Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 124135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
I looked up, and I saw bright greens and lilac purples dancing around us—the color of our kisses.
But it was too much. My chest tightened at the exertion, at the all too encompassing heaviness that was this kiss. I moved my head to tell him so, to break away, but in a second, Cromwell’s lips were back on mine. The minute I felt them, I was his. I sank back into the soft cushion beneath me and let him take my mouth. Cromwell’s tongue met mine, and he shifted his body until it lay over me. My hands moved to his back. His sweater had ridden up as he moved over me. My palms met warm skin, the feel of it heightening every sense I had.
“Cromwell,” I whispered. Orange flashed over the ceiling. “Cromwell,” I repeated, smiling when the same color returned. But that smile faded when I realized what we were doing. That I shouldn’t be here. Shouldn’t have let him kiss me. I should have walked away when I still had the chance.
I squeezed my eyes shut and hung on to him like I would never let him go. I deepened the kiss. I kissed him so I would never forget. I kissed him until he was imprinted on my soul.
I eventually pulled back, moving my hands up Cromwell’s body until my hands shadowed his and I cupped his cheeks. His lips were swollen from the kiss, and his stubbled cheeks were warm.
“I can’t.” My heart cracked in two at the confession. “We can’t do this.”
Cromwell searched my face. “Why?”
“I need to get home.”
Cromwell’s eyebrows pulled down in confusion. “Bonn—”
“Please.”
“Okay.”
He got up from the beanbag and moved silently across the room to the lights. I flinched at the invading brightness. In the light, the walls were just black. The magic had gone.
I watched Cromwell move around the room making sure everything was switched off. He came toward me, and as his eyes fell upon me, I couldn’t believe how someone could be so handsome. When he stopped, his feet at mine, he dropped a single long kiss on my forehead.
The room shimmered, and I felt a tear escape my eye. He went to move away, but I grabbed his wrists, savoring him just a little more. Cromwell looked down, a serious expression on his face. I never moved my eyes away. I kept my eyes on him as I moved in, shifting to my tiptoes. I didn’t let myself think this time; I just followed my heart and pressed my lips to his. It was the first time I’d ever initiated a kiss in my life. I would never have believed it would be with Cromwell Dean. But now that we were here, like this, suspended in this most perfect of moments, I knew it would never have been anyone but him.
As I pulled away, I let my forehead fall to his. I breathed him in, committing every second to memory. I lifted my head and met his eyes. A burning question was in my mind. “What did it look like to you?” I asked. “My song. The colors.”
Cromwell breathed in, then, eyes bright, said, “It illuminated the room.”
I sagged against him, resting my head on his chest, my arms around his waist. “It illuminated the room.”
Cromwell led me out of the museum and into his truck. No music played as we made our way home. We didn’t talk either. But it was a comfortable silence. I couldn’t speak. I had a million questions I wanted to ask him. But I didn’t. I had to leave this night exactly where it belonged. In the past. As a memory I’d keep to help me through the journey ahead.
“It illuminated the room…”
Cromwell pulled up in front of my dorm. I looked at the entrance with a sense of dread. When I was through that door, this would all end. Whatever this was. I still wasn’t sure myself.
Cromwell sat in his seat, his eyes on me. I could feel it. And I didn’t want to look his way. Because I knew that when I did, I had to end it.
“Cromwell,” I whispered, hands in my lap.
“Farraday.” I wished he hadn’t just said that. I liked the way he had always called me that. Only now when he said it, it was breathtaking to me. Just like his music.
“I can’t.” My voice sounded too loud in the old truck’s cabin. Cromwell didn’t ask what I couldn’t do. He knew what I meant. When I finally looked up at him, he was staring straight out of the window and his jaw was clenched. In that moment, he was the Cromwell I knew from the first days of school.
I squeezed my eyes shut, hating to see him this way. I didn’t want to hurt him. I had no idea what he thought of me, but by the way he’d acted this past week, what he did for me after the coffee house performance, and what he showed me tonight…I knew it had to be something real. And that kiss… “I…I can’t explain…”