Once again that weird feeling came back to me that I had experienced this before; I just couldn’t shake the sense that the studio and Sunday lunches at my folk’s place weren’t the only places I’d spent time with her.

“Hey,” I said, starting toward her. I couldn’t keep the goofy grin off my face, and had to shove my hands in the pockets of my hoodie to keep from reaching out to touch her.

“I…um…modi.” She closed her eyes, muttering under her breath as though she needed a second to self-lecture, then she grinned at me. “I wanted to talk to you for a second.”

“Yeah, sure.” I looked toward the car and nodded. “Hop in. It’s getting chilly out here.”

She hesitated for just a moment, then stepped back when I opened the door for her. I could sense how wary she was, not nervous, exactly, but definitely a little put off. Maybe it was because we were seeing each other outside of the lake house or the studio. Maybe it was just that she didn’t know what to think since this was the first time we’d spoken since I’d kissed her. I thought about asking her why she hadn’t returned my brief, apologetic texts, but decided I didn’t want to make her even more skittish. She was already on guard, folding her fingers together with her thumbs tapping.

I got in the driver’s side, then turned to her. “Aly, listen, I’m sorry about the other night.” One hand stayed in my lap, the other on the door as I leaned against it. I shot for cool and relaxed, and Aly, it seemed, tried for distraction. Her thumbs kept tapping. We were like two fourteen-year-olds shoved in the closet for Seven Minutes In Heaven, completely clueless as to what to do. “I didn’t mean…”

“Me zanmi, Ransom, stop.” Aly kept her face forward, gaze staring out past the dashboard. “I didn’t come here to talk about you kissing me.”

Her face was impassive. Though her words came out clipped, I didn’t think she was angry. I had no idea why that bothered me. “Okay. So why did you come here?” Her hair was so long, one wave brushed past her elbow and fell against the empty seatbelt. It took effort not to touch it.

“I love your family.” My gaze slipped up to meet hers, but I didn’t speak, struck silent by her confession. “A month in and I’m completely stupid over your folks and Koa.”

That tightness pulling the muscles around my mouth lessened and I nodded, understanding what she meant. “They’re easy to love.”

She agreed, moving her head once. “And, well… I get that the dance, the music, um, sometimes all that sensation can be overwhelming.”

In the back of my mind, could hear the voice whispering awful things, terrible things, about Aly and her intentions. Things I knew were not true. She wasn’t scheming. She didn’t have agendas and wasn’t a gold-digger. When that voice grew louder, I blocked it out by staring at Aly’s mouth and tried to concentrate on what she was saying.

“I love reading to Koa because he’s so young he doesn’t know doing character voices isn’t cool.” She hadn’t stopped tapping her thumbs together and looked down at them like she needed something other than my stare to focus on. “I like listening to Kona talk about CPU when your parents were kids there and all the stupid shit he pulled his first season in the league.” A small smile then and I leaned back, not thinking about why my gaze wouldn’t move away from all those long waves. “I love hearing Keira play her guitar or talk about the places she’s seen, the people she’s met and how at the end of the day none of that is as fascinating to her as watching Koa sleep or hearing you laugh.”

Aly turned her head to look at me. She wore pale pink lipstick and that bottom lip gleamed against the console light.

“The thing is, I wouldn’t want anything to screw this up.”

“What would?”

She ignored me then, looking out of the window until I reached over with one hand and stopped her thumbs from tapping, forcing her to glance back at me. “I like you.” She moved closer and I didn’t take my hand from her thumbs. “I like that you’re so willing to help me out and how you see that the audition, the dance, are so important to me. But it’s not just me, I know. You help your parents, and Leann and Tristian–hell, I know you’d do anything for him. And I…”

I couldn’t resist any longer. I reached up and threaded a finger through one of the loose waves of her hair. Aly immediately stopped talking.

“And you don’t want anything to screw that up.” Her chin moved down and she settled back into the seat, eyes lowering again as I watched a few strands fall against my palm. “You think me kissing you would be what, exactly?”

“Um…a…a start to all the good getting screwed up.” I barely made out her words and wasn’t conscious of her hesitation. I only knew that those pink lips were wet, that the thick, soft hair between my fingers felt like silk and Aly smelled like something so delicious that my mouth watered.

We both unconsciously leaned in as though some invisible line pulled us closer and closer together. I was almost at her mouth, had my hand on her face, could feel the warmth of her small breaths that smelled like mint. I wanted to nibble on that bottom lip just to see if it tasted as good as it looked.

“We… me zanmi you smell good, but…we have to be friends.”

“Friends?” That yellow caution light went up and I didn’t even tap my breaks. Hell, I’ve always been a “yellow light, go faster” kind of driver. “You want to be my friend, Aly?” She made a noise that could’ve have been a no, probably was a yes. Then her breath got faster and I didn’t take my hand from her face. “Just my friend?”

“Yea…”

Then I kissed my friend Aly right on the mouth, not stopping to think about it, having no control over my body as my teeth smoothed across her bottom lip. And when that small, soft tongue slipped against my lips, I released a sigh, all desperate and hungry, that I hadn’t expected. Right then, I forgot about guilt and shame and the fact that Aly was supposed to be someone I knew, not someone I wanted. I guided her face up, loving how she tasted like peppermint and felt like cotton candy.

“Friends…Ransom,” and she kissed me back like she couldn’t control herself, like someone else was making her lips work against mine. And then, just like that, Aly stopped, pulling away from me, her scarf shaking with the effort of her breathing. “Ah…modi…poupou.”

“Aly…”

She shook her head like she wouldn’t listen, like something else needed to be said and she didn’t want me interrupting. “I’m going to tell you something and don’t you damn well laugh at me.” She moved her eyes, catching my nod of agreement. “This…this whatever it is, I chalk it up to being alone for…well, a while.”

“How long is a while?”

She sliced her gaze back to me and I didn’t press.

“You’ve been without…” she sat back, her breathing slowing. “We’ve both been alone. That’s what I’m saying.” Aly turned her body, taking my hand, though she hesitated, like she wasn’t sure she should touch me at all. “I want to be your friend. I won’t deny that I…well,” one shift of her gaze and she kept her chin down, but I still caught her grin. “Your mouth makes me think the worst…best…filthy things.”

Aly treated me to that elusive smile again when my laugh broke the tension in the car. “Right back at you.”

After a moment, Aly’s face returned to normal—mouth relaxed, but unsmiling. “When I’m around you, things can be…” she shook her head as though she hoped closing her eyes would somehow bring the right word forward.

“Overwhelming?” I asked, realizing I understood where she was coming from.

“Me zanmi, wi. Overwhelming. It’s…it has to be the dance, right? I mean, the Kizomba, the flirting and us being lonely and being around your family, hell, the sexual chemistry coming off your parents alone would make anyone…” She laughed when I wrinkled my nose. “Sorry,” she said, that laughter dimming. “I just mean that this isn’t anything something you or…I…I really want to explore. I know you’re busy and with happened to you before…”