“You’re right. I don’t know what was I thinking.” I force a laugh despite my mounting mortification. “I guess I’m not myself because of Bryce.”

I release him, expecting him to get up and leave like he intended to do before I stopped him. He remains seated beside me, a tense silence hanging in the air. When I glance at him, he snares my gaze with his. A conflicted look on his face, his Adam’s apple bobs again.

“OK. A quick one,” he says in a low voice.

Without waiting for my response, Keith leans in, cups the back of my head, and kisses me. The press of his lips is firmer this time and that delicious sizzle returns and is stronger too. It’s the hottest kiss I’ve ever had, even though it’s just our lips mashed together.

He retreats and I cling to his shoulder to keep our kiss going. When I dart my tongue out and lick his bottom lip, to my surprise, Keith parts his lips and lets me slip my tongue into his mouth. At first, our tongues touch and slide together in a tentative, exploratory way. Our kiss deepens, going from inappropriate-but-chaste to wrong and dirty.