.”
    “Then…” I waved at our things still left to be cleaned up.
    “I’ll do it. I don’t want you cleaning up for me. I meant it when I said I don’t need a slave.” His hand coasted over my hair in the lightest of caresses, making me glad I’d left it down tonight.
    “Helping others isn’t being a slave, Tristan. It’s called teamwork and getting things done.”
    He grunted in response, apparently unwilling to argue any more about it tonight, and helped me gather up everything. I waited for him to reach the hall door. Then I shut off the closet light, which I made the mistake of looking up at first. Temporarily blinded, I had to find my way over to him by following the soft sounds of his breathing. For once, my supersensitive hearing was actually helpful.
    I knew I’d found him when my hands touched the hard curves of his upper arms.
    His hands were full of the pizza box and plastic bag. The darkness hid me, made me bolder, and the temptation was too much to resist. Grinning, I slid my hands up to his cheeks, stood on tiptoe, leaned in and whispered, “May I?” before I kissed him.
    I understood then why humans have noses. So we