Kiss Me

Shit. Why did I just say that?

“You danced with him?”

“Yes. Gosh that all sounds kinda bad, doesn’t it?”

“Um, yeah, it does. Do you still like him?”

“No. I like you. ”

“But I’m still wearing the key.”

I sigh. I really don’t want to have this conversation right now. He obviously has no idea how exhausting it can be to fight off a god’s power. But I care about Dawson. I do. I don’t know if I love him, but I do know I don’t want to lose him.

“Dawson, you make me happy. We have fun together and the sex is amazing.”

“But . . .”

“But I’m a little skittish about professing love. You know that it hasn’t worked out so well for me in the past. It didn’t work out that great for you either. I like you a lot, Dawson. Can’t that be enough for now?”

I kiss down his neck. Kiss my way across the chain. Kiss the key. And wish I could let myself fall for him.

He pulls me in for a tight hug. “I like you a lot too, Keatie. And, yeah, it’s enough for now.”

Thursday, September 22nd

Your panties are yellow.

English

Dallas and I are walking to English. “So how’s the sex kitten doing?”

“What?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” he laughs and flits his eyebrows up and down.

“No, let’s talk about you, Mr. I’m Talking To Eight Girls. What else are you doing with them and how many more pairs of panties have you gotten?”

He looks at me, his eyes serious. “You know I’ve never done it, right?”

“Actually, no. You didn’t tell me that.” I can’t hide my surprise. “You’re a really good kisser.”

“Well, I’ve had a lot of practice at that,” he grins. “And the Panties for the Poor drive is going quite well. You’d be surprised at how many offers I’ve had.”

“So why haven’t you?”

“I’m holding out for you.”

I roll my eyes at him.

“Fine,” he says. “Maybe I want it to mean something.”

“Really? That’s really cool. I didn’t think most guys were like that.”

“Yeah, well, I’m more than just your boy toy,” he laughs.

“Anyone seem like they have potential?”

“A couple, but I’m not talking to them.”

“Really, who?”

“You know I think Katie’s really cool, but she likes Tyrese, I guess.”

He looks bummed.

“Yeah, but I don’t think that’s go

“What about you and Dawes? You go

“I hope so.”

“Dang, you’re my back-up plan. I was thinking about getting you drunk, making it special.”

“You’re hilarious.”

One of those moments.

French

I’m in class a few minutes early. Kym just texted me to let me know she has some dresses for Homecoming on hold for me and sends me the list of stores where they are. I see Miss Praline out of the corner of my eye making a beeline for my desk.

Shit! She can’t take my phone from me now, can she? Class hasn’t even started!

She stands in front of my desk. I don’t try to hide my phone; instead, I put on my sweetest and most i

“Keatyn, I’m handing back the tests today.”

“Uh, okay.” That’s not what I was expecting her to say.

“Do you want to know what Aiden got?”

“I don’t know. Did he do okay? We’ve really been working hard. I thought he would at least pass.”

“Keatyn, look!” She whips out his test from behind her back. There is a huge red circle on the front. Inside the circle is a large, red C plus.

I’m immediately disappointed. “Oh, wow. I’m sorry. We’ll have to work harder.”

She gets a big grin. “Work harder?! Do you have any idea how excited he’s going to be? He failed every test last year. If it weren’t for daily grades, extra credit, and a special project I let him do, he never would’ve passed. This is amazing!”

As more people walk in, she goes, “Shhhh.”

Aiden rolls in right before the bell rings.

And even though I’m still mad at him, I turn around and say, “We get our tests back today. How do you think you did?”

He groans.

Miss Praline makes us wait until the very end of class to hand back our tests.

The bell has already rung. She hands me my test. Apparently tutoring Aiden has hurt my grades because I got an A minus.

She puts Aiden’s test down on his desk, just as I am standing up, and says, “Good job, Aiden.”

I turn around and look at him. His eyes go wide with shock. Then he jumps up, grabs me, lifts me up in the air and twirls me around. “We did it! I got a C! I passed!”

Then, for a second . . .

As he slides me back down his body and sets my feet back on the floor, it happens.

Another one of those moments.

Where we just stare into each other’s eyes.

But then A

She mutters, “Shit. I got a C too.”

I guess it’s all about your perspective.

Aiden is walking me out of class, excitedly talking about his grade. Dawson is waiting for me outside the building.

Aiden points to me and says to Dawson, “Dude, she’s awesome!”

Then he high fives me and bounces away happily.

“What was that all about?” Dawson asks.

“You know the test we studied so hard for, the other night, when you were mad at me?”

“Yeah?”

“He got a C plus.”

“That sucks. Why’s he so excited?”

“He’s failed every one of his tests until I started helping him.”

“Oh, so a C is good?”

“Yeah, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

“So the tutoring wasn’t just an excuse to hang out with you? Peyton told me he’s really smart. Sorry, I just, it seemed weird.”

“Speaking of weird, your brother was telling me about something today.” I whisper something into his ear. Something Riley says is supposed to drive a woman crazy.

He runs his hand through his hair. “Jeez, Keatie, pretty soon I’m go

Then I remember I have a meeting tonight.

“Oh, wait. I have a Social Committee meeting tonight at 6:30. And it might go late. The dean is going with us. We have a lot to plan. Don’t tell anyone, but we may have something really cool pla

“Tell me.”

“Okay, but you can’t tell anyone until we get it all approved.” He kisses me in agreement. “I think we’re go

“That does sound fun. That your idea?”

“Yeah.”

“I think it sounds amazing, but let’s go back to your other idea.”

Mesmerized by my tongue.

8:50pm

Our di

He had already given us his blessing for the project, but tonight he offers to send an email not just to the current students’ parents but to all the alumni asking for donations. Which means our Homecoming after-party is going to rock.

After di

Aiden opens the passenger door and I slide onto a black leather seat with custom white contrast stitching.

“Nice car,” I say.

He nods his head humbly. “Thanks. Do you want to stop for some ice cream?”

“Sure,” I say excitedly, but then he tells me wants to talk about our dreams. “I thought there had to be weed or alcohol involved for you to tell me about your dreams.”