Chapter 510: Warm Embrace
Feeling his touch, Selene’s body froze.
The lump in her throat seemed to grow, expanding until she couldn’t quite remember how breathing was supposed to work. Her thoughts scattered like smoke. The dozens of clever things she had been planning to say evaporated all at once.
Before she could find any of them again, she felt her body drift forward. Moon’s arm reached around her shoulders and pulled her gently against his chest.
Her face turned the color of a tomato instantly. The fabric of his shirt was warm against her cheek.
His masculine smell that she loved so much wafted into her nostrils, making her feel at ease. As if the world was no longer scary and filled with danger.
His chest rose and fell beneath her with a steady rhythm. But underneath that rhythm, she could hear his heartbeat.
It was fast. Pounding against her ear with a tempo that didn’t match his composed exterior at all.
’His heart is beating fast.’ Selene thought, her own pulse roaring in her ears. ’Just as fast as mine. Maybe faster...’
Selene stayed in his embrace, silent.
Five minutes passed before either of them moved. Five minutes of nothing but two heartbeats trying to find a rhythm together. Five minutes silence that didn’t need to be filled.
Eventually, Moon pulled back gently, his hand still resting lightly on her shoulder.
He looked at her. And the smile that spread across his face was the warmest she had ever seen from him.
"Thank you. For standing up for me. In the tournament."
His voice was quiet.
"It means a lot to me."
Selene nodded too quickly, her cheeks still a shade of pink despite her hardest attempt at trying to calm herself.
"O-Of course!"
Moon chuckled at her reaction, and for a moment Selene could only watch the way his lips curved.
Out of pure instinct, she moved. She didn’t decide to. Her body acted before her mind could catch up. Before the fear could grab her. Before any of the doubts she usually wrestled with had a chance to take control.
She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.
Moon’s eyes widened as he felt her soft ample lips against his.
The kiss was light and brief. The softest brush of warmth against his mouth.
His mind processed it in fragments.
’She kissed me. She kissed me first despite the fear in her heart.’
He could feel it. The trembling in her shoulders. The way her hands were clenched into fists at her sides. The way her eyes were squeezed shut, as if she couldn’t bring herself to see his reaction in case it was the wrong one.
’She has more courage than I do.’ He thought.
His body started to respond. His head began to tilt forward, ready to return the kiss.
Before he could do so, Selene pulled back. Breaking the contact in a single, quick motion, her eyes flying open.
"I-I will let you rest now!" She stood up from the bed so quickly the mattress bounced. Her words tumbled out in a rush that was barely coherent. "Big day tomorrow! You need sleep! Let’s talk later! Bye!"
Selene bolted. Two steps to the door, hand on the handle, door open, hand still pressed against her mouth like she was holding the kiss in place.
She didn’t dare to look back. She slipped through the doorway and pulled the door shut behind her in the same move.
The door clicked shut behind her.
Moon sat on the bed alone, his hand still half-raised from where he had been about to touch her face.
He blinked.
Then a slow smile spread across his face.
♢♢♢♢
On the other side of the door, Selene stood with her back pressed against the wood. Her hand was over her mouth. Her heart was beating so loudly she could feel it in her fingertips.
’Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. What did you do.’
She wanted to slide down the door and disappear into the floor. She wanted to walk back into that room and pretend it hadn’t happened. She wanted to find a hole in the world and crawl into it and never appear again.
Then, slowly, a smile began to spread across her face. Because Moon hadn’t been mad at her, or attempted at pushing her away.
In fact, she almost felt like Moon had been leaning forward to kiss her back.
She had seen it. The way his head had started to tilt and his eyes had softened. The way his hand had begun to reach for her face. If she had stayed for one more second, he would have kissed her back.
’He likes me too.’
The thought spread through her chest like warm water in a chill night, filling every corner of her ribcage, settling into her stomach, making her dizzy with a feeling she couldn’t quite name.
Selene pressed both hands to her face. She wanted to scream into a pillow.
"Boo!"
Selene yelped.
Yara had appeared at the end of the hallway. She was leaning casually against the wall, her arms crossed, a massive grin on her face that suggested she knew absolutely everything.
"Yara!" Selene hissed, her voice barely above a whisper. "How long have you been standing there?!"
"Long enough to see you run out. Your face is so red I thought you were on fire. Did something interesting happen in there?" Yara chuckled, grinning at Selene’s reaction.
"Nothing happened." Selene’s voice cracked on the second word.
"Mhm."
"Yara!"
"So you didn’t kiss him?"
"Yara!"
"You did kiss him. Oh, this is amazing. I knew it. I knew it was going to happen tonight. I called it. Pay up, past me."
Selene grabbed Yara’s arm and started pulling her down the hallway, away from Moon’s door, her face burning so brightly it was probably visible from space.
"Stop talking. Stop talking right now. I will never tell you anything ever again."
"Was it a good kiss?"
"Yara, I will end you."
"Did he kiss back?"
"YARA."
Their voices faded down the corridor.
Behind the closed door of his room, Moon was still sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at where Selene had been a minute earlier.
He brought his fingers up to his lips slowly.
The smile on his face refused to leave.
"So Sweet."
