Left Unexplained

Chapter 41~

~ooooOOOoooo~

I bit my lip, trying to stop my spreading smile as I absorbed every detail of the embroidery. The fiery red dress spread out on the bed in front of me glowed under the light of my room.

"Stuff it." I gave up denying myself a smile and instead-

I grabbed a pillow and squeezed it, giggling like a spoiled toddler. My acrobatic stomach tried furiously to squirm out of its place in my body to hi-five my bouncing heart.

"It's too much," I groaned once the butterflies settled. "He's everywhere."

I could try to forget the guy, or I could just accept the fact that I so wanted to kiss him!

The dress...his gift. My date tonight...him.

I twirled across my room and into the bathroom with the dress held against me.

I giggled as I shrugged off my sweater and top.

That moment in the car... with him.

"I can't even!" I broke into another fit of laughter, Joshua following right after. "But you! Pay attention to the road!" I gesticulated wildly at the gray stretch slipping under the wheels of the vehicle.

The traffic light signalled the vehicle to stop.

Descending from my euphoria, I threw my head back to hit the headrest. Joshua too had calmed to a smile.

I turned so my cheek pressed against the headrest, giving me an artist's view of him, all with a soft mixture of orange and yellow flashing on his pale, flawless skin as the sun ducked behind trees and peeked out, the effect set on repeat. His eyes twinkled, faint laugh lines bringing attention to the green colour of his orbs.

He exhaled and let go of the steering, leaning his head back in the headrest to match my position. He turned to face me and my heart skipped a couple of beats.

The mood no longer felt right to fall into another fit of laughter. His gaze was heavy, taking in my eyes.

I took in a deep breath, as if the weight of the moment could be lifted by that action.

I slid my gaze down to his lips, licking my own to help imagine the softness of his lips. He must've caught that subtle change, since he lifted his hand to hold my chin and brought my face closer while he too leaned in. With his thumb, he softly stroked my cheek.

My heart sped and my face focused on his eyes and lips. He slowly got closer, stopping at a nose's length.

"Grace," he whispered with a tone softer than a feather.

I closed my eyes, knowing what was coming next. I could already feel the Sparks down my spine.

"You're beautiful," he finished. He let go of my chin and chuckled. "So gorgeous, but honestly that smudge is annoying." He wiped at the corner of lip.

'What just happened?' Wasn't he going to kiss me?

When the light turned green again the Porsche sped. "So I'm picking you up, right? In an hour?"

I blinked a couple of times. "Huh?" Had I misunderstood the situation?

"The dance..." he trailed off.

"Oh, right."

"So, an hour?"

"Hmm? Yeah," I replied, still dazed. "Wait, what?" I snapped out of my flushed state. I was confused about what just happened but I knew damn enough that an hour isn't nearly enough.