“Sure,” I said, trying to speak louder, but it came across as a whisper.
He smiled anyway and then led the way. The upstairs was slightly cooler than below, and Rider seemed to know where we were heading, because he went straight to the second door and rapped his knuckles off it.
“Yo,” came the response.
“It’s me. You busy? I got Mallory with me.”
“Yeah, give me a sec.”
There was a sound of something creaking and then a girl giggled. My brows flew up, and Rider winced. “Hey, we can come back,” he called out, grinning at me. “Don’t want—”
The door swung open. Hector was straightening out his shirt with one hand. We had so interrupted something. “Nah. No problem. Come on in.”
“You sure?”
Hector nodded as he opened the door the rest of the way. A dark-skinned girl sat on the edge of the futon. She smiled when we walked in and gave a little wave.
A candle was burning on a dresser, and it reminded me of sugar cookies. I wondered whose room this was. Then again, it didn’t really look like a bedroom.
“Have you met Rider?” Hector asked the girl, and she nodded. “Cool. Uh, this is Sheila and that’s Mallory.”
Sheila smiled. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I murmured.
Hector walked over to a dark red beanbag and plopped down in it. “So when did you guys get here?” he asked as we sat on the futon next to Sheila.
“Just a little bit ago,” Rider answered.
Hector glanced over at me before continuing. “Everyone still downstairs?”
He nodded. “Rico and the guys are playing one of the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ games. Looks pretty serious.”
Chuckling, Hector reached up and snagged a clear glass off the small end table. “Sounds like normal. You guys planning to hang out for a while?”
“Maybe.” Rider knocked his knee off mine. “We might catch a movie or something. Not sure.”
“Sounds good. You catch the game earlier?” Hector asked, and as the boys started talking about a basketball game, I glanced over at Sheila. She was looking down at her phone, scanning what appeared to be Facebook.
There was so much I could say right now, so many questions I could ask. Options were limitless, but my tongue felt heavy. I started to look away, but stopped myself. That wasn’t what I needed to do. I needed to speak. I needed to not do what I normally did, which was just shut down.
I forced my lips and tongue to move. “So...do you go to Lands High?” There. I did it. And I managed not to smile like a fool, too.
Sheila looked up. “No.” She grinned. “I actually go to Howard University. I’m just home visiting for the weekend.”
“Oh.” Surprised, I glanced over at Hector, but neither of the guys were paying attention to us. “Um, what...what are you studying?”
She hooked a long leg over the other. “Education. This is my first year.”
“That’s...that’s cool. Did you...always want to go into education?”
“Pretty much,” she replied, and I was envious, because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Or maybe I was, but Carl and Rosa weren’t exactly thrilled with the idea. “What about you? You planning college?”
I nodded as I set my soda on the floor. “University of Maryland. I’m not...sure what I’ll study yet.”
“You’ll figure it out. There are juniors at my college who still don’t know what they want to do.” Her phone dinged. “So you all go to the same school?”
I nodded. The conversation between us slowed and I focused on what the guys were talking about. They’d moved on from basketball to football, and I lost track of time. Maybe an hour passed when Hector rose and so did Sheila.
“We’re heading downstairs,” Hector announced, walking to the door.
“We’ll be down in a minute.”
Hector’s grin was sly as he closed the door behind them. “Sure. Sure. Take your time.”
I twisted toward Rider. “Why—”
I didn’t get a chance to finish speaking. His mouth was on mine in a sweet, all-too-quick kiss.
“Proud of you,” he murmured against my lips, and I smiled, because I knew what he was talking about. The small conversation I held with Sheila wasn’t much, but it was a big deal. I was out of my element, but I hadn’t just sat there, paralyzed.
Placing my hands on his chest, I smiled against his lips. “She seems really nice.”
“Yeah.” He kissed the corner of my mouth. “I’m pretty sure we totally interrupted them.”
I giggled. “Yes. I think we did, too.”
“We’re such terrible friends.” He cupped my cheek. “But you know what?”
“What?”
“I’m so going to take advantage of the fact that we’re alone.” He paused, and my stomach dipped like I was on a roller coaster. “What do you think about that?”
I lowered my hand to his knee. “I think...I think I’d like that.”
“Good.” He tilted his head. “Because I think I’m really, really going to like that.”
Rider kissed me then, and it was slow and soft, and it warmed my blood. I didn’t know how long the velvety, supple kiss went on, but after endless moments it changed, deepened. His tongue moved against mine, and I...I’d never been kissed like that before. Never felt anything like that before.
He made this noise in the back of his throat, and my heart was thundering in my chest as he leaned into me. Somehow, I ended up on my back and Rider was beside me on the futon. His hand slid down my arm, and it was just him and me. I wasn’t thinking about this odd room or the people downstairs. I wasn’t thinking about anything other than how he made me feel, how he kissed me, touched me, like I was something precious and invaluable to him.