Those Who Remain (Book 2) by Priscila Santa Rosa

I was wrong.” He sighs again, looks at the ground quickly and then back at me. “I thought that asking for your help, asking you to stay, was selfish. And maybe it was. But it was wrong to give up because you deserve to know.”
    My lip is bleeding from me biting it too hard. “I deserve to know what?”
    Every inch of my body is aware of how close we are now. Roger’s coat is warm and smells like gunpowder and aftershave. Like him. “That you belong in this town. This place is just as much yours as Linda’s, Frank’s, or anybody’s. This is your home and, if you want to, then you should stay and show them who you really are. Because you’re a good person, Lily Hunter, and everyone will see that eventually.”
    Nothing beats Roger’s pep talks. He always finds a way to make the impossible sound reasonable. With him, I almost feel like I’m… normal.
    “Okay. I’m giving it a shot. But if things go south and I punch Linda, it’s your fault.”
    He smiles brightly. “I can accept that risk.”
    We laugh, than stare at each other. I don’t think my heart has ever beaten faster than this. Roger clears his throat. “Now that you are staying, maybe you can start teaching me how to hunt."
    “Really? Last time you saw a dead deer, you made up an excuse and ran away to vomit.” I give him a smile.
    He laughs. “True. But in my defense, you were skinning one at the time.”
    The fact is, I did that on purpose. The first time Father took me to hunt, both boys kept pestering me about it, like it was an adventure they needed to see too. They couldn’t understand I wanted to be alone with Father, so I showed them that killing an animal is messy and serious, not some fun trip to the woods. Danny probably still has nightmares about it.
    Roger places a hand on the back of his neck. “Things are different now. It’s not a question of personal taste. It’s survival. Our supplies will run out eventually. And Hank's pigs won't feed the whole town."
    “Hunting won't help all that much. Even if we kill all the deer in the woods, it won't feed half of these people. And then we will be without any game for next year.”
    “Yeah, I figured as much.” He shifts his body’s weight from leg to the other. “Actually, this was my poor attempt at asking you out on a date.”
    My mouth opens agape. Heat rises to my cheeks and ears. “Oh. I… Really?”
    He chuckles. “It's okay if you don't want to.”
    I step forward, afraid he’ll back out. “That's not it. I really… I'm okay with that.”
    The dimples on each side of his smile are adorable. I can't stop staring at his brown eyes. My own desire to kiss him almost outweighs my embarrassment. I can’t believe he actually asked me out.
    “But… Roger, what about, you know?”
    “The zombies? Danny? I’m sure we can deal with any zombies we find on the woods. And, Danny, well… He needs his time.”
    I shake my head. “Not that. I mean what we talked about, before this whole thing. That night. On the porch.”
    His hand goes again to the back of his neck. He’s as embarrassed as I am. There’s some comfort in that. “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. It kind of never did.”
    I tilt my head to the side and raise an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
    “Doesn’t matter anymore. I want to give us a shot. I don’t care about anything else. I was… I made a mistake back then. I hope you still—”
    My hands grab him by the neck, pulling him against me. Our mouths collide. His coat falls down to the ground. I feel his hands on my back, and shivers spread all over my body. I force his mouth open wide to make room for my tongue. I’m vaguely aware we are in the middle of the street, without guns or paying attention to our surroundings, but it doesn’t matter. The only things that matter are his hands traveling across my back and the taste of his tongue exploring my mouth. It tastes like chamomile tea.
    When our hands move to places less chaste, he moves back,