Should my hands go here?

Is this okay?

Should I open my mouth more? Or less?

Logan was so nervous he couldn't get his mind to shut off.

Then suddenly Cassie sighed into him and he let himself go.

Everything in his life had been hard up until now, but this was easy. And fun. And freaking amazing.

He was vaguely aware of the fireworks ending when everyone stood up to leave. Cassie pulled away and looked around, her face flushed even in the moonlight.

"Should we head back?" she asked, looking around at the trickle of people walking past. 

Was she so eager to get away? His stomach lurched.

"Let's wait for all the cars to clear out." He didn't want to leave. Not yet.

She nodded and settled on her back.

"You can't even see the stars anymore through the smoke.” Her voice was soft and low, and something inside him rumbled in response.

He leaned back, slowly, his arm just inches from hers. As soon as he was settled she slipped her hand into his. A warm wave of relief washed over him.

"More like the sky in New York?" he asked, trying to get his heart rate to slow down. It had been on overdrive since the second their lips had touched.

"Hmm," was all she said and turned on her side to face him.

He twisted to look at her but the twinge in his shoulder stopped him. He grimaced and her forehead crinkled. 

“Does it still hurt a lot?”

He shook his head. He didn’t want to think about that night right now, other than as the night they met. He could never have imagined his life could change so much in such a short amount of time.

When she leaned over to place her hands on either side of his head and landed a gentle kiss on his lips, he reached up to tangle his hands in her hair. Their kisses deepened and the rumble inside of him turned into a roar. He wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the twinge in his shoulder to hold her tightly as their lips crashed into each other again and again.

A lot was hard in his life. He didn't have money, or a car, and had been working two jobs every summer just to be able to save enough to afford the necessities. He didn’t know if he’d be able to make it in New York at school, on his own. From everything Cassie had told him, it would be ten times harder to find and keep a job on top of all the schoolwork. Life was always going to be hard for him.

But this…this was easy.

He could have stayed there all night, but a buzz from her bag drew her out of the kiss. He let out a small groan and she gave him that heart-melting half-smile.

Her smile faded the instant she looked at her phone, however.

“I need to get back,” she said, standing up. She held out a hand to help him up, but he ignored it, pushing off with his good arm to stand beside her.

He pulled out his phone to call his uncle as she bent to gather the blankets. His uncle was almost home and said he’d come back with the car to pick them up. Logan took Cassie’s hand as they walked to the main entrance to the park and joined the long line of people waiting for rides in the parking lot. They stood as close to each other as possible, nose to nose, ignoring the others around them. When she shivered under his jacket, he rubbed her arms.

“I like the way you look in that jacket,” he whispered. It was one of his favorite green hoodies, and was three sizes too big for her. She’d rolled up the sleeves to be able to take his hand. She actually looked a little silly. But it was so different than the polished perfection she usually was. And the green made her eyes, already sparkling in the starlight, even more intense.

She flushed, and looked down.

How could anything he say make that impression on her? Had Spencer never complimented her? Didn’t she know how incredible she was?

Rather than say everything that was swirling around in his mind, he rested his forehead against hers. He breathed her in, a little thrill running through him when he heard her heart beating just as fast as his.

A honk pulled them out of their embrace. His uncle waved from his truck as is pulled up in front of them.

“I should…ride back alone.” Cassie bit her lip.

Logan felt a sharp stab in his heart, before practicality took over. The awkwardness of riding with his uncle was probably a little too much for her—and Logan if he was being honest with himself. He nodded.

When she went to take off the jacket, however, he shook his head.

“Keep it.”

She placed the briefest of pecks on his cheek that guaranteed to warm him throughout the entire walk home.

Of all the ways Logan had pictured spending the Fourth of July, making out with Cassie Hart had not been one of them. Not even in the ballpark. Not even in the parking lot of the stadium.

Not that it hadn’t been pretty awesome. She was pretty awesome, actually. The rich-girl-cheerleader facade had faded away over the past few weeks and he’d been able to see her as just Cassie. She was funny, and smart, and so different from what he’d pictured. That first night they’d met on the side of the road, she’d been the embodiment of everything he hated. Then it turned out she was bossy, and opinionated, and more worried about appearances than he’d ever been or would be.

But despite everything, he was falling pretty hard, and didn’t know how to stop himself.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to stop.