Gaze Quote by Lauren Henderson

““So,” he starts slowly, “if I am thinking that I want to kiss you, I should not say it out loud?” Oh, he’s completely messing with me now. Taunting me. I feel tears of shame and rejection rise to my eyes. “ Please ,” I manage to say in as withering a tone as I can manage, “I thought you were all about telling the truth. And now you’re nothing but a big liar.” His lashes lift as his eyes widen. His lips part and I watch, hypnotized now, as he says softly, so softly that I find myself tilting toward him to catch every word: “Violetta, cara mia , you are wrong. I am not a liar.” He doesn’t reach out to take hold of my shoulders, or take my hand to pull me in. He’s so sure of himself that he simply leans down, so close I can feel his breath scented with Prosecco warm on my face, for a split second, and then his lips meet mine. His confidence is breathtaking; when I’ve been kissed in the past, the boys always touch you just as they’re about to do it, make sure you’re willing, put an arm around you, hold your hand. It gives them a moment’s grace, a few seconds of self-protection, so if they’ve misjudged the situation--if you pull away--they won’t be left standing there looking like a fool, with their head craning toward you and their lips pursed like one of those baby dolls he mentioned that blows kisses when you pull the string in its back. Luca, however, doesn’t lay a finger on me. He simply kisses me. And not in a soft, tentative, exploratory way; his mouth is long and narrow, his lips hard and insistent. It’s not the kind of kiss I’m used to at all.””

— Lauren Henderson