A Is for Abstinence by Kelly Oram Page B

and she closed her eyes as if to shut me out or make me disappear. It hurt that she wouldn’t even look at me. Why did my physical presence seem to cause her so much pain? What had I done that was so wrong?
    “We’re a lost cause, Kyle,” she whispered. “You know we are. Do you really want to put us both through that again? It’s been four years and I still feel heartsick over it every now and then.”
    She was making this more complicated than it had to be. My heart ached at the pain in her voice. I had to make it stop. I had to take away whatever sorrow she felt toward me. “There’s a time and a place for everything, Val. We weren’t ready then. But now?”
    Holding her tightly to me with one arm, I tucked her hair behind her ear and forced her chin up. My fingertips lingered on her cheek. I couldn’t seem to pull them away.
    She shuddered at my touch and placed her hands on my chest as if to push me away, but she made no real effort to escape me. “Now?” she repeated, her voice so faint I barely heard her.
    “I’ll wait for you. I’ll wait all the way to the altar if we make it that far.”
    Startled, her body went stiff and her breath hitched. Her beautiful brown eyes, glossy from a layer of unshed tears, stared up at me with both fear and hope. Vulnerable as she was in that moment, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
    “I’ve been waiting for you since the moment I put on the bracelet,” I said. “And you’re waiting for me, too.” I smirked at the question in her eyes. “Four years and you’ve never fallen for anyone else? You’re not over me. You still want this as much as I do.”
    Val’s head finally cleared and she came back to herself. “Still completely arrogant, I see,” she said, her voice returning to its normal strength.
    I smiled at the old insult. “But no longer slutty.”
    Her lips curled up, though I could tell she was trying very hard not to smile. The action drew my gaze to her lips and my whole mouth turned to paste. I lowered my face halfway and waited for her to meet me in the middle. I wanted to kiss her again, but I needed her to make the move. I had to know she wanted me as much as I wanted her.
    “Give us a chance.”
    “It’ll never work,” she said. Her eyes were on my mouth now too, and her breath was coming fast.
    “At least if it doesn’t, it won’t be because we didn’t try.”
    She swallowed hard and wet her lips but didn’t move to kiss me. The distance between us was torture. “Kiss me,” I whispered.
    “But, Kyle, I think we—”
    “Don’t think. Just kiss me.”
    Finally, she let her eyes flutter shut and slid her hands up over my shoulders as she brought her lips to mine. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I lifted her up onto her toes to deepen the kiss. I waited until my body screamed at me for air before I set her back on her feet. Panting hard, I leaned my forehead against hers and took a moment to catch my breath. “It doesn’t get more right than that, Val.” My voice sounded husky and full of emotion.
    Eyes still closed, she let her arms fall to her sides and laid her head on my shoulder, resting against me as if she needed a hug. I obeyed and wrapped her in a gentle embrace.
    “You live in L.A., Kyle,” she whispered sadly. “My life is here. I’m starting grad school in a month, and you’ll go off on tour with your new album.”
    “But I’m here now. Give me one day. Just today. If that works, then give me tomorrow.”
    She pulled her face out of my neck and looked up at me with glossy eyes.
    “We’ll take it one day at a time,” I promised. “Let’s just see where that gets us before we worry about anything else.”
    She searched my face for answers, clearly worried about what the future might hold for us. Whatever she was looking for, I was determined to show it to her. She was so strong all the time, in every other aspect of her life. In this one area I could take that burden from her. I could