Anxiety Attack

Chapter 17

Finley's P.O.V

I gaped at that, not believing what Eli just said. There was no way that the boy I liked could possibly like me.

Somebody pinch me.

Eli laughed nervously, scooting away from me slightly. "Now would be a good time to say something."

"S-Sorry," I whispered. "I j-just... I l-like you too?"

Eli's face went from a look of surprise to a warm smile. "You sound uncertain," he teased.

"This is no time to be joking about that," I scolded. "We just admitted that we liked each other."

Eli nodded cheerfully. "That we did, Fin."

I felt awkward now that Eli was positively beaming at me, still holding me close to his face. "Now what?"

Eli chuckled. "We could awkwardly go our separate ways, or I could ask you on a date, or I could just kiss you."

My face burned at his last suggestion. "Going on a date is fine," I squeaked.

"Great," Eli said brightly. "Then we are on a date right now."

"Oh yeah?" I murmured, rolling over so I was on my side, facing him.

"Yeah," Eli mirrored my pose. "And now we're just going to talk about each other."

"Is that so?" I breathed.

"Yeah," Eli's smile was endearing. "I'll start by confessing my deepest, darkest secret- I'm deathly in love with the show Big Bang Theory."

"Never seen it," I shrugged.

Eli's mouth fell open. "You've never seen Big Bang Theory?"

"No," I said slowly. "Should I?"

"Yes," he said, exasperated. "That show is life."

"Red Band Society is love," I yawned.

"You saw that Shrek video too?" Eli's smile was sympathetic.

"Yes," I grumbled. "And I was scarred for life; whenever my cousins ask to watch Shrek, I always have to say no because I picture that video." Eli laughed loudly, causing me to put my hand over his mouth, shushing him. "My brother is next door," I warned him.

"What about it? We're not doing anything bad," Eli pointed out.

He had a point. "But you're in my room, and my parents don't know you're here," I explained. "They would kill you then bring you back to life to kill you again."

"That's graphic," Eli said drily.

I laughed, but I didn't want to. "Shut up, Eli, I'm being serious."

Eli smiled, his hair flopping onto his forehead, and I brought my hand up to push it off. His dark eyes followed my movements, watching me carefully as I kept my eyes on his forehead, focusing on making that one stupid chunk of hair stay out of his face.

"Fin," he breathed as I moved my hand away from his face. "Can I try something?"

"Go ahead," I whispered, giving him permission to do whatever he was going to do.

Eli leaned in, pausing barely a centimeter away from my lips, searching my eyes before kissing me. Oh God, he was kissing me, this was really happening, and only one coherent thought formed in my mind- damn, that lip ring.

It felt really good against my lips, smooth and cool and something about it was amazing, it felt amazing and I didn't want it to end. I found myself moving even closer to Eli, my hands moving from my sides to rest on his chest, and my eyelashes fluttered as Eli shifted and the lip ring suddenly hit my lips at a new angle, bring a whole new level of intensity, a good intensity.