Desert Crossing by Elise Broach Page B

It was just one kiss.” I could feel myself blushing with the lie, but I couldn’t tell her about the second time. That seemed like something else entirely.
    â€œBut I still don’t get how it started. With you and Kit.”
    â€œIt was dumb,” I said. I explained how I’d told Beth that Jamie and Kit were gay. “So I think he did it just to prove something.”
    â€œOh.” Ginny sounded disappointed. “So you don’t think he’ll kiss you again?”
    â€œNo,” I said firmly. “That was it.”
    â€œWell…” She paused, delicately. “Do you want him to kiss you again?”
    â€œI don’t know,” I said. I could hear her waiting on the other end, breathing into the phone. I hesitated. “I might.”
    She squealed again, dissolving in a fit of giggles. “You kissed Kit! Kit! I can’t believe it. This is so great.” She sighed. “I wish I were there.”
    â€œI do, too,” I said. I really did.

20
    All afternoon, I watched Jamie and Beth. Or watched Jamie watching Beth. There was nothing obvious between them—they didn’t kiss or hug, or even touch each other—but at the same time, there was no mistaking what had happened. Jamie had a look on his face that I’d never seen before. His eyes followed Beth’s every movement, like she was something he wanted to study and learn by heart. And Beth seemed as changed as he did. The force of his gaze seemed to be polishing her, right in front of us, making her smooth and graceful, making her skin shine. She looked beautiful.
    Kit saw it, too. When I went into the kitchen to get a drink, he followed me, looking morose. “God, she really is hot,” he said. “Who cares how old she is?”
    I shuddered. “You have to talk to him.”
    â€œAnd say what? Congratulations? You scored?”
    â€œNo! You have to stop it.”
    He snorted. “Uh-uh. That’s your department. You’re the prude.”
    â€œStop saying that.” He was looking at me, smiling a little, and I could feel my cheeks getting hot. “I’m not a prude,” I said, frustrated.
    â€œOkay, maybe not,” he said. “But about this, you are.”
    â€œCome on, he’s my brother! I don’t want him to get in trouble.”
    Kit smirked. “It doesn’t look like trouble to me. But if you’re so worried about it, you talk to him.”
    I sighed, steeling myself. “Tell him to come in here. We need to call our dad.” That was true. He was expecting us in Phoenix tomorrow. But I knew Jamie wouldn’t want to talk to him any more than I did. Neither of us could tell him the real reason we were staying.
    Jamie came through the doorway looking flushed and impatient. “What’s up?”
    I tried to see him, just for a minute, the way Beth must see him, with his dark hair falling over his forehead and the bright warmth in his eyes. Jamie’s eyes were always full of whatever he was feeling, in a way other people’s weren’t.
    But it was too hard to see him as a stranger. Everything about him was familiar. It was hard to even see him as cute. I knew the girls at school thought so, but it wasn’t something I ever considered. It was impossible to imagine him as a person you’d fall in love with.
    â€œWe have to call Dad,” I said. “He still thinks we’re on our way to Phoenix, remember? He’s going to be mad.”
    Jamie rubbed his face, frowning a little. “I talked to him last time.”
    â€œYeah, but I was the one who made the phone call.”
    â€œYou just left a message.”
    â€œStill. It’s your turn.”
    Jamie sighed. “He always asks me a ton of questions. If you call, he won’t bug you as much about why we’re not leaving.”
    That was probably true, but I didn’t want to do it.
    â€œYou call him. You’re the