The right decision, definitely. Dale’s had to grab me over and over. The trampoline’s a bit small for this sort of thing, and even after the flips I land, I nearly stagger off the side afterward.

“What am I doing wrong?” I say.

Dale mops his brow. “It throws you off your spin when you grab. Want me to demonstrate again?”

“No.” He’s already demonstrated dozens of times, flipping sideways through the air in a smooth and stylish movement. He makes it look so easy. I’m not even wearing my snowboard yet, just grabbing an imaginary one. I’ll put it on later when I figure this out. If I figure it out.

“Try some more without the grab, maybe,” he says.

“All right.”

“Wait a sec.” Dale peels his T-shirt off.

I try not to stare. A large tribal tattoo covers one of his shoulders and snakes across his well-muscled pecs. If it were Curtis bare-chested in front of me, close enough to feel the heat radiating from him . . . Yeah, good thing it isn’t.

I wait for Dale to move backward, then jump three times, building up height. He jumps in time with me so we don’t double bounce. On the fourth jump, I spring hard upward. Even with my head upside down, I can tell it’s gone wrong again. As I rotate, I clip Dale with my hand and hear him grunt.

He grabs me as I come down. My feet scrabble for purchase.

“Sorry,” I gasp.

He’s gripping my waist, still. Our bodies are flush together, his chest damp and solid against mine. Wider than Brent’s. More like Curtis’s.

“Did I hurt you?” I say.

His cheek is red. Without thinking, I touch it. Soft stubble brushes my palm. His gray-green eyes jerk to my face, pupils a fraction dilated. Something sparks inside me, and before I know it, I’m kissing him.

For a second, he kisses me back, lip ring digging into my bottom lip. We fly apart. It’s hard to say who pulled back first, but Dale looks about as shocked as I feel.

“Sorry,” I say. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Yeah,” he says. “You shouldn’t have.”

I feel terrible now.

Still, that’s one seriously loyal guy. Whereas I imagine most women would freak out if someone suddenly kissed them, I’m pretty sure most men are unable to resist, whatever their relationship status. Or maybe that’s just me being cynical. I’ve only ever been in one serious relationship—at least I thought it was serious until I came back early from the Brits two years ago with ripped knee ligaments, only to find one of my so-called friends at my so-called boyfriend’s place.