Handcuffs, Kisses and Awkward Situations (PUBLISHED, SAMPLE)

Chapter [15]

Because this book is now published, content stops after chapter twenty. Please proceed with this information in mind.  

F i f t e e n 

          It was intense being so close to Ryder. Feeling his chest press up against mine with every exhale, the smell of his breath lingering on my skin, the warmth of his hand in mine... Not to mention the connection between us before we were about to kiss...

            And I guess that intensity made me freak out. I mean, it was an unexplored territory and I was unfamiliar with what to expect. A part of me wanted to desperately discover, but the more reasonable side of me slapped some sense into me and I realised how scared I was. When I didn't make any further move to close the space between us, Ryder hesitantly lifted his head the slightest bit and gently brushed his lips against mine in the softest, most briefest of kisses. Those cliché electric tingles ran through me from the slightest contact and freaked me out even further. I wasn't ready for this.

            And that was when I did the stupidest thing of my life.

            I leaned back, took a breath as I closed my eyes and gently lowered my mouth back to his. I didn't expect our kiss to me this way. I mean, Ryder's lips felt different. They also tasted different; kind of floury and dry. Not to mention, he wasn't exactly kissing me back. Feeling awkward, I opened my eyes and realised what the problem was. Yes, I was kissing Ryder. But it wasn't on his mouth.

            I was making out with Ryder's nose.       

            Rather than pressing my lips against his, closing my eyes had caused me to misjudge where his lips were so I ended up at his nose. Humiliation drained into me when I realised what I had done and silently cursed myself for being such an idiot. Ryder stayed perfectly still beneath me. In fact, I wasn't even sure if he was breathing. I didn't want to see the look on his face so I just stayed there, awkwardly lying on top of him.

            "Nora...what did you just do?" Ryder asked slowly and uncertainly, as if he were still trying to make sense of it all.

            I didn't say anything straight away. I kind of just stared at him all startled and freaked, trying to rack my brain for even the slightest normal sounding response. But nothing I thought of sounded the slightest bit reasonable.

            In the end, I blurted, "You had some mixture on your face! I was just taking it off."

            Ryder raised an eyebrow. "With your mouth?"

            "Well," I felt my cheeks heat up in mortification, "yeah..."

            There was silence from the both of us. It was tense and deafening. You could have heard a hair drop to the floor. Then, after a moment, Ryder started vibrating. He was laughing so hard he could hardly contain it all. His head smacked against the tiles as he let out a howl of laughter and although it sounded like a pretty hard blow to his skull, he didn't seem to notice. His laughter came out in big booming claps.

            Smacking my curled first against his chest, I frowned. "Shut up," I muttered, pathetically.

            Since being handcuffed to Ryder, I had been in a lot of awkward situations,  but this one really topped the cake.

~♥♥♥~

            After Ryder regained his sanity from his completely spastic laugh attack, we finished baking, cleaned the kitchen and changed to get ready for the street party. Once on the main road, located by the lake, we were allocated a stall space that was set up in advance. All we had to do was line up our melting moments on the table provided and wait for tourists and community members to stop close by.