I nodded. He was so intelligent when he spoke that he could take something like a vampire film and turn it into a meaningful discussion without sounding like a pretentious douche. Kael made my multitude of thoughts make sense in a way most guys his age never had.

“Yeah. I’ve found my peace with Jasper, flaws and all—and I guess I’m realizing that most of my comfort things are bad examples,” I admitted, listing them off in my head. Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, One Tree Hill.

He agreed. “Mine, too.”

“Alice deserved better,” I said, wondering where the line between writing and opinions lay.

“Yeah, she did.”

“What else comforts you?” I dared to ask. I don’t know what I was expecting as his response, but the question was out before I could process it.

I kept my focus on his face as he seemed to be thoroughly considering my ask, and was quiet for the longest ten seconds of my life. Kael looked straight ahead, staring at the brown tapestry hung on my wall. My mom got it from some flea market, I didn’t remember in which state.

“Being around you.”

The boldness of his confession sucked the air from my lungs.

His bright eyes turned to me. I was speechless and very caught off guard, to say the least.

“And you? What brings you comfort?” he asked.

I could feel my mind going into its own version of fight-or-flight and I was a little surprised by the way I felt. I was afraid to say that I loved being around him, too, that it brought me comfort to connect with him and that I was growing more and more attached each time I saw him. But what did this mean? He finds being around me comforting? I didn’t know what to make of that.

“I . . . um.” I hesitated, realizing that I had somehow moved closer to him.

Kael’s finger was warm when it touched my lips. I both froze and caught on fire. I felt dizzy. He pressed the pad of his index finger into my wet lips and kept it there for no longer than a second. I could barely breathe and was trying with everything in me to remain calm and think before I reacted. For once.