I let my head fall forward to meet hers, and her eyes close as she hums.

“You’re a lot of other things, too. Like beautiful, and spirited, and funny, and smart,” I say.

“You don’t know that I’m smart,” she lets out with a laugh, her lips almost brushing mine when she speaks.

“Yeah, I kinda do. I saw your transcripts,” I admit.

She slaps her hands flat against my chest and leans back, trying to decide if I’m kidding. I grin with half my mouth and shrug.

“I’m tight with the front office, and I was worried about you missing class last week. I was going to get your work for you,” I say, now my own nerves kicking in. I sound like a lunatic stalker.

Thankfully, Emma thinks differently, her head falling to the side again, her hands retracing their path along my arms.

“That’s sweet,” she sighs. “I got my work. It was a planned trip. With my family.”

“I figured,” I say, not able to pull my eyes away from hers. “You have really pretty eyes.”

She lets her head fall forward against mine as she lets out an embarrassed laugh.

“I’m serious,” I say. “Don’t let that make you uncomfortable. I mean…it’s almost selfish not to take that compliment. Think of all the people walking around with really hideous eyes.”

She laughs harder, and her grip on my arms gets tighter.

“You’re really funny, Andrew,” she says. I move my hands back to their rightful spot on either side of her face.

“And maybe a little cute? Maybe…just a little?” I squint. I’m teasing her, and I’m begging her. I want this girl to be the girl—my girl. The one I take to things and experience everything with.

“I’d have to say….” She pauses, her eyes taking in various features along my face, like she’s evaluating me, but her grin betrays her, breaking into her cheeks until we’re staring into each other’s eyes again. “Yeah…you’re pretty cute, Andrew.”

I blush. I can feel it, my cheeks warming, my mouth unable to keep a straight face. Every part of me is smiling.

“I’m gonna go ahead and kiss you now,” I say, my lips practically tingling to the point they almost feel numb.

Emma pinches her lips closed tight in a tiny smile, as her eyes close again. Her head held in my hands, I move her the few fractions of an inch left between us until I feel the tickle of her breath and her bottom lip between mine. She lets out another breath, and I suck her lip, tasting it with my tongue, holding her here, in this perfect place, this perfect moment, until I’m sure I’ll never forget it.

Then I move to her top lip, doing just the same. Tugging it into my mouth and holding it lightly with my teeth until she whimpers. My hands find their way into her hair, and she turns so more of her body is facing me, her hands sliding around my neck and back, pulling our bodies closer together.

When her tongue finally brushes against my lower lip, I know that I’m gone. I will never be the same after tonight. I’ve kissed girls, been fixed up on dates of younger siblings of people my brother knew, and I’ve had crushes.

Emma Burke is different from anything else.

She’s what I’m supposed to have. She’s what my first kiss should have been. And she’s the only kiss I ever want to remember. I kiss her harder, letting my tongue explore the inside of her mouth, letting my hands move down her back until I grab her hips and ass, pulling her into my lap to straddle me. I kiss her and touch her and memorize every frame of us, erasing everything that I ever knew of what a girl was supposed to feel like before.

We kiss like this for nearly an hour, the windows of my car frosting up with our breath. I touch her skin, letting my hands roam under her shirt, feeling her back and shoulders until I know it’s okay to feel more.

I touch her breasts, letting my fingers find every curve, my thumbs grazing her nipples and my mouth watering with the want for more. But I know that this is as far as Emma Burke wants me to go. And I’m okay with that, because this girl has me, every part of me. She owns it all, and I am willing to wait for every new touch, knowing that it will feel just the same, just as perfect as this one does.

She is what I will look forward to.

When I look at the dashboard finally, I realize it’s nearly two in the morning, and at some point, both Emma and I need to return home. I don’t want her parents to worry, so I sigh as I stare into her eyes one last time.

I reach into my pocket finally, looking for my keys, but don’t feel them. I check the other pocket and then let my hands start to search the sides of the seat when I don’t feel them there either. I’m about to slide my hand between the seat and the console when Emma starts to giggle.