The air in Leo’s basement smelled like cheap watermelon vodka and damp concrete, a scent that would forever be the fragrance of seventeen.
Maya sat on a washing machine, swinging her legs, her head feeling like it was packed with cotton candy. Across from her, holding a red plastic cup like it was a holy relic, was Sam. They had spent three years being "just friends"—the kind of friends who shared notes and made fun of each other's haircuts. drunk teen sex
"I don't want to be the guy who says this at a party," Sam whispered, stepping into her space until she could smell the mint he’d chewed to hide the beer. "But I think I’ve been in love with you since tenth-grade geometry. And I’m tired of pretending I’m not." The air in Leo’s basement smelled like cheap
"Like telling you that I’ve spent the last forty-five minutes watching you talk to a houseplant because I was too scared to come over here." They had spent three years being "just friends"—the
"You’re vibrating," Sam said, leaning against the dryer. He wasn't actually drunk, just buzzed enough to lose his usual armor of sarcasm.
He laughed, a low sound that caught in the humid air. He reached out, his fingers brushing against her knee. It was a small gesture, but in the hazy logic of the basement, it felt like a tectonic shift.
When he kissed her, it tasted like salt and bad decisions and the terrifying, beautiful realization that Monday morning was going to be very, very complicated. But for now, with the bass shaking the walls and the watermelon vodka humming in their veins, they were the only two people who existed.