The One with the Kiss Cam

by Cindy Steel

I was not big on touch, though some people were and thought little of it. I was probably being too hard on him.

The deliberately casual way his skin would brush mine made my red-flag receptor ping.

It felt as though the roller coaster ride at the amusement park had ended. An abrupt stop right where it had begun, the doors opening to let the dizzy passengers off. Excuse me, sir, I’d like to go on that ride again please.

his forearms flexing in all the right ways. Must think of something to say.

The retort itching to leave my lips halted before it could escape. I shouldn’t have been flirting with him like this. I usually didn’t flirt with anyone like this. I was moving to North Dakota in three days. It seemed dishonest to lead him on—unless, of course, he was just being friendly.

There it was again…that yearning to be reckless. To do something off-kilter. Throw my tidy world off its axis. There had never been a guy that had so much sway over me. Was it like a gateway drug?

When he threw me a helpless glance, I could only turn away, hiding my laughter behind my Dr. Pepper.

hands. “How’s your Dr. Pepper?” I looked down. “It’s fine.” “Just fine? I thought there was a cult following with that stuff.” He self-righteously took a sip of his Coke. “You’re one to talk,” I said. “There isn’t much a DP can’t fix, but it’s better when it falls.”

“There’s a gas station by my apartment, and when I’m going to treat myself, I get a large Dr. Pepper with light ice in a cup. It’s better when it falls out of a fountain.” His lips broke out into a wide smile. “Good to know. Here I am just drinking a Coke from a can like an idiot.”

“Are you trying to lure me in with your sexy farm-boy talk?” He curled into me slightly. “Is it working? Are farm boys what do it for you?”

“Well, either way…” I spread my hands out wide. “If I were to stick around longer than tonight, you’d probably be disappointed.”

My frame of mind was a complicated mixture of dying for some interaction between us and staying hidden in the corner.

I wanted to hide away in a room somewhere and relive every delicious second of the twenty spent in his company.

He’d say something like, ‘Wow, you’re cleaning toilets now?’ And I’d say, ‘Yeah, isn’t life crazy?’ We’d both remember fondly our night all those years ago and breathe a sigh of relief that things turned out like they did.

A silent battle waged between us then.

How does one tell another person that, platonically, I couldn’t stand any more pictures of him and his girlfriend in my feed? Platonically.

He looked so good it almost hurt my eyes to look at him. What was it about him in a suit that sent my heart pounding?

Duke would notice, until I pushed those thoughts away. I didn’t care if Duke liked my hair. And the second I did care, I vowed I’d quit.

I’d have to circle back to over-thinking at a later date.

And then there were notes that definitely didn’t feel like they took place anywhere near the friend zone. Duke: Okay. No more curling your hair. My productivity level is at a big fat zero today. Me: Fine. No more wearing your blue suit. Duke: That’s my favorite. Me: Kiss it goodbye.

Intimate knowledge of someone meant a sharper sword to yield in the divorce proceedings. It meant a harsher tongue to wound and inflict acute pain in an argument.

My heart burned with a rush of excitement. We needed to stop. He needed to stop.

It was disconcerting to know that the minute he got me alone, all it took was one smile and his knowing eyes on me and my body quite literally melted.

I begged my brain to stay with me. My heart was probably a lost cause, but I was toast without my head.

There was a time for everything. A time to live in the moment and a time to live in the real world. The real world was calling now.

“I don’t want anything from you beyond a tiny fraction of worry to leave your face.”

My family needed me. They loved me, but they needed me. Duke didn’t need me. He wanted me, and that made all the difference.

Why didn’t people tell each other how they felt all the time? The endorphins were unreal.

“You gonna make me come the whole way?” he asked. “I’ve always wanted to see if a guy would go the full hundred.”