I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

“Yes,” I say. And Sam doesn’t hesitate.
He’s sloppy at first, hungry, but his tenderness doesn’t waver. He
hooks his arm around my back, the other cradling the back of my
neck. I slip my fingers into his locks, the heat traveling through us
like steam. The talking, the dancing, the singing–the noise of
anything that isn’t us–disperse till we’re convinced no one else
exists.
Sam’s never kissed before. Neither have I. Yet it isn’t like either of us
imagined it would be. Like all things between us, it is electric at first,
grand and revelatory, a flame settling in a comfortable fire. Soon
enough, Sam is smiling, his eyes rolling on a high.
“You’re bad at this,” he teases.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m joking.” He picks me off the ground, purposefully falling
backward into the wet grass. I shriek against his mouth, his chuckles
vibrating through his chest beneath me.
“Wow,” he sighs, kissing me again, kneading the flesh of my legs
and sides.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, keep kissing me,” he orders, pecking my face like a bird.
On my brow, my cheekbone, my chin, my nose, my eyelids.
When he lays down, he keeps me with him, our sated hearts beating
together.
“Look,” I whisper, pointing at the sky. “Our stars are out.”
“Yes, sweet Sam,” he whispers. He stretches his limbs like a cat on a
rooftop and kisses my cheek. “Our stars are out.”
broken things