Ben looked at me like the words had altered the air in the room.

"You," I had said. Nothing more.

His eyes moved over my face, searching for hesitation, for the moment I might take it back. When he did not find it, something in him loosened and tightened at the same time.

"Me?" he said like he wouldn't believe I would choose him

He kissed me hard.

There was no careful testing left in it. His mouth opened against mine, one hand gripping the back of my neck, the other sliding down my spine and pulling me flush against him. I felt the full length of his body, the...