A Kiss Remembered Read Online Free

reliving that life-altering night while he sat just inches from her.
    The times she had reviewed it privately were innumerable. The memory was locked away in the most secret part of her being, a treasure trove that no one knew about. She had been miserly with that memory, bringing it forth and reliving it only when she was alone. But discussing that night with him would be like undergoing a medical examination. Nothing would be hidden. She couldn’t do it.
    He was unmerciful. “It was after the championship basketball game. Do you remember?”
    “Yes,” she answered, forcing a leaden dullness into her voice to keep from screaming. “Poshman Valley won.”
    “And everyone went crazy,” he said softly. “The band must have played the fight song ten times in succession. Everybody in town was there, yelling and screaming. The players were lifting the coach over their heads and parading him around the gym floor.”
    She could see it all. Hear it all. Smell the popcorn. She could still feel the floor vibrating beneath her feet as everyone stamped in time to the blaring music the band was playing.
    “Shelley, go get the victory banner,” one of the other cheerleaders had screamed into her ear. She had nodded and fought her way through the rejoicing spectators to the office where the cheerleaders had left the banner.
    Shelley had been dashing out the door with it tucked under her arm when Mr. Chapman came running in. He had been sent for the trophy that was to be presented to the victors.
    “Mr. Chapman!” Shelley had shrieked excitedly as she rushed toward him.
    He was as caught up in the enthusiasm of the victory as anyone. Without thinking, he clasped his arms around her waist, lifted her off the floor, and whirled her round and round, their laughter filling the small confines of the office.
    When he set her back on her feet, he paused a moment too long in releasing her. When his arms should have fallen to his sides immediately, he hesitated and they remained locked behind her back. The moment was unpredictable, possibly unfortunate, certainly unplanned. That one heartbeat in time was both her death and her birth. For in that moment, Shelley was forever changed.
    Astonishment choked off laughter. Silence, except for the dull roar coming through the walls from the gym, reigned. Their hearts seemed to pulse together. She could feel the pounding of his through her sweater with its stiff felt “PV” appliquéd in the center. The hard muscles of his thighs pressed against her legs, bare beneath her short wool skirt. One of his hands stayed at her waist while the other opened wide and firm over the middle of her back. Their breath intermingled as his face lowered imperceptibly.
    They stood frozen, staring at each other in mute wonder. He tilted his head to one side, as though he had just been struck between the eyes and couldn’t quite figure out yet what had hit him.
    Then swiftly, almost as if just realizing the precariousness of their situation, he ducked his head.
    His mouth touched hers, sweetly, sweetly. It lingered. Pressed. It parted her lips. Then the tip of his tongue touched hers. Sizzling electricity jolted through both of them.
    He released her with jarring abruptness and stepped away. He saw the mortified tears spring into her frightened eyes and his heart twisted with self-loathing. “Shelley—”
    She fled.
    The banner was still tucked under her arm when she ran headlong out of the gymnasium to her family’s car. When her worried parents found her huddled in the backseat a half hour later, she told them she had become ill and had had to leave.
    “I terrified you that night,” Grant said now. He didn’t touch her, though his hand lay close to hers on the table-top. If he were to lift his little finger and move it a hair’s breadth, he would be touching her.
    “Yes, you did.” Her voice had deserted her. She could barely croak. “I told my parents I was sick and stayed in bed for three days during