Excerpt: A Breath, A Death, A Kiss

“Well, with my mom living here and what happened after she found us sleeping in bed together, I just figured we both better be eighteen before anything…before we risk…”
“It’s okay, I understand. But can I have a hug?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s okay.” And they moved in together for a hug. Sammy learned that Stevie didn’t hug like the straight girls on the pep squad, some A frame hug where only their shoulders and heads touched. Stevie folded up into Sammy’s body all the way down and put her arms around Sammy’s chest and back, squeezing gently. Sammy’s arms were above Stevie’s and she moved into the hug slowly and deliberately, wrapping her arms around Stevie’s shoulders, finally putting one hand on Stevie’s hair. She felt the warmth of Stevie’s body against hers and smelled her fragrant hair, the same scent she loved in the shower every morning. Her heart was going to bust right out of her chest and she couldn’t catch her breath.
Stevie tipped her head back. “It’s okay to breath, I’m not going anywhere.”
Then, nose to nose, they looked into each other’s eyes and Sammy melted. She tipped her head and brushed her lips across Stevie’s. Stevie’s lips opened and a small sigh escaped. They brushed lips again and both fell into a deep hole of touch and scent and emotion. Stevie kissed Sammy and gently held her lower lip in her teeth for a fraction of a second. Sammy went crazy in that moment and the kisses grew longer and more passionate. You never would have guessed that she had never kissed anyone but Stevie. In her mind, Sammy noted that their kisses were the perfect match for each other and wondered what the rest of their bodies could do, folded in tightly.
Then suddenly, like a shot, they heard a car door slam.