“It was great, like I said.”
“Yeah, but what does that mean. Did you kiss her?”
Pete’s neck turned bright red. He continued to clean the pit.
“I’ll take that as a no,” Keke answered for him.
“Wasn’t the right time.”
“Are you kidding? A moonlit stroll is always the right time to kiss a girl. You need to watch some romance movies.”
“Okay, so I’ll do it on some other night.”
Keke cocked her head to one side and studied Pete’s face. Whenever she moved strategically to see all of him, he angled himself away.
Did he think opportunities like this come around every day? Obviously not for him. Where was the urgency? “What other night? You have to make your move when you get a chance.”
“’Cause us nerds don’t get many chances?”
Keke slammed the scraping tool down on the dirty grill. “Okay, time for your third and final lesson.”
“Oh?” He didn’t bother glancing up.
“Yes, ‘oh,’” she drawled. “The kiss.”
That got his attention. His head snapped up. “What do you mean?” he asked cautiously.
Keke marched over to him, took him by the biceps, and yanked him to his feet. “I mean, I’m going to teach you how girls like to be kissed.”
He sputtered and giggled.
Keke rolled her eyes. “You see, that’s evidence right there that you think you know, but really you don’t.”
Pete shrugged. “I think I can manage. How hard could it be?”
Keke slammed her hands to her hips and pinned him with a narrowed glare. “How hard could it…ugh!”
Pete crossed his arms, effectively putting distance between the two of them. “You just put your lips together and—”
“Nope!” She tugged his arms down and didn’t let go after he half-tried to pull them back. “There’s an art to it. And no, it’s not shoving your tongue down her throat over and over and over. If you want this girl to be ride or die, then you have to make her legs turn to jelly. You do all of that with a kiss—done right.”
Fear flitted across his eyes. Keke smiled. “Okay, first. You look deep into her eyes, like you’re doing now. No, not like you’re scared of her.”
Pete chuckled, dropping his gaze.
Keke shook his arms and said in a chastising tone, “Come on. You want this girl to like you?”
He hesitated. “Yes,” he said softly, but his eyes held something Keke couldn’t decipher.
“Right. Okay, so after you look into her eyes, you reach for her waist. Like so.” She wrapped his hands around her slim hips. “Now, draw me in. Nice and steady. Be confident, or she’ll think you’re terrible at this.”
Pete obeyed.
Keke kept her eyes fixed with his and tried desperately to ignore how the heat of his hands radiated throughout her middle, branching up her chest and down her thighs. Her heart slammed against her ribcage. Blood pounded in her ears. This was supposed to be affecting him not her.
She briefly thought about her promise to Bertie: to not kiss her brother.I’m not going to kiss him.
She swallowed and with a croaky voice said, “Don’t stop until you’re hip to hip.”
