Jacob chuckled as he moved to sit on the bed. He rested his hands on his knees as he glanced around the room. I could tell that he was trying to look anywhere but at me, and that intrigued me. Suddenly, I wasn’t the only one who was struggling to figure out where we stood.

He was nervous.

I straightened, using my new-found discovery to fuel my confidence. If he was nervous, that had to mean something. I just had to get that something out of him without revealing how I felt about him. Because if I was wrong, I was in trouble.

“What were you going to say?” I asked at the same time he asked “What are you doing here?”

We both pinched our lips together and studied each other.

Finally, he sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “Why did you come in here, Ava? I think the interaction between me and your brother spoke for itself. We’re never going to be friends again. It’s over.”

I parted my lips. I wanted to say something. Give him a glimmer of hope. It was Christmas after all. Wasn’t this supposed to be a time of healing? Of magic? But then, I realized that Jacob didn’t want that. He was hurting, and the more I told him to just get over it, the worse it got.

So I shrugged and changed what I was going to say. “I know. Andrew is being a dork about this. He should be able to move on from whatever happened. I mean, after all, you two were best friends.” I chewed my lip. What was I supposed to say? If you don’t get along with my brother, nothing can happen between us?

Yeah, there was no way that was going to go over well.

When I brought my attention back to Jacob, his brows were furrowed and he was staring at me intensely. Like he was trying to figure me out or something.

I wrapped my arms around my knees and rested my chin on top of them. Did I want to show him how I felt? Did I want him to know that I couldn’t help but like him?

Maybe.

He sighed and shifted until he was lying on the bed, propped up by one elbow. “You really want your brother and me to be friends again, don’t you?”

I shrugged, grabbing the desk next to me and pushing myself into a spin. “What’s wrong with that?”

I got a few peeks at him as I spun around. He was watching me, and that annoying smile of his was back. When I finally forced myself to stop because it was making me sick, I found that he’d moved. Instead of lying on the bed, he’d pulled up another desk chair and was seated right next to me.

He winked at me as he began spinning himself. I giggled.

“You’re going to make yourself puke, like I’m about to,” I said, puffing my cheeks out.

He shrugged. “It looks fun,” he said as he spun himself faster and faster.

Not wanting to be bested by Jacob, I reached out and followed suit. Soon, I was spinning so fast that everything around me had become a blur. Just when I was pretty sure my brain couldn’t handle the centrifugal force, I stopped the chair and rose up onto my shaking legs.

“Where are you going?” Jacob called after me.

I shook my head. I just needed to get out of that chair.

“Hey, hang on, you’re super wobbly,” Jacob said, appearing next to me.

I felt his hand grab my arm, but he must have been just as unstable as I was because the room spun and we were both suddenly falling to the ground.

“Jacob!” I squealed as I landed smack dab on top of him. I heard the air leave his lungs in a giant whoosh. I squeezed my eyes shut, praying the world would stop spinning.

After a good minute, my head felt as if it were coming back together, so I peeked out. Jacob was lying with his head back and his eyes closed. He didn’t look miserable, like I felt. Instead, he looked…calm.

It wasn’t until now that I realized his hands were wrapped around my upper arms. The warmth from his fingers permeated through my sweater.

My heart began to pound. I knew he could feel it. I could feel it in my toes.

“Jacob,” I whispered, not sure what to think of any of this. Did he like this? Did he want me to stay?

He lifted his head and squinted at me. “You okay?” he asked. His voice had dropped to a low rumble. I tried not to read into that as I nodded.

“I think so.”

He smiled, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes. But he didn’t move away from me. His hands were still on my arms, and our bodies were touching, and he seemed perfectly okay with that.

How could I not read into that? Did he like me being close?

I should really get up.

“I think I’m going to be okay now,” I said. My voice was barely above a whisper. I think it was partly because I didn’t want him to let me go, and partly because I was nervous to give my mouth free reign. There were way too many thoughts rolling around in my mind, and I needed to leave before I spoke any of them.

In one swift movement, Jacob rolled me off his chest and then propped himself up right next to me with his arm draped over my stomach. Now, I was sandwiched between him and the floor.

“Ava,” he said, reaching up and brushing my hair away from my face.

My heart was pounding so hard, I couldn’t breathe. Or maybe it was because the weight of his arm was cutting my lung capacity in half. I didn’t care. I didn’t want him to go anywhere.

I met his gaze and responded, “Jacob.”

He smiled, and I could see his flirty side emerge. “Have you really never kissed anyone before?”

I broke our gaze to stare up at the ceiling. I forced a contemplative expression, hoping I came across as thoughtful—and perhaps teasing as well? If only I were that smooth.

I sucked my breath through my teeth and shook my head. “I don’t believe I ever said that.”

He studied me when I brought my gaze back to him. “Yeah, I think you said you’ve never been alone with a guy.”

I chuckled and shrugged. “It’s because I like to make out with guys when my parents are watching to give me pointers.” I waved my hand between his chest and mine. “Case in point.”

His brow furrowed, and then he smiled. “Should we go downstairs, then?”

Whoa. Where was this conversation going? “Why?” I whispered, my confidence deflating.

“Because I’d like to kiss you again.”

I swallowed. “Really?”

He leaned closer. I became very aware of every point of contact between us. His leg was pressed against mine. His arm was warm againt my sweater. His chest—his hard and well-defined chest—was pressed against mine.

And then there were his lips. They were perfectly shaped and were coming very close to my own.

“Are you sure?” I asked as I tipped my face up to his.

He hesitated, meeting my gaze.

“I mean, if you decide you don’t want to, I totally understand. After all, sometimes I say things that I don’t mean, and I always wish I could take them back.” I really needed to stop talking.

He chuckled as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine. It was such a soft and gentle movement, but my whole body responded. My heart pounded and my lips tingled. I even closed my eyes so I could memorize the feeling of his lips meeting mine.

“Ava,” he said.

I tipped my face closer to his but didn’t open my eyes. “Um hmm,” I responded.

“You talk too much.”

Just as I began to protest, Jacob leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. With that one movement, all I could think about was how right all of this felt.

How right Jacob felt.

The guy that I had crushed on for so long was kissing me. Me! And there weren’t any parents around to pressure him into doing it.

Excitement coursed through my veins as I lifted my hands and ran them through his hair. He responded by pressing closer to me. I was pretty sure he was crushing my lungs, but I didn’t care. I’d rather pass out than have him stop kissing me.

He pulled back, and I tried not to groan. I glanced up at him. My gaze was hazy and my lips felt puffy. Why had he stopped? Did I do something wrong?

“Ava,” he said.

I studied him. “Yeah?”

“I like you.”

My ears were ringing. Like, I was pretty sure he’d just said that he liked me, but I wasn’t sure. Just in case I misheard him, I asked, “Really?”

He reached up and fiddled with my hair. “Yeah. I do.” His gaze returned to mine. “Do you… How do you feel about me?”

Oh. Right. I was supposed to respond. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, gathering my courage. “Promise not to think I’m a dork?”

He chuckled. I loved the fact that I could feel it against my chest. “Sure.”

I refused to open my eyes as I confessed my crush. “I’ve liked you for…a long time.” I peeked under my lids, hoping to gauge his reaction. He looked amused.

“I knew it.”

I whipped my eyes open and shoved his shoulder, which barely moved him. He laughed and dropped his chest back so he was next to me again.

“You did not.” I protested.

He shrugged. “I can read you like a book, Rogers.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, well…” Wow. That was my response? It must be his kisses. They were my brain’s kryptonite.

He leaned closer and pressed his lips against my forehead. “I like that you’re open,” he said as he pulled back and studied me.

Finding confidence that I didn’t know I had, I reached up and pulled him down, crushing my lips against his.

This time, I didn’t think. I just felt. I wanted to know everything there was to know about Jacob Stephenson. He’d been such a mystery to me, and finally, he was opening up.

Jacob deepened the kiss. Everything felt perfect. Everything felt right.

That should have been the first signal to me that something was about to go wrong.

“What is going on in here?” Mrs. Stephenson’s voice cut through the air like a hot knife.

I froze. My body instantly went numb.

“What are you doing to her?” she asked, her voice coming out shrill.

I winced and sprang away from Jacob. My gaze made its way to the doorway, where I saw Mom and Mrs. Stephenson standing there, slack-jawed.

“Ava,” Mom breathed. She had her hand pressed to her chest as she stared at me. “Are you okay?”

Mrs. Stephenson scoffed as she took a few steps into the room. “I’m so sorry.” She shot Mom a sympathetic expression. “Jacob…I…” Mrs. Stephenson swallowed. “We should have known better than to bring him here.” She held up her hands. “I didn’t…”

I scrambled to my feet. “It’s not what it looks like. We were spinning in the chairs and fell down. Then we…” How was I supposed to explain the fact that we were just kissing? That we both just happened to land perfectly on the other person’s mouth?

Mrs. Stephenson stepped closer to me. She had her arms out and began ushering me away from Jacob. “Come here, sweetheart. We know it’s not your fault.” She shoved me toward my mom and then turned her attention toward Jacob.

Jacob looked stunned as he stared at his mom. “I wasn’t…I mean, that’s not what happened.” He ran his hands through his hair, and I could see the pain written across his face. He was hurting.

And I was just standing here, doing nothing.

“I kissed him,” I said, stepping forward and ignoring the fact that Mom was trying to pull me back.

Jacob held up his hand to silence me. “It’s no use,” he said under his breath before turning to face Mrs. Stephenson. “You’re right, Mom. I am a bad influence. You should have never brought me here.” He stepped forward. “I’m sorry, Ava,” he said, tipping his face toward me without looking at me.

I was flabbergasted. It was one thing to take the blame for eating some cookies. But taking the blame for our kiss was just so…frustrating. It made me so mad that every rational thought flew from my mind. All I could think about was the fact that he was negating everything he’d just said to me.

A guy who liked me would stand up to his parents. He would fight for me—for us. He wouldn’t just walk away. He wouldn’t let his mom say things about him—about us—that weren’t true. And if he wasn’t going to do any of those things, then I was. I wasn’t chicken.

“Mrs. Stephenson!” I finally blurted out. As I stood there, my brain literally screeched to a halt.

Everyone was staring at me, expecting me to continue. And I wanted to. Oh, how I wanted to. But nothing, no rational argument, would form in my brain.

Mrs. Stephenson’s expression morphed into one of understanding. “It’s okay, sweetie. We understand. Jacob can be very persuasive.”

That was true, but that wasn’t the problem.

“But…”

Mom stepped forward and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Come on, Ava. Let his mom take care of it.”

I turned to stare at her. How could she just stand by and let this happen? It was ridiculous. She had to know that. “Mom?”

Mom gave me a stern look. One that said, I’m not going to argue about this.

I sighed and turned back to the door just to find Jacob and Mrs. Stephenson were gone. When I glanced back and saw Mom’s sympathetic look, I lost it.

My body began to shake. Maybe it was because of my anger. I suddenly felt really cold, and my knees buckled under me. Mom had to help me limp over to the bed.

“Ava,” Mom said, helping me to sit down. “What’s going on?”

I sank onto the comforter. I paused for a moment to gather my strength, and then I turned to her. “What’s the matter with you?” I asked.

Mom pulled back a bit to study me. “What are you talking about?”

I scoffed. She was so good at playing naive. “How can you let Mrs. Stephenson talk about Jacob like that?” I leaned toward her. “I kissed Jacob. Me.” I thrust my finger at my chest.

There. It had taken me a minute, but I finally found my voice. If only Jacob had been around to hear it.