“I’ve been trying to think of ways to make this easier. Which made me think of when people typically get their first kisses. When they’re teenagers. So maybe part of the problem is that we’re not doing any teenage courtship rituals. There’s been no physical buildup to our kiss.”

I held up our still-connected hands. “Like holding hands?”

“Yes. I’ve held back from touching you before because you seemed so skittish. Which I understand now, but if you’re okay with it, I think we should try to do those physical things, like cuddling and holding hands, and I don’t really know what else we should be doing because all of my knowledge about what normal teens do is based on a TV show, so I’m guessing they’re not entirely accurate.”

My heart again had that glowy, fluttery feeling. “You are giving this an extraordinary amount of thought.”

“Aren’t you?”

“Honestly, I’m worried if I think about it too much, I’ll go running into the hills and never return. In case you didn’t notice, I’m all about avoidance as a coping mechanism.”

He nodded, serious. “I noticed. I told you, I tend to overanalyze things when left to my own devices, like our current circumstances.”

“I’m trying to be in the present with you. Not thinking about it but just doing it.”

“Would you be okay, then, with us touching each other?”

This was something I could definitely get on board with. I had been, like he said, skittish when it came to men touching me, because touching had always led us down a road that ended in kissing. So I stayed away from it to avoid the end result.

But this time I was trying to get to that place.

“I would be okay with it. And you don’t have to ask me every time. This is my blanket permission.”

His wolfish grin momentarily made me think maybe that had been the wrong decision. Then he reached up with his free hand and ran his fingertips along the edge of the sapphire pendant necklace I was wearing. I felt little tendrils of fire every place that he touched me. My skin was flushing from the sensation. “So you’d be okay if I told you this was pretty. That you look pretty wearing it.”

It was like somebody had slammed into me, leaving me momentarily breathless. “What?”

“Where did you get it?”

“It was a college graduation present. Sapphires are my birthstone. My mom worked extra hours to get it for me.”

The next thing that occurred to me was that this was just like the scene in the second Duel of the Fae movie where Malec ripped the truth-telling locket from Aliana’s neck, and instead of being upset with him for destroying a piece of her magic, she kissed him.

I was understanding her reasoning.