I was scared.
Terrified, really. Terrified because…for one moment, one glorious, heart-stopping moment, I wanted him to kiss me.
And Chad's eyes didn't contradict my thought. But maybe I got it wrong. Chad's face was always so good at hiding all emotion. But today, it was like his mask had been ripped off, and I could see the only desire it beheld…
To kiss me back.
Heat.
In the pulse of his fingers, pressing into my wrist, pumping a burn into me.
In the rain, pouring into the car in buckets now, but we took no notice.
In our gaze, seeming to last centuries.
The heat was near unbearable, so much now I almost had to pull away. But I didn't get the chance. Because Chad's passionate eyes soon turned cold.
"Kill you!" he insisted. "I said kill you."
His eyes, wide and averting, tried once again to hide how he really felt. But it was too late. He'd already showed me how he felt, and it was too late to deny it.
Even knowing that, it didn't matter. The heat dwindled…like a forest fire dying to just ash in seconds. Yes, it was that fast.
Then, a new heat took over.
Not in the way that I wanted to kiss him, but in an angry kind of way.
I wriggled out of his grip, and laid my hand on the door handle. "I'd rather be dead than stay here with you!"
I couldn't breathe, my heart was hammering so hard. My breaths were choppy, and my whole body quaking and shivering as I burst out of the jeep, and stormed off in the opposite direction of where we were headed.
What the hell are you doing? I voice screamed inside my head. But I already knew I was an idiot.
The wind slowed me down to about half speed, but determination and the angry heat inside of me kept me walking into the storm, along the highway, having absolutely no idea where I was going.
The next thing I knew, I was taking in mouthfuls of mud, sprawled on the ground, wind knocked out of my chest. I'd slipped, and I closed my eyes, wishing with everything I had that he hadn't seen me.
He had.
His extended hand and crouched figure in front of me offered to help me up. But I didn't take it.
Fist clenched with mud as ammo, I threw it at him. And nailed him in the chest.
But for some reason; some odd, ridiculous reason I didn't understand in the least, I burst out in laughter. And I couldn't stop. Or breathe.
Chad must have thought I'd gone mental.
Because I could NOT STOP LAUGHING!
Until Chad threw a mud ball back at me.
Normally, I'd be pissed if I got dirt in my hair before a party. But oddly, now, I didn't care the least little bit.
MUD BALL FIGHT! Something inside of me screamed, and I agreed. This meant war.
I scrambled to my feet, grinning stupidly, and supplying my grip once more with goop.
Chad ran toward the jeep, laughing as I tried to nail him with more mud.
Missed.
"Ha ha!" Chad laughed, scooping up mud in his palms before I could. "I've got you now!"
"No!" I squealed, giggles exploding from me. I tried to run, but not before a good amount of mud splattered all over my back. And then I slipped again.
As Chad tried to make a run for it past me, I got him in the face.
"Aww!" he laughed, turning his head at the blow. "You've asked for it, Monroe!"
I sprinted as hard as I could for the truck, hastily snatched up a fist full of mud, and turned.
Chad's hand grabbed my wrist, countering the mud attact, holding it in midair.
His other hand pressed against the body of the car.
I was pinned. Pinned against a jeep in the fading light, with rain washing the caked mud from my face, and Chad so close to me…we were nearly nose-to-nose.
Our laughter faded to hard breathing.
Chad took one step closer, and this time, I wasn't fooled.
Chad was daring me to kiss him.