“You know you’re meant to change it, right? Or are you into the dude in the picture?” I ask, only half joking.

She doesn’t respond. It’s as if she hasn’t even heard me. “Look at them,” she says quietly.

I look down at the couple in the picture. They’re standing in front of a fountain, facing each other. The girl has her arms around the guy’s neck; his hands are around her waist, and they’re just staring at each other, smiling. “Can you imagine what that would feel like?” she asks.

My heart tightens at the sincere sadness of her tone. “What do you mean?” I ask, my eyes on her.

Again, she ignores me.

I press on. “To be in love?”

She shakes her head. “No. Not just love...but to be so open about it. To love so freely...like it doesn’t matter if anyone’s watching.”

Tears start filling her eyes.

“Madison,” I whisper, and she looks up at me. I hold the side of her face, my eyes on hers. I plead with her to give me something...anything...so that maybe I can understand what the hell she’s talking about.

“Ky...” She looks like she wants to say more, but she doesn’t.

And I can’t.

So I do the only thing I can do. I lean down, press my lips to hers, and I kiss her. She gasps, taking my breath with her. And after a second, her lips move. Her free hand grips my shirt as I bring her in closer. Her breath catches when our tongues meet, sliding agonizingly slowly against each other. I hesitate, my heart pounding painfully against my chest.

I’m nervous.

And I’m so afraid of everything this kiss makes me feel.

Because it’s more than just a kiss.

It’s a sense of hope, and reason, and promise.

She quickly steps back, as if suddenly realizing where we are and what we’re doing.

I finally allow myself to breathe and open my eyes. She’s watching me; her chest heaving with each breath.

“Shit.” It’s all I can get out—the only word that forms in my head.

“I think I’m going to buy this one,” she says, reaching up and grabbing another frame. “And this one.” She refuses to look at me as she makes her way to the counter. After a few seconds, I finally switch back to reality, just in time to get to the counter and pay for the two frames and her new sunglasses.

***

I step into her apartment when she opens the door, not bothering to wait for an invitation. She doesn’t seem to mind. She goes straight to the couch and pulls out the frames from the bag and sets them on the coffee table in front of her. I sit next to her, not knowing what else to do. She didn’t speak much on the walk home, and I didn’t want to push her. Truth is; I’m still thinking about that kiss. But watching her now, it’s clear she’s still thinking about that damn picture. She’s staring at it intently; her brows creased. “How do you think they met?”

I look at the frame. “The couple?”

“Yeah.”

“Probably the day of the photo shoot...” I trail off, not wanting to upset her.

She nudges my side and pulls on my elbow until my arm settles on her leg. “Come on, Ky. Just play along. Please?”

“Fine.” I look back at the picture. “He probably walked into his apartment building and saw her kicking the shit out of the mailboxes.”

She cackles with laughter. “And it turned out that they live opposite each other,” she muses.

“And he thought she was smokin’ hot, so he brought over pizza.”

“After he unintentionally made her feel like an idiot for not knowing about the maintenance guy when she locked herself out.”

“Yeah,” I say, amusement leaving my voice. “But he was hoping the pizza made up for all of that.”

“Not the pizza,” she says, all playfulness gone, “but the message behind it.”

“So the girl knew he was interested in getting to know her better?”

She’s quiet a beat. “No. Not at the pizza stage, but then he gave her a yellow rose—a symbol of friendship—and after that—she kind of knew.”

“Well, I’m glad they were on the same page,” I say, now watching her.

She smiles, but her eyes remain on the frame. “And then what happened?”

“Then I guess the guy was just happy because he figured the girl missed him when he wasn’t around. For some reason, she always wanted to be around him. And I’m pretty sure that made him feel like the luckiest guy in the world.”

She holds my arm tighter. “Yeah? I think it might be the other way around. I think that maybe the girl’s lucky. After all, he did name a flower after her.”

“So what happened after?”

Her smile falls, along with her gaze. “They kissed.”

“And it was bad?”

She finally turns to me, shaking her head. “Not for her.”

“Not for him, either, Maddy.”

She rests her head on my shoulder, her exhales warming my neck. Then I feel it—her lips on my skin. I tense beneath her touch. She kisses me once, soft and wet. She whispers, “It’s just a story, Ky. It could be fake.”

I pull back slightly and rest my forehead on hers. My heart’s pounding again, way too hard, way too fast. I can barely speak. Still, I say, “Is it, though? Fake?”

She doesn’t respond with words; she doesn’t have to. Her lips find mine—gentle at first. Then all at once, we lose the control we’ve been holding on to for days.

We stop resisting and we give in—to each other and to the inevitable.

My mouth covers hers as she presses on my chest, pushing me until I’m on my back. Our breaths mingle, and our hands are everywhere at once. Our lips lock, only parting long enough to gasp for breath, and then we’re back, kissing, touching, groping. She’s on top of me now, a leg on either side. She’s grinding; I’m thrusting. She’s moaning; I’m groaning.

But we’re synced.

In.

Every.

Single.

Possible.

Way.

My hand finds the bottom of her dress, my fingers curling around the soft material. Once my hands make their way to her ass, she emits the sexiest sound I’ve ever heard in my entire goddamn life. I curse into her mouth, feeling my cock throb in the confines of my jeans.

Her fingers lace in my hair, gripping lightly as she grinds harder into me. Her movements—her sounds—all of it pushes me to the edge of explosion.

I pull back just in time. “Maddy.”

Her eyes snap open. They’re huge. “Huh?” She looks so damn confused.

“I want more. Of you. Of us. Of all of this.” I swallow nervously, trying to catch my breath. She stays silent while I anticipate her response.

Each second I wait my confidence fades.

She nods slowly. “Okay,” she whispers.

“Okay?”

She nods slowly, but she looks unsure. “So you want sex?”

I shake my head. “I don’t just want you physically, Maddy. I don’t just want your body. I want all of you.”

“Okay,” she whimpers.

I reach up and pull her mouth back to mine, kissing her gently. She lets out a sob, completely confusing me.

Her hot and cold, her sweet innocence...and then her complete and utter lust—it fucks with my head.