I don’t want to have to do this but I’m about to start my rant on why New Edition’s “If It Isn’t Love” is a better song than “Can You Stand the Rain” when he cuts me off and turns my world upside down. “Can I kiss you?”

Those butterflies in my belly have turned into a stampede of elephants. Did he just say what I think he said? “W-w-what?” I stutter.

He turns to face me, his eyes shining with an intensity I’ve never seen there before. “I would very much like to kiss you, but if I do that means you’d be mine so I need to know if you’d be into that.”

My mouth is dry and my arms are sweaty, but my brain still isn’t fully registering what this means for us. While my heart is trying to process my emotions, my head is trying to process his choice of words. “Yours? What does that even mean? Do you even know?”

“Exactly what I said. You’d be mine.”

“What movie did you steal that from?”

“Why do you think I stole it?”

“Because you’re thirteen. You didn’t come up with that on your own.”

“Why are you being difficult?”

“When have I ever not been?” I pause and raise my eyebrows, causing him to give me that grin I love so much. “Yours, huh? And would you be mine?”

“Of course. You’d be mine and I’d be yours. Equal.”

Equal.

This is really happening.

“What if you’re a bad kisser? Then I’ve locked myself into a ‘yours and mine’ thing without an escape.”

“How would you even know if I am? You’ve never kissed a boy before.”

Damn him for knowing that. “And you have?”

“I’ve never kissed a boy, no.”

I smack his arm. “You know what I mean!” I know everything there is to know about Kai Morris, and if he hid a first kiss from me there will be hell to pay.

His chuckle soothes the elephants back into butterflies. “Our first kiss is gonna be great. You know how I know?”

“How?”

“Because it’s us. And there have never been two people who fit more perfectly than us.”

Well, if I wasn’t on board before there’s no way I wouldn’t be now. “I…I could be into that.”

“Sooo…yes?”

I nod my head with so much enthusiasm I think it’s going to fall off. “Yes.”

I don’t even get a second to be nervous because the moment I say yes his lips are touching mine. It’s awkward at first because neither one of us can decide which way to tilt our head, but it doesn’t take away from the magic. His lips are pillowy soft and perfect. They feel like clouds, the kind that you could spend an entire day watching and wishing they’d carry you away.

Too soon, the kiss is over but instead of backing away he rests his forehead against mine. I’ve never seen his eyes this close before but now that I’m staring at them, I see the smallest hint of gold there. It’s my new favorite view in the whole world.