I had heard people talk about the way a kiss, especially a first kiss felt. I had felt "nice" kisses but I always thought that further descriptions were just wishful, romantic nonsense. If anything, I had underestimated the power. Inside my chest, my heart fluttered lightly, course blood quickly through my body. Along my arteries and all my nerves, electrical impulses seemed to shoot. Every spot on my body felt like it was pulsing with raw energy and the overall whole felt like something more. Despite this charge, my body felt loose, relaxed like I'd never felt before. In fact, I felt like my body had melted into Riley's kiss. I lacked any form except for the way my lips conformed to hers.
When her lips responded to my kiss, matching my lock, I felt my knees grow weak and my head grew foggy. The rest of the world sort of faded away. Everything that was not contained within the skirt-shaped light above our heads was an abstraction, an idea. The only thing in the entire world was us, shivering slightly in the cold. Our lips were pressed together and I could smell wine mixed with perfume. My hand still rested gently on Riley's elbow and we leaned towards one another but our bodies didn't touch. It was...perfect and we stayed that way for a long while.
Finally, our kiss broke and I opened my eyes as I pulled away slightly. Riley's eyes were still closed and she looked angelic, innocent. Eventually her large blue eyes fluttered open, but her body stayed relatively limp and relaxed.
"I've never had a kiss like that," I said.
"Me neither," Riley responded, if felt strange to talk. Like we'd become something different than we'd been just moments before. But what did we do now? I knew what my body wanted. But what did Riley want? I decided to be forthright.
"Do you want to...come back to my place?" I asked nervously. Part of me knew she would say yes, but I was still not comfortable in all of this. Beyond the fact that none of it felt real. Riley cooed slightly rested her head on my shoulder.
"I only ever had this kind of opportunity once before and I blew it," she said, "I don't want to blow it again. My apartment is only two blocks away." She lifted her head again and looked at me. She had this playful smirk on her face and I must've returned it. In an instant, Riley's hands slipped down off of my body. She quickly grabbed my hand and started to run. I didn't even think, I just followed after her.
We ran pell mell down the street, heedless of everything else in the universe. I could hear Riley laughing as she ran and watched the exquisite form of her body as she moved. I laughed along with her and enjoying the ride. We sprinted back past the restaurant where we'd met. And then across a side street. Riley picked up speed now, running faster and my 9-year-older workaholic legs struggled to keep up. We ran through another intersection and I heard a car horn blare at us but didn't see it.
In few moments we ran up to tan brick building. Riley threw the door open and we ran inside. There was a somewhat large lobby with four elevators, two on either side. Riley ran to the middle of the room and pushed the button, jerking me across the floor panting and giggling and I flopped around wildly. The elevator did not instantly arrive and so she pulled me gasping, farther into the room. She opened up a set of doors.
"Just the second floor," she said and started to drag me up the stairs. The fact that we were so close gave me a second wind and I pounded up the winding staircase. A few seconds later we spilled out onto the second floor of the apartment building. Riley moved quickly to a door, presumably hers, and stopped.
"Shit," she said.
"What?"
"Let my purse and keys at the restaurant," she explained. I felt a draining feeling. This was going to fall apart. What was I doing? "Fuck it," she said and dropped to her knees. I wondered if she expected me to make love to her right there (and I was tempted). But she lifted up her welcome mat and retrieved a key. She quickly got up, slammed it into her lock and opened the door.