Back to Ryder's P.O.V.
I stared into Corey's eyes unmovingly. "What?"
His hands brought me a little bit closer to him, and I could feel the heat of his body as well as the intensity of his gaze. "I would like to kiss you, Ryder. But I promised myself that I wouldn't try to kiss you until I was certain that you wanted me to. You're so hard to read. So, I finally gave up and decided that I should just ask you." His dark eyes intensified. "Can I kiss you?" he repeated.
This isn't how I'd imagined my first kiss going. I figured that it would be spontaneous, random, unexpected. But he was asking my permission; another part that I hadn't thought of: the boy trying to kiss me was Corey. I mean, he was definitely one of the only boys I had ever really gotten along with for more than a few minutes, but I had never thought that my first kiss would be given to him at a dance that I hadn't originally even planned on going to. I realized that he really was waiting for permission, and I barely felt my lips move as I replied. "Yes."
Corey moved toward me agonizingly slowly, then finally, after one more small hesitation, his lips pressed against mine.
Three things happened right then. One: heat shot through every inch of my body. Two: I had just changed the friendship I shared with Corey, possibly forever. And three...I considered the possibility of falling in love for the first time in my life.
His arms wove around me, wrapping around my waist and pulling me the rest of the way against him so that I was pressed against him. His lips moved against mine, and after a moment, instinct kicked in enough to help me kiss him back. When his lips finally parted from mine, he kept his forehead against mine, and we stood there quietly, just enjoying the closeness. Corey's hand came and cupped my cheek gently, and I finally remembered that my eyes were closed.
When I opened them, he was already looking at me. I bit my lip to force myself to close my mouth.
"You're so beautiful, Ryder," he whispered, looking me straight in the eye. His thumb brushed across my cheek bone and his lips came against mine once more, kissing me slowly and gingerly like he had just moments ago.
I knew I was blushing, and I didn't care. In that moment, nothing mattered. Nothing except for him, and me. Nothing else even existed right then. There was only him. His heat. His face. His eyes. His scent. It was all him. When our lips parted again, I let out a shaky breath, just then realizing that I might have been holding my breath the whole time. Damn I hoped he hadn't noticed that. Wait...were you even meant to breathe when you kissed? I had no idea. But, again, that didn't matter right then. All that mattered...was him.
"You forgot to breathe," he whispered, laughing quietly.
"Couldn't," I replied, blushing as I tried to reign in my pulse.
He smiled and finally moved his face away from mine. At the same time it disappointed me, I knew that we couldn't just stay like that forever. No matter how much I may have wanted to. The hand that was still pinning me against him began to release me, and his hand fell from my cheek slowly. "Do you want to go back inside?" he suggested.
"Too hot in there," I said quietly. "I like it out here better."
"I'm beginning to like it here too," he replied just as quietly. Corey's forehead touched mine again, both of us smiling.
I had just given my first kiss to Corey.
* * * * *
"Yeah...remember how you told me to tell you about my first kiss?" I asked in to the phone. "Well...it happened. I finally kissed someone. Technically he kissed me, actually, but is there even a difference?"
"Yes, there's a difference," Devon said, excitement clear in his voice. "But that's not what matters right now! Who was it, Ry? Oh my cheese and rice, was it Corey?"
"First, who says 'cheese and rice'? Second, yeah, it was."
He fell silent for a moment. "Don't lose more than one first tonight, alright, Ryder?" he said seriously. "I could see it in his eyes that he...well, you know, wanted you. Just keep it in your pants and I'll be approving of you having kissed him tonight."
I snorted. "He went home."
"Good girl."
I laid down on my bed. I felt slightly guilty about lying to him. Corey eyed me from the corner of my bed. He couldn't hear what Devon was saying, but he could obviously hear my replies. "I'm not a dog, Devon." I couldn't help but smile. My cousin was nuts, and a little over protective, and gay enough that his favorite flavor of chap stick was probably dick, but I couldn't help but love him more than anything.
"Hey, go get some rest, Ryder."
"Okay. Night, Devon."
"Night Ryder." He paused. "Night Corey!" he yelled loudly enough that I yanked the phone away from my ear.
I grinned. He could always tell when I was lying.
I clicked the end button on my phone and looked at Corey. "So," I said, uncertain of what to say now.
"Well, there is a difference," Corey informed me as he moved closer to me. "When you kiss someone, you're the one to engage the kiss. When you get kissed, the other person is the one to initiate it." His finger trailed across my jaw line. "Personally I think it's unfair that I've kissed you twice, while you haven't kissed me at all."
"Well, it's not like I really had the opportunity." A few seconds after Corey had kissed me, Kelsey had run up to me, squealing about how she 'knew it' and about how she had been watching us from the window of the gym. Creepy little midget. Gotta love her, though. "Kelsey was a bit...distracting." I laughed.
"You don't find me distracting?" he asked quietly, his face mere inches from mine.
"I find you extremely distracting," I admitted.
He smiled victoriously, almost pressing his lips to mine, but pulling back last second.
"What?"
"You're going to kiss me," he said simply. "I'm not going to kiss you until you kiss me first."
"You're confusing."
"Yes, and you're stalling."
Without hesitation, I kissed him. My lips went against his a little harder than I had intended though, which resulted in a strange pleasure-pain mixture in my lips as I kissed him.
He gasped a bit when I kissed him so roughly, but his lips immediately intensified against mine.
He was misreading it. I hadn't intended to kiss him so hard. Trying to soften the kiss, I pulled back a little bit, but his hand went to my hair and held my face against his. Not that I was complaining. This way of kissing was very satisfying. Just a little bit too intense for what I had been trying to do when I kissed him. Corey moved so that he was slightly on top of me as I kissed him, and the feeling of him on top of me made my cheeks turn bright red. Too fast, Corey. I'm not trying to... My thoughts drained away as he kissed me, gradually coaxing my lips apart so that his tongue could flick across my lower lip.
Too fast.
The sensation of his tongue against my lip made me gasp quietly, but he just continued kissing me. I felt teeth brush my lip, then nip at it gently, but his lips quickly smoothed the pleasure-pain that had resulted away.
Too fast.
I gently put my hand on his chest and pushed a little.
He pulled back, looking down at me intensely, his eyes a bit glazed over. We were both panting quietly. "What is it?"
"You bit me," I said, not knowing how to say what I was thinking.
Corey smirked. "You've been telling me to do that for a long time, to be fair."
"I know. I liked it."
He dipped his head to kiss me again, but I pushed on him lightly again, causing him to look down at me once more. "What?"
"I don't um. I don't want to...you know."
His dark green eyes flooded with confusion. "Do you not want me to kiss you?"
"What? No I definitely want that. I just meant...you know...boundaries." I cleared my throat awkwardly, looking away a little. "Um...the whole kissing thing is great, but...I, um...don't...exactly want to..."
Suddenly, understanding flickered across his face and his eyes softened, his thumb brushing over my cheek. "You don't want to go much farther. That's okay. I can respect that if that's where you want your boundary, Ryder. I won't push you any farther than you're willing to go with me, I promise." Corey smiled down at me.
Relief flooded my veins. It hadn't been as awkward as I thought it would have been. I was worried that he would be angry or offended that I didn't want to have sex with him, but he appeared to be completely understanding. "Thank you."
"No problem," he murmured. He kissed me one more time, his lips more gentle this time and less hungry than before, and I felt him smile against my lips. "I have to be home tonight. My mother told me that if I spent the night here after Prom that she would be calling my extremely Christian uncle to lecture me about premarital relations."
I laughed. "That sounds fun."
"Not in the slightest," he said, laughing too. Corey leaned up, kissed my forehead, and smiled at me one more time. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"
"Alright."
"Goodnight, Ryder."
"Goodnight."
He got up, smoothing out his outfit and sending me one more glance before he left.
What am I going to do with you, Corey? was my last thoughts as I drifted to sleep.