The ORION Project | ✔

chapter 36

The kiss only lasted a second, she drew back with a swiftness that startled Kendrick. He waited for the alarm that would fill her eyes and cursed himself. What was he thinking? He wasn't thinking, that was the problem and now he was acting like a hormonal fifteen year old.

There was no alarm in her eyes, only a shyness that made her bite her lip, it only made him want to kiss her again. Just yesterday he had thought nothing could happen between them, there was just too much that needed sorting first and now he was kissing her like yesterday hadn't happened.

"Wait, what does this mean?" She blurted out.

Kendrick couldn't help his smile. "You want me to define a kiss? I'm not that apt with words."

Grace shoved him and he hit the side of his head on the sofa. He winced, thinking that those muscles from tennis weren't for show.

"I'll tell you now that I took a brief course in Taekwondo, I can hurt you in ways you cannot imagine." She said as if she read his mind.

"I surrender." He told her, but his smile was still on his lips. There were times when he wasn't even sure why he liked her, then other times like now she would smile or disarm him with that her quick wit that would make him remember why.

"What does this mean, Kendrick? I'm serious here."

His hands went to her face, traced her brows and then her lips until a breathy sound escaped them. He couldn't resist, he pressed his lips to hers. This time, she was kissing him back, her hands tugging at his hair and gasping when he kissed that beating pulse at her chin.

Kendrick pulled back, she did too, biting her smile.

"I like you, Grace, a whole damn lot, that is the most basic meaning I can come up with."

Her grin broke free.

"Fuck, fuck, I didn't sign up for this tonight." Grace said, shaking her head. "I'm going to be even more awkward about it now."

"You've always been awkward, I think I'll manage this new dose just fine." Kendrick shrugged. She touched her shoulder to his and traced the inside of her left wrist.

"I like you too, Kendrick, but I think you already knew that."

"I need the validation still, I mean, I'd feel really bad if my feelings were one sided."

Grace snorted. "Like you need any validation, I mean, look at you, you're gorgeous."

She paused, catching his smirk.

"Please go on," He urged her.

"You get the point, you have this quiet confidence that someone would sense a mile away."

That confidence she spoke of didn't come so easy, he hadn't been born with it, he had built it over the years but sometimes it still faltered. Her flaw in thinking was that she thought such confidence was bought.

"And you're beautiful." Kendrick said casually, way too casually that she narrowed his eyes at him. He hid his smile, Grace was probably the only person he knew couldn't take a compliment and he suddenly wanted to lavish all of them on her.

"Too early to go sappy on me." Grace told him bashfully.

"You're beautiful." He repeated.

"You're overwhelming." She admitted, blowing out a shaky breath.

"Let's slow down then, what do you want to do now?" Kendrick asked, suddenly remembering the dinner they had run from. As if she was thinking the same, she shot him a wry look.