“Are you taking her out tonight?”
Kota dropped the polish brush back into the bottle, and tilted his head back. “It’s a school night.”
“So?”
Kota grunted. “I was just going to hang out with her here today.” He collected the mess of paper towels and cotton balls on the floor and stood up, crumpling them into his hands. “We’ve been out a lot lately.”
“Oh really?” Erica beamed. Kota ignored this and walked into the kitchen. Erica turned on me. “So what were you really doing?”
I blushed, sensing she was assuming more from us than what was really going on. “Oh... Um, I was just playing the game.”
“He wasn’t playing with you?”
“Well he did, and then when he let me beat him the first time, he started teaching me how to...”
Erica’s mouth popped open. “He what? He let you win?”
A finger dropped to my mouth, hovering over my lip. “Only the once.”
Erica planted her palms on her hips again, turning to the kitchen. “Dakota Jameson Lee! Get your butt in here.”
Kota dashed back into the room, his eyebrows up, his hands up in surprise. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Did you let Sang win a game?”
Kota rocked his head back. “Just once.”
“Why in the world would you do that?”
Kota’s mouth dropped open. It was the first time I’d seen him so stunned. “What? I was trying to be nice.”
“Letting someone else win is what you do with little four year olds. Not with girls.”
Kota’s cheeks lit up. “I didn’t know.”
“Well think before you do that again. You never just let a girl win at anything. If I ever hear you doing it again, I’ll ground your butt.” Erica sank down onto the couch, kicking off her tennis shoes. Max crawled over until he cuddled in her lap. She scratched him behind the ears. “I swear, you’re a brilliant kid, but some days, I wonder where your common sense went.”
I sank into the bean bag chair, pressing my palm to my cheek. Was Kota getting in trouble with his mother because of me?
Kota did a small eye roll and a half grin. “I’ll try not to let it happen again.”
She snapped her fingers at him and pointed at me. “Don't tell me. Go kiss her and tell her you’re sorry.”
Kota started shaking his head, waving his hands in the air. “I don’t...”
“Do it, or I will ground you,” Erica said. “I shouldn’t have to tell you how to treat a girl.”
My cheeks radiated. If I said he didn’t have to, would she be mad at me for intervening? He seemed so embarrassed.
“What’s wrong?” Erica asked. “You’ve been dating her this long and won’t kiss her in front of other people? No one is going to think less of you for being with a girl. You can be the boss and still date. That’s not some school rule, is it?”
“No,” Kota said.
“Sang, sweetie?” Erica said, dropping her voice into something a little more syrupy and Southern. “Would you be a doll and go give my highly apologetic son a kiss so he’d relax a little?”
For a moment, I wasn’t sure what to do. I had flashes of myself kissing Kota on the lips in front of her. I had a feeling Erica was going to drag this out until we kissed. My heart thundered. My first kiss ever would be with Kota after I was told to do so by his mother.
Could do worse.
I popped up from the bean bag chair. Kota’s eyes widened, as if not expecting me to have obeyed so readily. I kept a palm at my cheek to mask my blushing. I walked a little funny, trying not to get polish on the carpet.
I stood close to Kota, looking between him and his mother, suddenly unsure.
Erica waved a hand in the air at us. “Go ahead.”
I placed a hand on Kota’s chest, and went almost en pointe on my toes.
Kota lowered his head, tilting his cheek to me.
I almost huffed at him, but I remembered Karen telling me a boy should kiss the girl on the lips first. I wanted it to happen like that, like in the movies I’d seen. With the way Kota was acting, it was as if he didn’t want to do it. He was presenting his cheek as if this was as far as he was willing.
Out of frustration, I leaned forward and kissed his cheek, close to his mouth. It was only a moment, but as I did it, I felt his chest shift as he inhaled sharply.
I pulled back, dropping down and touching my finger to my lip, unsure of what I just did.
Kota gazed down at me, in an expression that had me confused. I wasn’t sure if he was happy with me.
“That was a good angle,” Erica said from the couch. When I turned, she had her phone in her hand as if she’d snapped another picture. “I can’t believe how cute you two are.”
“I think that’s just Sang,” Kota said in a small voice.
I blushed. Did he mean to call me cute?
“All right, Mr. Smarty Pants,” she said. “Take her on up to your room. I’ll make dinner.”
“But...”
“No,” she said, holding her palm up and out toward him in a blocking motion. “I don’t want to watch my son making out with his girlfriend in the living room. There’s only so much of this I can take. You know I trust you. You can have Sang in your room, but you better treat her right. If I hear one negative word from her, I’ll send her home.”
Kota rolled his eyes and nudged me in the shoulder. “You heard the woman. Upstairs.”
I raced around the couch, eager to escape his mother. I liked her a lot, but I wasn’t sure I could take another request from her like that.
Kota collected our book bags and my shoes and followed me. He shut the door behind us as I dashed up the stairs.
At the top, I leaned against the wall for support. My legs shook. My palm pressed to my ribs over my heart that was rapidly beating in my chest. I’d kissed Kota. I’d done it before to him, but this was in front of his mother. Where did I ever find the nerve?
Kota dropped our things on the floor. He closed his eyes slowly and partially turned his head away. “I’m sorry, Sang,” he said quietly.
“For what?”
“I know how you feel about being forced to kiss someone you don’t want. I’m sorry my mother forced you,” he said, gazing at his feet. His cheeks were about as red as mine felt.
I bit my lip to hold back the words, but they burst from me. “I’m not sorry,” I said. She didn’t really force me. If I hadn’t wanted to, I wouldn’t have at all. Maybe Erica knew me better than I really knew myself. Maybe that’s why she asked me again what we’d been doing today. She expected us, since she thought we were dating, to be kissing and cuddling on the couch like other couples did.
His eyebrows arched up in surprise. He nudged at the corner of his dark rimmed glasses. He stared at me for so long I thought he wasn’t going to say anything.
He closed the distance between us, locked eyes with mine. He hovered over me, his head bent forward, and he turned his focus to my mouth.
My lips trembled. I pressed my back to the wall. The sensation swept over me, warning me that he was going to kiss me. I stiffened. I wanted him to, but I was nervous again.
Kota closed his eyes, sighing. His hand found mine, capturing it and he held it between his palms. “Don’t look like that,” he breathed. “Please.”
“Like what?” I whispered.
“Like you did that first night.” He opened his eyes to slits. “I can’t stand it when you look at me with those eyes.”
I didn’t know how to respond. “I don’t know how I’m looking.”
He traced a forefinger across my cheek. “Like you don’t know me. Like you’re about to run off and disappear and I’ll never find you again.”
“But...”