He continued, “And when I kiss you, I need to know if you’re gonna kiss me back or slap me?”

When I laughed, it felt like the elephant lifted off the bench and ambled away. “You got jokes.”

He shrugged. “I’m serious, Ginger. I want to kiss you again. And again. And again. I want to be with you all the time and not just in the way we’ve been spending our time. I want...more with you.”

I inhaled.

“Wait.” His forehead creased with lines. “You’re not feeling this, you’re not feeling me?”

“No,” I said quickly. “I’m feeling all of you.” When he grinned at my words, I clarified, “I mean, I’m feeling all of what you said.”

He nodded. “We’ve been fooling ourselves; we’ve been more than friends for a long time. We just haven’t added the physical part.”

“True, but there must’ve been a reason why we stayed in that place. Like, aren’t you afraid of messing up a good friendship? I mean, Jeremy,” I twisted on the bench so that now, my body faced him, “you’re truly the best friend I’ve ever had.”

He shifted so that now, he faced me, too. “And that’s what makes us so special. Look, I understand your concern because I haven’t been able to think about anything else since you kissed me.”

“I kissed you?” I leaned away from him.

His double-dimpled grin let me know that he was just trying to get a rise out of me. “My lips weren’t there by themselves,” he said.

We laughed. And then, we sat letting silent moments pass before I did something that I hadn’t expected to do. This time, I was the one who scooted closer, then leaned forward, edging my lips toward him. And when we met, he invited me in for a kiss that again touched me to my soul.

When we pulled back, I was as discombobulated as before. But this time, I’d given Jeremy my answer. We both knew we’d fallen to the other side of friendship.

He palmed my cheek and whispered, “Ginger Allen, take this ride with me. I promise, it’ll be worth it.”

I had no idea why there were tears in my eyes when I nodded, affirming his words. Maybe it was because I felt so happy, so safe, so secure. And now, I was ready, really ready to take this ride with him.

*****

Fourteen days of bliss; that was the only way for me to describe it. Jeremy and I still did the things we normally did together; we still studied, but now, Jeremy, without looking up from whatever book he was reading, shifted on the futon in his apartment and pulled me back so that I leaned into his chest — and we both kept studying. Or as we strolled across campus and chatted about all the reasons why he still wanted the position of Senior Pastor at Pilgrim’s Rest, he’d pause and brush my bangs from my eyes. Or when we went to midweek prayer, as we sat, our shoulders touching because we couldn’t get close enough, he held my hand. That was something that he’d always done, but now, he hardly let me go.