Rule 7: Be adventurous and daring! See life as an adventure!
Rule 18: Respect yourself! Demand that your crush respects you as well!
Rule 19: Do not allow your crush to pressure you to do something you do not want to do! Do only things that you and only you want to do and are comfortable with!
Alexia’s cell phone rang in her bag. She fished it out and smiled when she saw it was Ben. She broke away from Raven and Blake. “Hey,” she answered.
“Hey. Where are you?”
“I’m by the fountain. Are you here?”
Alexia waited for a response, but when none came, she thought maybe the line had disconnected. “Ben?” Still nothing.
Fireworks popped behind Alexia. Several kids ran past her screaming and laughing. She plugged her other ear. “Ben, are you there?”
“Raa!” Someone poked her in the ribs. She screeched and whirled around.
“Got you,” Ben said.
“Oh my god, you!” She put her phone away and reached out to swat him, but he grabbed her wrist, twirled her around and dipped her.
“Ben!” Alexia laughed while she held onto his arms with white knuckles. “Bring me back up!”
He did, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in for a long kiss.
“I’m so frickin’ happy I’m here with you and not out on the boat with my parents.” He sighed, scratching his overgrown hair. It curled at the nape of his neck and around his ears. It probably drove his parents nuts and that was probably one of the reasons he kept it long.
“So the barbecue didn’t go so well?” Alexia asked.
“As well as the French Revolution. But I did finally get my graduation present, which sort of made up for the debacle that was a family gathering.”
“What did you get?”
“Come on.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the park, dodging more fireworks, weaving around blankets and lawn chairs until they reached the street.
“Where are we going? We’re going to miss the fireworks!”
They walked a block and then turned right into the parking lot behind Wendell Bakery. Ben pulled Alexia over to a forest green Jeep Wrangler and stopped.
“What are we doing here?” she asked, looking around. “Where—”
It finally dawned on her. She looked at the Jeep again and then at Ben. His pearl-white teeth shone bright in a big smile.
“You got a new Jeep?”
“Yeah. This is my graduation present.”
“Oh my god, Ben! This is awesome.” Alexia ran her fingers over the slick, shiny hood. She made a circle around the whole vehicle. The roof was off, as were the doors.
“Want to go for a ride?” Ben jangled the keys in his hand and waggled his eyebrows.
“But the fireworks?”
“If we hurry up, we can head over to the state park and catch the end of the show.”
Alexia raked her teeth over her bottom lip. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
Ben downshifted as they turned into the state park. The wind ruffled Alexia’s hair, and she pulled it to the side out of her face.
“This is awesome,” she said, imagining them spending the rest of the summer cruising around Birch Falls in the new Jeep. It would be perfect.
“I know,” Ben said. “I love it. Best thing I ever got.”
They found a parking spot and got out. The fireworks boomed off in the distance, their sparks lighting the sky red. There were no other cars here, which meant they had the entire park to themselves.
“We should go up to the Sky Trail,” Ben said, grabbing Alexia’s hand, threading his fingers through hers. “Oh, wait. I brought a blanket.” He pulled it out of the Jeep and they headed up the stairs that would take them to the top of the Sky Trail.
By the time they reached the top, Alexia was out of breath, but the fireworks were blazing through the sky and she wanted to see at least some of them. They hurried along the dirt trail to the far side of the hill near Garver Lake.
Finding a good break in the trees, they laid the blanket out and sat.
A purple and then orange firework went off in the distance. Ben lay back, putting his hands behind his head. Alexia lay next to him, curling into the crook of his arm.
“It’s beautiful,” Alexia breathed. They might have been some five miles away from the city park, but the fireworks were still spectacular, the color brighter than ever. And Alexia liked the quiet.
She sat up, looked Ben in the eyes.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi.” She leaned over, kissing him gently. Everything felt perfect, and she wanted to share it with Ben.
He sat up and Alexia leaned back on the blanket. Ben ran his fingers through her hair, then along the nape of her neck. She shivered, pulling him down closer as he ran his tongue softly over her lips.
Every nerve in Alexia’s body came alive. Her stomach knotted in excited butterflies, and she couldn’t seem to think straight.
The kiss went from soft and innocent to urgent and intense. Alexia could feel Ben’s heart drumming against her chest.
“We should stop,” Ben said against her lips.
Yes. Yes, we should stop, she thought, but she didn’t want to.
Ben pulled his hand down to touch the bare skin peeking out from beneath Alexia’s tank top. His fingers were warm, smooth on her skin. Alexia breathed in sharply.
Stop, Alexia thought again, but then Ben’s hand crept farther up her shirt and all she could think was, Keep going. Keep going. His fingers caressed her ribs and then went beneath her bra.
Oh my god.
Ben’s lips pulled away from Alexia’s mouth and ran down her neck.
“Do you want me to stop?” he asked.
Say something, Alexia thought, but she couldn’t seem to connect her brain to her mouth, and her hand grabbed Ben by the back of the head, keeping him close to her. She didn’t want to stop.