It all happened so fast.

Even though we couldn’t find anything else in the darkness, we had no trouble finding each other. His hands fell to my hips, like they belonged there. I felt myself being pressed against the rickety wooden shelves, the firm, warm heat of his bare chest against my damp skin.

I gave into everything and dropped my hands to his waist. When I did, Alex finally lowered his head to kiss me. His lips crashed against mine without hesitation, on the most natural course in the world. They were soft and full and he caught mine between his teeth before softening the kiss and entering my mouth.

My tongue met his, and a ragged noise escaped Alex’s mouth and echoed in the darkness.

For about two minutes…my walls were down. I twisted my legs around his calves. I pulled him into me at the same time he pulled me into him, and I gave up the idea of holding anything back. It was so easy in the dark and for the first time I allowed myself to have something, without considering what would have to be sacrificed or what it meant in the context of my life. For about two minutes, I was honest. I told Alex everything.

But I’d spent sixteen and a half years constructing walls, or allowing walls to be constructed around me.

A single kiss, even the best kiss in the history of kisses, was not enough to bring them down.