Medley

9: A KISS TO BUILD A DREAM ON.

"It's all about who you know. Connections." I wink at him, playfully.

"May I ask who are you connected to?"

"Kai, his father owns this place."

"Is Kai the guy you were dancing with earlier?"

"Yes, that's him." I would rather discuss mathematical equations right now than talk about Kai with Harry Styles.

"Is he your boyfriend?" This question shouldn't offend me, but it does. Who does he think I am?

I realize that my thoughts are getting louder every millisecond. I calm myself before responding so that my speaking voice doesn't try to match the volume of the voices in my head.

"Would I have come here to be alone with you if my boyfriend had been down that hallway waiting for me?" I reply in a soft tone that doesn't reflect my real emotions at all.

"I don't know, would you?" What a monumental jerk!

"Never!" This time my voice is higher and a little pitchy, maybe because I'm choking on all the things I wish I was saying to him, instead I swallow the words and try to keep things cordial.

"I'm sorry if I've offended you." He reads me correctly. "I saw you two before and he seemed to be clinging to you in a way only a boyfriend would." Harry explains.

"Well, I don't know what gave you that impression but Kai is just my friend. And I'm not the type of person who, being in a relationship, would still go for a 'cup of coffee' with a stranger with questionable intentions." I sound like a child, what the hell is wrong with me? "Even less so if my boyfriend was here waiting on me! Who does that?!"

"Questionable intentions?" He reacts with a smile that transforms into an awkward laugh in the brief moment I take to respond. He must be thinking I'm a prude, great!

"We are adults, Harry. I don't think you brought me here for a nice conversation. I wouldn't be that naive even if I was sixteen years old. But I don't usually..." I take a moment to rephrase my thoughts. "I don't know what kind of women you're used to 'having coffee' with, but if their morals reflect what you just suggested of me, I would kindly ask you not to count me as one of them because I am not like them at all"

I'm getting exasperated. And my emotional age keeps decreasing with every word that leaves my mouth. I feel like I'm ten years old right about now.

"Don't you think I figured as much by now? Most girls would've jumped onto my lap two minutes after walking through that door, but we've been talking for over an hour and you still get nervous if I get too close. I can hear your breathing accelerate whenever I accidentally brush my fingers against your skin, and I've noticed how you blush when you catch me staring at your lips."

I need a minute to compose myself before I can speak again, I'm a trembling mess.

"Then why ask that question?" I'm being over-dramatic, but I don't care. I need to focus on anything other than the words he just spoke.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything negative about you. I was just trying to find out who this Kai person was because he wouldn't stop throwing dirty looks my way all night. But I approached this all wrong, I apologize." For the hundredth time tonight, I don't know how to react to the things he says.

"That's okay Harry, I know I'm overreacting. Maybe because I'm still debating what I'm doing here." Sincerity seems like a good starting point.

"Then why did you come? Why are you here, Emilia?"

This sounds a lot like a dare. He's challenging me to say it out loud.

"I don't know why I came." I lie.

"Yes, you do." As he talks he moves closer to me, our legs are touching and his face is no more than six inches from mine. "You know exactly why you're here." His voice is now a captivatingly sexy murmur that sends my stomach spiraling down to my feet at the speed of light.

"I'm here because I like you, Harry. I really like you." The distance between the tip of my nose and his is now less than three inches. He exhales and the smell of his breath crashes on my face and it's all I can feel.

Every other smell in the room has evaporated. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee? Gone! The green apple scent from the candles? Gone! The smell of new leather from the couches? Puff, gone! Peppermint bubblegum is all my nose is able to register at the moment.

Harry lifts his hand and places it on my cheek, holding my head up so I have to look him in the eyes while he speaks.

"I'm here for the very same reason. So... since we've established it's mutual, can I finally kiss you? I've been wanting nothing more all night."

I'm too stunned to say anything. I give him my answer by leaning forward and meeting his face halfway until our mouths collapse.

The kiss starts sweet and slow. His plump lips are even softer than I've been imagining all this time. So smooth! He runs his thumb across my cheek bone and that intensifies the sensation. I'm so grateful we're sitting on the couch, because if I was standing my knees would be giving out on me. There's no rush in the way he caresses my face, or the way he gently kisses my top lip, my bottom lip and then patiently waits for me to reciprocate.

Michael Bolton's voice (covering Louis Armstrong's classic) sneaks into the little cracks of my mind that are not flooded by Harry. Yet.

"Give me a kiss to build a dream on
And my imagination will thrive upon that kiss
Sweetheart, I ask no more than this
A kiss to build a dream on

Give me a kiss before you leave me
And my imagination
Will feed my hungry heart
Leave me one thing before we part
A kiss to build a dream on

(...)

Oh, give me your lips for just a moment
And my imagination will make that moment live
Give me what you alone can give
A kiss to build a dream on"

Harry tastes like a sunny spring morning, like the breeze of the ocean, or perhaps like the colors of a beautiful sunset. He tastes like the earthy smell of rain on a summer day. Like a steamy hot bath when it's cold in the winter. Tastes like all of those things combined if they had flavors.

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A KISS TO BUILD A DREAM  ON - Michael Bolton (cover).