BETTER SAFE THAN ZOMBIE

12| A Cure

I died and went to heaven.

And to think that this was Ethan (Ethan!) kissing me. But damn, does this guy know how to kiss. He stumped my ex-boyfriend Dallas whose stoner talk I only endured for his mouth-watering expertise in kissing. He stumped the player in our school, Rick, when he sampled to me his famous lips which most girls in our school salivated to try.

He stumped all my boyfriends and left them to the dust.

Damn. And to think he was there all the time, and I never even thought to try kissing him. But no worries though. This was a rare gift from the guy above, and no way I'm discarding it. I have seen the light. Hallelujah! I'm never going to stray off the path again.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. His arms tightened. This was not a tentative first kiss. This was oh-my-gosh-I'm-burning kiss. Ethan kissed like he meant it, every bit of it. Like he was starving for more.

And what girl wouldn't like that?

Reluctantly, both of us pulled away, breathing hard. I still had my arms around his neck, and somehow during the kiss, his hands moved away from my wrists and curled around my waist, a possessive male reaction I definitely liked. Dark blue eyes met green.

"Holy shit, Ethan," I gasped. "What was THAT?"

***

"When two people fight as often as you and I--"

"There's a lot of tension," I finished, taking one swallow of the loathsome tomato juice. "I know. But what are we going to do about it? We kissed, Ethan. It's not like we can just ignore it."

"We date," he said, as if the answer was THAT easy. "We like each other enough. I mean, you aren't going to smother me with my pillow when I sleep tonight, won't you?''

I frowned at my tomato juice and looked up to smirk at him. "Sorry. I don't date outside my species."

"Ha ha," he said, flicking one strand of my hair. "Come on, Hazel. Lower your standards a little. I just did."

I elbowed him in the ribs, popped the Vitamin B tablet into my mouth, gulped some tomato juice and swallowed. I grimaced.

"I'm not going to date with you, Ethan," I told him reasonably. "Just forget it."

"You won't be able to resist my charms," He warned me.

I rolled my eyes. "I think I can handle it, Ethan. Don't worry."

He gave me a smile that whispered promise. "You sure?"

I repressed a shiver. "I'm sure."

He took my hand and brushed his lips against my knuckles. My breath caught.

"I would go to the ends of the earth for you," he murmured, lowering his lashes a little so that I could only see little of the mischievous glinting emeralds.

"Yes," I said, trying to regain my composure, "But would you stay there?"

The spell broke as he laughed and dropped my hand.

"I'm going to enjoy playing with your pretty little mind, Hazel Williams," he promised. He flashed me a sexy smile. "The question is, are you in?"

I told you I was a sucker for challenges.

***

Stella and Mick came back a little while later, while Ethan and I were in the living room, browsing some old magazines. Actually, I was the only one browsing. Ethan was busy cleaning his shotgun, his 'little beauty' as he called it.