And then the slow gave way to the fast, and before I knew what I was doing, I’d taken a step closer. His hands cupped my face, and instinctively, I looped my arms around his neck. “Okay,” I whispered.

And with that, he leaned in and kissed me. It felt like it took forever in coming, but when it did, I wished we’d been doing it all along. It wasn’t just the desire I felt, or the adrenaline, or the connection to another person. It was how right it was. Maybe this wasn’t the right move, but this felt right in the right now. His lips moved. Not in a kiss, but in a smile.

Forging ahead, I deepened the kiss, tracing the seam of his mouth with a light graze of my tongue. His lips parted and his hands landed on my lower back, hugging me even closer. I felt the heat of his stomach against mine, and the hard knobs of his knees against my legs.

“You’re a good kisser,” I murmured, rewarded by his dimpled grin.

His laugh ended on an exhale. His forehead met mine, our noses touching. “So are you.”

I peeked at him, but his eyes were closed. I kissed the corner of his mouth, lightly and daintily, in a way I knew would tickle.

He opened his eyes, right cheek dimpling at me in a way that made me want to kiss him all over again. Luckily, we were on the same page, because he leaned in again. My fingers curled in the fabric of his shirt. Our kiss was short, sweet, and over all too soon. In other words, everything I wanted our first kiss to be.

Thunder clapped, reverberating down the cave walls. And my rib cage. It felt like everything was collapsing in on itself, just a matchstick house and other fragile things. My legs jellified as I tasted the mint of his breath on my mouth. Lightning clashed in the sky, sending a brilliant crackle of white light through the mouth of the cave. The wall glowed for an instant, but that was enough. I had just enough time to see someone’s childish scrawl of MISCHA + KATE BFFS FOREVER etched into the stone. Just enough time to be reminded of Penny and all the reasons why kissing Levi was a bad idea.

He leaned in again, but this time, it wasn’t okay. I pulled back, and his lips closed around air. Levi froze, lips still pursed. “Is this … is this not okay?”