The Kissing Challenge

by Cookie O'Gorman

  Gemma: Plus, I'm impulsive. There's no cure for that. I checked.

  I let her sweat it out for a bit.

  Gemma: Anne??? I'm sorry! I really am! I should've asked first. You still love me, right?

  Me: Of course, I love you. Now, was that so hard?

  Gemma: Ugh yes! And I am sorry…but I still say the kiss made me do it!

  I shook my head, typed "You're forgiven. Now, get some sleep," and then put my phone aside.

  It pinged again a second later.

  Wondering what else Gemma had to say, I looked and discovered the latest message wasn't from her.

  Captain: Sweet dreams, Anne.

  It wasn't uncommon for Captain to text at night, and I sent him one in return, glad to know he was thinking of me, too.

  Me: Goodnight, Captain.

  My dreams were filled with him and kisses.

  CHAPTER 4

  For the next few days, we went back to normal. Or at least normal-ish.

  Captain and I did all the things we'd always done as best friends. But there was this new awareness. Whenever he leaned over to talk to me in class, it made my breath catch. If I rode with him in his car (which I did a lot because it was one of my favorite things), I felt like Captain kept finding little ways to touch me, a light brush against my thigh, his breath on my neck as he got something out of the glove compartment. It was maddening.

  Dinner at his house was another minefield. First, had he always sat so close? Second, what was up with those looks he kept throwing me when he thought I wasn't looking? And third, movie nights. Oh Lord, we really shouldn't have done movie night together.

  His hand accidentally met mine over and over again as we reached for popcorn at the same time. One of those times he'd gripped my hand by accident which caused me to jump. Little yellow kernels went everywhere. The mess took at least ten minutes to clean up. Captain had laughed, but I'd been mortified.

  The strangest thing, though, happened right before the weekend hit.

  Hero Complex was playing at a well-known hangout called Bruno's Place. Every Friday they had a live music night that drew a pretty big crowd. Captain and the guys had played here more than once, and they were starting to make a name for themselves, traveling to other places in other states as well.

  I'd promised Captain I would come, so of course, I did. He and his bandmates always let me make them look pretty anyway. Again, not that any of them needed much assistance in that department. This wasn't like the alien look I'd tried on Captain. I only gave them slight touchups to smooth their skin and a bit of black liner around some of their eyes to make them even more mysterious.

  Apparently, all the guys in Hero Complex saw the video and wanted to chat—aka tease us mercilessly about it.

  "Did you know she was going to kiss you?" Knight said. Like Captain, he played guitar. My best friend usually took lead, but watching them together? They were something else. "Because Cap, I've gotta say. You looked stupefied for a second there, my friend."

  Captain tilted his head. "Thanks, man. Appreciate it."

  "I'm just saying."

  "It was awesome," Jake said. He was their new drummer, took the spot after the first guy quit. It wasn't a bad change either. I didn't know Jake well, but he was good on drums and nice enough. He winked at me then. "Anne has some skills. I could see that much from the video."

  "Hey," Liam put in. "Leave it, Jake. She's Captain's girl."

  "Ah." Jake held his drumsticks up in the air while I blushed. "I didn't know it was like that. Sorry."

  I shook my head. "It's really not," I said.

  Liam lifted a brow. "Are you sure? Didn't look that way to me."

  "Why did you kiss him anyway?" Brandon, the bassist, asked. His question took me aback for a second. He was by far the most quiet member of the group with a deep voice that commanded attention.

  Why had I kissed Captain?

  The answer flashed through my mind: Because I wanted to.

  It was as simple and as complicated as that.

  Luckily, my best friend stepped in, which saved me from having to say anything. Captain smiled my way and then shrugged.

  "There was this challenge," he said. "I've never known Anne to back down from anything."

  "Sounds like a brave girl," Jake said with a grin.

  "And on top of that, she can kiss, too," Knight added. "Cap hasn't been able to shut up about it since it happened."

  Captain shoved his shoulder. "Stop being an idiot."

  "What? It's true."

  My jaw went slack. Was it really? Had Captain been talking about our kiss so much that the guys felt the need to pelt us with all these questions? The possibility was unbelievable.

  "Hey Anne, you almost finished?" Liam asked, breaking through my daze. "We go on soon, and we still need to do sound check. Make sure everything's ready."

  I nodded. "Oh yeah, nearly done."

  I put the finishing touches on Jake's eyes and then moved onto Brandon. He was the easiest because he talked the least. Though I was fairly certain, he could've done without the makeup and only resigned himself to my attentions because of Captain. Actually, that was why all of the guys allowed me to enhance their looks. Liam, however, never let me go near his face. He was the one exception. I'd already done Knight and intentionally saved my best friend for last.

  "Hey," Captain said when I stepped in front of him. "You okay? I know the guys can be annoying, but they're alright."

  "I'm fine," I assured. "Now, close your eyes, so I can do my thing."

  "You got it."

  I was just about to put the liner to his eyes when I felt someone watching us. Looking to the right, I noticed Knight standing there with this look on his face that spelled trouble. The others had already exited the room.

  "Need something?" I asked.

  "Oh no," he said. "I was waiting to see if there'd be a repeat performance. In case you forget to record this one, Anne, you little minx."

  The joke made heat rise from my chest to my cheeks. I knew exactly what he meant.

  "Dude," Captain said and threw his pick at him. "Get out of here!"

  Knight dodged it with a laugh. "Okay, okay, I'm going," he said. "Sheesh. You used to be more fun."

  "If you're not gone in two seconds," Captain warned, "I'll show you how much fun my fist can have with your face."

  It was an empty threat. Knight and I both knew that, but with an eyeroll he left, and Captain looked back up at me.

  "Sorry about him" he said and closed his eyes. "Please. Finish what you were doing."

  I had the incredible urge to kiss him right then. Captain was sitting there, his face open, eyes shut, just like he'd been when I'd kissed him the first time. Seeing him like that again… It gave me a lot of thoughts—none of which I should've been having about my best friend.

  But I was able to control myself.

  Finishing his makeup in under a minute, I said, "Okay, you're all set."

  "Thanks, Anne," he said, staring up at me.

  "Don't you want to check and make sure I did a good job?"

  Captain shook his head. "No. I trust you."

  Well, that's good, I thought as he left to join the others onstage. I wished I could trust myself more around him. But with that kiss still so fresh in my mind, yeah, I needed to watch myself.

  And definitely stop thinking of Captain in more than friendly terms.

  #

  I was failing.

  Miserably.

  It would've been much easier to think of Cap as just a friend if he wasn't up there, playing that guitar like he owned it, looking tempting as heck in front of a rowdy crowd. Hero complex had drawn a lot of people out tonight. I estimated at least half of the attendants were female.

  "They are so freaking hot." A girl to my right had a soda in her hand and her eyes glued to the stage. "I'm so glad you convinced me to come tonight, Dorothy."

  "Me, too!" Her friend laughed. "Though it was like pulling teeth! I know you real
ly wanted to go to that party at Roman's. But then you would've missed all this male beauty!"

  The pretty blonde nodded. "So hot."

  And they sound wonderful, too, I thought. Couldn't deny it. They were absolutely correct. Every member of Hero Complex was gorgeous. But in addition to that, they were having a great night up there.

  "Hey, do you know if the guitar guy is single?" she asked.

  "Which one?"

  "Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome over there. The one playing the solo right now."

  That made me sit up straighter. She was talking about Captain.

  "Eep! I don't. But he is so your type, Gwen."

  "I know." Gwen, the blonde, nodded. "If he's single, I'm going for it."

  "Over Roman already?" Dorothy asked.

  "I think I could be with a little help from guitar guy."

  The two laughed while I internally cringed. Hero Complex was nearly done with their last song. I wasn't sure why, but her words made my chest feel tight.

  Captain and the others finished their set to raucous applause. When they stepped down from the stage, they came straight to my table. Which was also unfortunately right in line with the girl who'd been checking out my best friend.

  He walked over to me and grinned.

  "So?" he said. "Did you like it?"

  I rolled my eyes. "Of course! Me and like every other person in here. Did you hear that crowd? You guys were brilliant."

  "I'm glad you thought so."

  Ugh, he was so cute.

  It looked like I wasn't the only one who noticed that either.

  A group of girls had worked up the courage to come talk to the guys, and they were already telling them how amazing they did. One even tried to put her hand on Captain's chest, but the blonde from earlier wasn't having it. She smoothly inserted herself by his side. It upset the girl who'd been trying to talk to him, but then she shrugged and walked away.

  "Hey, I'm Gwen," the blonde said, looking up at Captain from beneath her lashes.

  "Captain," he said with a nod.

  "Oh, isn't that precious. What an interesting name."

  He shrugged. "It's the one my parents gave me."

  "Do you play sports?" she asked. "You look like you do. Is that the reason? For the name, I mean?"

  "Lord no." Captain faked a shiver. "My mom just liked it, and Dad didn't have an objection."

  "That's too bad. I love sports and all the muscles that come with them."

  Well that was kind of forward. The feminist part of me was like: You go girl! But the part that had loved my bestie forever was like: Back off, he's mine! Trying to be a good friend, I stuffed what I was feeling down deep. It wasn't like we could happen anyway.

  "You seem to have those in spades," she said, putting her hand on his biceps. "No sports required."

  "Yeah uh, thanks," Captain said while he ran a hand through his hair and looked to me.

  I had to say something then because he seemed so uncomfortable.

  "He's great at basketball," I put in. "Was actually the captain back in middle school when they won state."

  "Anne," he said, blushing profusely.

  "What? You were," I said.

  Captain smiled. "That was a team effort, though."

  "And you were a big part of the team."

  He shook his head while Gwen gave me a look.

  "Thanks for the info," she said.

  I shrugged. "No problem."

  Gwen looked from me to Captain. "Are you two, like, brother and sister or something?"

  Knight who'd been chatting up her friend, Dorothy, clearly overheard. He turned and draped an arm over Cap's shoulder.

  "He's actually her best friend," he said.

  "Yeah," Liam sidled up next to him. "But they kissed not so long ago."

  Okay, now Captain and I were both blushing. Thanks a lot, Liam.

  "You really just said that," Captain remarked.

  Liam cocked his chin. "It's true. Isn't it?"

  They were having a staring contest, but it looked like there was some message being conveyed that I wasn't in on. A second later, my attention shifted to Dorothy as she gasped. She pointed back and forth from me to Captain.

  "Oh my gosh," she said, the excitement clear in her tone. "It's you! I knew I recognized you both from somewhere!"

  My brows furrowed.

  "You're the couple from that video," she proclaimed then leaned over to Gwen. "These are the kissing friends I told you about. It's what made me come in the first place."

  Gwen hummed, but I noticed her assessing me unlike before.

  "How sweet," she said, though it didn't sound like she meant it.

  Dorothy shook her head, the smile still playing on her lips. "No way. That kiss was hot. Though I guess there was some sweetness. It was sweet hot."

  "I'd have to agree," Liam said.

  "Me, too," Knight said.

  I wondered if the blush I was sporting would ever go away. At this rate, I didn't think so.

  "So, you guys are really friends?" Dorothy asked.

  "Yeah, Anne's my best friend," Captain said. His eyes were bright as they settled on me. "And I'm hers."

  Wow, those words paired with the way he was looking at me… It was an irresistible combination. I was surprised I didn't faint on the spot.

  "So awesome and romantic," Dorothy said.

  "Yep, our Anne here initiated it," Knight said and gave me a smile. "Threw Captain for a loop."

  "Thanks, Knight," Cap said through clenched teeth.

  "Oh, that makes sense then." It was Gwen who had spoken, and all of our eyes went to her. "I didn't mean anything bad by it," she went on. "It's just…kissing your best friend. How hot can that be?"

  Very, I thought but didn't say. So hot I could still feel the press of Captain's lips against mine days later.

  "It was supernova hot," Knight said.

  "Yeah," Dorothy put in. "I immediately saved it to my favorites—which sounds weird now that I'm saying it to you guys. But it's true. I'm sure I wasn't the only one. The video has like over 20K views already."

  Gwen looked less than impressed, but Dorothy wasn't done.

  "Any chance we could get the kiss part two?" she asked with a wink.

  Knight held up his hand. "I second that."

  "Come on," I said, trying to laugh it off. "I don't think—"

  "Third," Liam said, and my eyes shot to his. They were intense as usual, but I thought I could see a bit of amusement there. "Why don't you remind us what made it so hot?"

  Gwen, who'd only known us for like five seconds, said, "I don't need proof. And I don't believe it. Kissing your friend sounds lame to me."

  She threw a smile my way.

  "No offense," she said.

  "None taken," I muttered.

  "I bet you ten dollars that you're wrong," Liam said to Gwen.

  "About what?" she asked.

  "Whether it can be hot or not. Kissing your best friend."

  She laughed, but Liam didn't seem like he was joking.

  "I'll put another ten on top of that," Knight piped up.

  "Guys," I said, "come on. This is silly."

  But Jake said, "I've got a ten, too."

  Why, oh why were we even having this discussion? It wasn't like Captain and I could just kiss again in front of all these people. That would take a miracle. Plus, everyone who'd followed the band over now seemed to be listening in on the conversation. A few of them were with Gwen and cheered her on, saying not to back down, to take the bet.

  "Me, too," Dorothy said and raised her eyebrow at her friend. "I know you're good for it, Gwen. Put your money where your mouth is."

  Gwen shook her head like they were all crazy. I felt the need to as well. How had it escalated this quickly? And why wasn't Captain saying anything? Maybe he was as shocked by this turn of events as I was.

  "I've got another twenty," Brandon said quietly.

  Liam looked to him. "And which way are you betting?"


  He looked first at Cap then at me then his gaze landed back on Liam. "That it can be just as hot again."

  Liam gave his shoulder a pat and turned to Gwen. "That's sixty. Are you in or not?"

  This girl didn't seem like the type to back down, especially when she had her supporters in the little crowd that'd gathered. "Fine," she said. "Whatever. You have a bet. Sixty bucks says you kissing your best friend can't be anything but lame."

  Captain took a few steps closer. He lowered his voice, but what he said surprised me.

  "Are you good with this?" he asked.

  My eyes met his. "Are you?"

  "Yeah…but only if you want to, Anne."

  Wow, what to say to that?

  I swallowed past the lump in my throat and said, "Sure. It's just a kiss, right?"

  Captain hummed low in his throat. As his hands came up to cup my face, I felt my breath catch. His touch was warm, but it was his eyes that got to me the most. They were lit with something I couldn't name and focused entirely on me. I had the urge to look away. My nerves told me a second kiss could be nothing but trouble. But at the same time, I wanted to live in that gaze forever.

  His face came closer until we were only a breath a part.

  "Ready?" he said.

  I nodded. I was past ready.

  "You're not having second thoughts, right?" Each word from Captain's lips hit mine with a little puff of air. Every time it happened it felt like a tease. His closeness made me quiver—and his lips hadn't even touched me yet. "Because if you are, it's okay. We don't have to prove anything to these people."

  "Captain?" I breathed and licked my lips.

  His eyes followed the movement. "Yeah?"

  "Can you kiss me now?" I said. "Please?"

  "I thought you'd never ask," he murmured.

  Cap's lips were on me in the next heartbeat.

  He didn't sit still like last time either. Captain made sure our bodies were pressed together as tight as they could be. My legs instantly turned to jelly, but it was okay because one of his arms was suddenly around my waist. The other still cupped my cheek. My fingers dug into his shirt, pulling him impossibly closer and refusing to let go.

  This second kiss was just as amazing as the first. But there was no surprise, only yearning. Our lips moved together, never completely parting even for an instant. I met Captain's heat with my own, and we melted together.