Chapter 77: A kiss

She released him quickly and stepped back, her face turning a furious shade of crimson. "I-I’m sorry! I got too excited!" she blurted out.

"Y-yeah..." Frost rubbed the back of his neck, unsure what to say. When her eyes darted towards him, he hurriedly added, "I’m not complaining! That was... nice."

It turned out that was the wrong thing to say, because she only grew redder. Covering the lower half of her face with one hand, Yasmine turned towards the workbench and began rearranging things that didn’t need rearranging.

She moved a tool, straightened a scrap of paper, then picked up her goggles, only to stare at them as though she had forgotten what they were for. Frost watched awkwardly, feeling the heat creep into his own face.

He wanted to say something to ease her embarrassment, but honestly, he wasn’t doing much better himself.

"Was it... really nice?" she asked after a moment, glancing at him over her shoulder.

Frost blushed, but he nodded. "I’ve never kissed anyone before, so that was my first," he admitted, feeling rather embarrassed.

"Oh..." Yasmine turned towards him, her fingers clenching around her goggles. "Me too," she said quietly, a smile slowly blooming on her face.

The sight made his heart flutter. She was beautiful, something he had noticed before, though her messy appearance and the exhaustion she always seemed to carry often distracted him from it.

Now, however, he found himself staring, his gaze lingering on those soft, plump lips that had just kissed him. When she noticed where he was looking, she shyly lowered her eyes, though her smile remained.

Now he was truly lost. He had always thought of her as a friend before anything else, and while he had occasionally fantasized about something more, she had never shown any interest in him that way. At least, none that he had noticed.

This kiss, however, made things complicated. Had she simply been caught up in the moment, or was there more to it?

How would she respond if he tried his luck with her? Would she think he was taking advantage of her excitement, push him away, and end up resenting him, or would she be happy to know that he desired her too?

And what did he want? He enjoyed her company and looked forward to seeing her, but even he knew that the thoughts running through his head right now had a great deal to do with lust, and his actions, assuming he did make a move on her, would be driven by lust.

Should he just go along with it and hope things worked out? That sounded rather irresponsible, but standing here silently while she waited for him to say something wasn’t helping either.

The thoughts spiraled, and the longer he hesitated, the more complicated everything became. Overthinking had always been a bad habit of his, and even getting kissed by a beautiful woman wasn’t enough to spare him from it.

Argh! Why the fuck is this so complicated!?

He ruffled his hair, closing his eyes as though that might help him think. Before he could decide what to say, Yasmine let out a deep yawn.

"I’m going to get some sleep. I’m so tired," she said, leaving it at that as she set her goggles on the workbench.

"R-right," Frost replied, watching her disappear into the back rooms. He remained standing there for a moment before noticing Deadlock staring at him, just as it had been for the past few minutes.

"What are you looking at, tin can?" he grumbled, turning towards the robot.

"Human relationships are incredibly complex," it observed in its mechanical voice.

"No shit, Sherlock," Frost muttered.

...

Yasmine closed the bedroom door and rested her back against it, letting out a shuddering breath. For a moment, she stood perfectly still, staring at the ceiling as everything she had just done replayed in her mind.

Then she grabbed fistfuls of her hair.

"What the hell was I thinking!?"

The words came out considerably louder than she intended, and she immediately slapped a hand over her mouth. She glanced at the door in horror, hoping Frost had already left, then hurried towards her bed.

She threw herself onto the mattress, buried her face in a pillow, and screamed. Unfortunately, that did very little to help.

"You kissed him! You actually kissed him!" she muttered into the fabric, kicking her legs against the bed. "You could have just thanked him like a normal person!"

But no, a simple thank you hadn’t been enough. She had grabbed his face and practically tried to swallow him, and then, as if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, she had asked whether he liked it!

Yasmine rolled onto her back, clutching the pillow to her chest. Her face was so hot that she briefly considered whether she had somehow developed a fever.

"Now he’s going to think I’m a loose woman," she groaned. "He’ll think I do that whenever someone compliments my work!"

The thought horrified her so much that she sat upright.

Should she go back and explain?

No, she had already told him it was her first kiss. Surely that counted for something, unless he thought she was lying, in which case... she fell backwards and pulled the pillow over her face.

"Stop thinking!"

That didn’t work either. The memory of his startled expression flashed in her eyes, followed by the way he had blushed when he told her that it was his first kiss too.

Her legs gradually stopped moving.

His first kiss.

Yasmine lowered the pillow to peek over it, even though there was nobody else in the room. A small, helpless smile appeared on her face.

She had been his first.

She remembered how long he had stood there without saying anything, and her smile faltered.

Had he only said it was nice because he hadn’t wanted to hurt her feelings? He was kind to her, after all. He brought her food, listened when she complained, and somehow managed to remain interested in spending time with her, even when she spent far too long explaining a project.

Perhaps she had mistaken all of that for something else.

"Oh, this is terrible," she whispered, hugging the pillow tighter. "What if he stops visiting?"

That possibility bothered her far more than the embarrassment.

The workshop had become much less lonely since he started coming around. She had grown used to looking towards the door whenever she heard footsteps, and on the days he didn’t visit, she usually found herself wondering whether his training had run late.

She hadn’t thought much about what that meant until now.

Yasmine turned onto her side, staring at the empty space beside her. Then, slowly, she touched her lips.

He had been looking at them afterward.

She was certain of that.

A smile crept back onto her face before she could stop it, only for her to squeeze her eyes shut in frustration.

"Then why didn’t you do anything, you idiot?"

To be fair, she had announced that she was going to sleep and practically fled the room. There hadn’t been much opportunity for him to do anything after that.

"Fine. We’re both idiots."

She rolled onto her stomach and dragged the pillow beneath her chin, her cheeks still burning. All that work, all those failed experiments, and somehow, the motor was the last thing she wanted to think about now.

Tomorrow, she would behave normally. She would greet him, show him her notes, and avoid grabbing his face under any circumstances.

Unless he wanted her to.

Yasmine let out another muffled squeal and buried herself beneath the blanket.

...

Frost landed on his back with a heavy thud, the impact driving the breath from his lungs. He stared at the training hall’s ceiling for a moment, wondering how he had ended up looking at it for the third time that morning.

Standing over him, Soren looked just as confused.

The man glanced at Frost, then slowly raised his fist before his face. He opened and closed it a few times, a rather pleased expression beginning to replace his surprise.

"Have I gotten stronger?"

Frost groaned, pushing himself upright. His shoulder ached where Soren had hit him, though the man’s growing smile was somehow more unpleasant.

"Perhaps yesterday’s training finally paid off," Soren continued, turning towards Talia. "I told you I was feeling different this morning."

"You said your back hurt," she replied.

"Well, clearly, something was happening."

"Your strength hasn’t changed," Ava said, approaching from the side. "Your opponent is simply too distracted to defend himself."

She stopped beside Frost and looked down at him, her arms folded. "Get up."

Frost obeyed, brushing the dust from his trousers while trying to ignore Talia’s poorly concealed amusement. Usually, he would have had something to say, but his mind was still elsewhere.

"What’s wrong with you today?" Ava asked. "You’ve barely paid attention since the session started. If you intend to stand there and let people hit you, at least spare us the trouble of pretending this is training."

"Sorry," Frost said, rubbing his sore shoulder. "There’s just something on my mind."

"Then put it aside."

He nodded, though it was rather unfortunate that he had been trying to do exactly that since waking up.

He hadn’t stopped thinking about Yasmine since yesterday. Honestly, he was beginning to feel rather pathetic.

It had been one kiss, and yet here he was, getting thrown around by someone he had comfortably beaten the previous day.

"Ready?" Soren asked, raising his hands again. His disappointment had apparently passed, and Frost suspected he intended to enjoy this opportunity while it lasted.

"Yeah," Frost replied, settling into his stance.