Never Let Go - Page 9

Jahad leaned in closer to my ear. “Five seconds,” he mumbled.

His minty breath against the side of my face gave me goosebumps sending yet another warm sensation down my spine. Against my back, I could feel as the beat of his heart began to pick up. In turn, mine did too. I kept my eyes on the moon, marveling over how big and blue it was tonight. It was always its bluest on Cosmo Day. However, as Jahad began to count down, I noticed something more. It glimmered, as if it was a star, brighter than all of the stars around it. It wasn’t just blue. There was depth. There was variety. It was marbled in hues of the brightest shades of blue I had ever seen.

“Two….” he paused, and my eyes widened. “One.”

Lightly, I gasped. A subtle, soft white ring glowed around it. It didn’t last long, at all. The glow. It was quick. But I saw it and it was magnificent. If you took your eyes off the sky for just a second, you’d miss it. But that second, for me, felt like minutes. The Cosmo Show had been a part of astronomical history for ages and not once had I heard of such magic. How could I had missed this?

“To me, it’s the best part,” he whispered into my ear. His hands slowly gliding across my skin.

“You don’t like The Cosmo Show? The stars?” I asked, my breath accelerating every time his hand glid across my goosebump covered skin.

His hands traveled down my arms until they met the palms of my hands where he softly gripped. I lightly gasped as a subtle surge of electricity tingled through my fingertips and traveled through the rest of my body.

“The Cosmo Show is straight,” he flatly replied, with little to no emotion.

That was new. The Cosmo Show was big around here. When I said everyone around the world participated in Cosmo Day, I meant it. We made a big deal about it. It was a national holiday. A day of rejoicing. Celebration. A day not to be taken lightly. Magical in every sense of the world.

“Oh, Big Bad Jah… too cool to care about The Cosmo Show, hm?” I joked, leaning my head back against his chest.

He lightly laughed. “Nah, it has nothing to do with being too cool, amou.”

Sucking my teeth, I laughed with him. “Okay? What is it then?”

He was quiet for a bit. Too long of a bit. So long, I had to turn around to look at him. When I did, our eyes met. And I was lost there for a second. His expression softened and he stared into my eyes deep.

Ocean deep.

Jahad had this thing about him. A telling way of looking at me. I could always feel his eyes on me. If I were in a room with him, I always felt his eyes on me. When we were in our zone, in our circle, in a section filled with people, I felt his eyes on me. When I thought I was blending in… when I purposely shrank myself. When I tried to hide myself behind hooded jackets, sunblockers (sunglasses), or just… doing anything, anywhere. I felt his eyes on me. Before, it was scary. To be the focal point. To always be watched by him. But today, on Cosmo Day… on my bloomday, face to face, eye-to-eye, like this… close enough to touch noses…. close enough to touch lips… it wasn’t scary at all.

It was exhilarating.

No.

It was levitating.

The feeling.

Of his eyes locked on mine. To be the center of his attention… it took me off my feet. We were sitting on the hill, but we began to ascend. Slowly. Felt like we could touch the sky. If we stayed long enough. If we moved closer. If we met in the middle. If he dared to inch in closer. If I dared to let him… and his lips met mine…. we would.

At least that’s what it would feel like.

We’d be seated, still.

Held bound by gravity. But… like this… body-to-body, eye-to-eye…. I—we—felt boundless.

“Privilege,” He responded.

I drew back a little, confused. “Privilege? What makes that a privilege?”

He looked away from me. Just for a second, to gesture around us. “Look around.”

I looked away from him to take in everyone else. Nothing had changed. People were partying. Dancing. Smoking. Drinking. Playing games. Amiri and his friends were on the other side of the hill throwing their football around. Mahogany and Duke were dancing. Hazel and her friends were standing at a grill Ms. Debra fired up, having hot dogs. The dice game was steady going, except this time, it was Denim and Blaise in a heated exchange. Saint stood beside Naoki with his arms crossed, probably flirting, while she playfully rolled her eyes and hid her blushing. There was life going on around us. Just… life. Good times.

Which only left me more confused than before.

“Okay?” I said with a laugh and furrowed brows. “What?”

“They didn’t see it,” he replied with a smirk. “While they stand, waiting for the stars, we got to see the moon.” With that he winked.