We didn’t let go of each other’s hands, but as we stopped next to the car door, Ezra put both his hands on my waist. He pushed me up against the car, and I put my hands on his chest to not let them hang awkwardly by my sides.
“I had a good time with you,” he told me, and I smiled at his words.
“Me too. Maybe we should come here more often,” I suggested, but he shook his head.
“I wanna explore more places with you. I’ll take you wherever you want to go, as long as I can get you home before your moms start to wonder where you are.” His hands gripped my waist tighter, and he leaned in to kiss my forehead.
I closed my eyes, and I couldn’t hold back a frown. “Aren’t you scared?”
“I’m scared shitless,” he admitted, looking back into my eyes. “If this gets out, it can cost me my job and teaching license.”
“Then why are you putting it all at risk?”
He studied my face for a while, then his hands came up to cup my cheeks. “Because of you. I know it sounds stupid, and it’s probably the dumbest thing I’ll ever do…but I can’t help it, Juno. I know you feel it, too.”
“So…what are you saying exactly?” I asked softly, looking at my hands on his chest.
“I’m saying that for now, and for as long as we can keep this a secret, I wanna keep you close to me. We can find ways to see each other outside of school. But…we have to be careful at school. No flirting. No eye-contact that lasts longer than we would usually look at someone.”
I laughed softly and nodded. “I think I can manage that.” I looked back up into his eyes while his thumbs brushed along my cheekbones.
His eyes moved to my lips. “Do you mind if I—”
“I don’t mind,” I interrupted him, knowing exactly what he wanted to ask. I was young, and he was already an adult, but who said that it wasn’t okay to catch feelings for someone who’s older or younger than you?
That’s the whole point of love. You fall for one person, no matter who they are. Hell, you can fall in love with two, or three people at once. Who the hell cares? As long as your heart’s pure, and as long as you go into it for the right reasons, who’s to say who you should and shouldn’t love?
A low chuckle made his chest vibrate, and he leaned in while his tongue came out to lick his lips. This wasn’t the first time a guy had kissed me, but I knew this time would be different.
This time, I felt something deep within me. Not sure what it was, but the tingles told me that I was already in too deep.
As his lips touched mine, I closed my eyes and immediately felt my knees give in. Thankfully, I could hold myself up by tightly grabbing on to his shoulders. His lips moved against mine, and as the tip of his tongue brushed along my bottom lip, I opened my mouth for him to let him taste more.
I’ve enjoyed kissing other boys before, but Ezra put so much passion into it that it was a whole new experience for me.
He kept me close with his hands on my cheeks, and by tilting his head slightly to the side, he dived deeper into my mouth with his tongue.
A soft moan left my throat, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, making him move his hands down to my waist again.
They didn’t stay there, instead, his left hand moved up to cup the back of my head, and placed his right hand on my lower back between the car and me.
His lips moved gentler now, and his tongue licked against mine one last time before he broke the kiss. He leaned his forehead against mine, and while I tried to catch my breath, he brushed my hair behind my ears.
“We should go back. It’s getting dark,” he whispered, and I quickly nodded.
Ezra leaned in once again, placing a soft kiss at the corner of my mouth before pulling me a few steps away from the car and opening the door for me.
I thanked him, then climbed in and put my seatbelt on. I breathed in deeply while I watched him walk around the car. He looked pleased, and I didn’t feel any different.
“All right, let’s get you home,” he said as he got into the car. I smiled at him and nodded.
“I had a great time with you today, too.”
He started the engine and turned his head to look at me. His hand reached for mine, and he pulled it up to his lips to place a kiss to the back of my hand.
Words weren’t needed, and the whole way back home, I couldn’t tear my eyes off him.
Chapter Fourteen
Juno
“You look perfect on camera, Pixie. I promise you I will make this movie just as aesthetically pleasing as you are,” I told her as we walked back to our bikes. We spent the whole Saturday on Clark Island, taking videos. She read my script on the way there, and she thought the words were beautiful and meaningful.
I didn’t put too much time into the writing part of the movie, but I wanted it to represent my feelings of when I’m on the island.
“Okay. But if I look horrible, I will steal that tape and burn it. I wanna watch it before you let anyone else see it.”
I nodded, holding out my pinky so she could hook hers with mine. She did. “Promise,” I told her, letting go of her pinky again.
“Tomorrow, same time?” I asked.
“Sure. Are you going somewhere?”
“Uh, yeah. I have to go visit my aunt on the other side of town. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I told her, then got on my bike and rode off.
I had no aunt living on that side of town, but I had a handsome man waiting for me in his apartment. Ezra invited me for dinner, and after texting each other all week long and not getting to hang out other than that Tuesday afternoon, he asked if I wanted to spend some time with him tonight.
I couldn’t say no, and although my excitement was going through the roof, there was a part of me deep inside my brain telling me that I shouldn’t go, and we would get caught sooner or later.
Ezra assured me that none of the other students knew where he lived, and that his friends wouldn’t go to his home unannounced.
Ten minutes later, I arrived at his apartment building and locked my bike next to the entrance. The door was open, so I walked up the stairs to get to his apartment. I knocked a few times, then looked down at my clothes and breathed in deeply to calm my nerves.
The door opened, and Ezra stood there in his loungewear. “Hey,” he greeted, and I smiled brightly at him.
“Hi,” I replied. I let my eyes wander down his body, then up to his face again where a smug grin appeared on his lips.
“Wanna come in? Or do you wanna keep staring at me?”
“I don’t mind either,” I told him, making him chuckle. He reached for my waist and pulled me inside, and after closing the door behind me, he leaned in to kiss my cheek.
“You’ve done a lot of that last week in school.”
“A lot of what?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck to keep him close.
“Staring. I thought I told you about keeping your eyes off me or else people will notice.”
“I haven’t been staring. I’ve been listening to what you were saying. Your last English lesson was very interesting, you know?”
Ezra gave me a skeptical look. “Don’t mess with me, Juno,” he muttered, but he didn’t sound as serious as he would’ve liked to.