Kai, age 16

“You jerk!”

I yelled at Benny , but I couldn’t keep the laugh out of my voice.

“Many things I am dear, but that I am not! “ he answers in a terrible attempt at a British accent.

We were ice skating for the day, trying to pass the time before the annual hockey tournament comes, in which Benny himself would be playing in. He glides over on his skates to help me up from a pile of snow he pushed me in. (Thus the fact I called him a jerk)

“I believe some of the many good names you could call me is handsome, courageous, good looking…”

He trails off as he brings be to a standing position.

“Annoying, arrogant, vain…” I add with a smirk.

“Agh! You and your delusions.” He drawled out the last word.

“I am not delusional!” I whack his arm in a firm attempt at scolding him.

He holds up his hands as if in surrender,

“If you say so.”

I side-eye him as I skate away, back toward our snowmobile.

The white snow topped mountains in the distance make me pause and stop in wonder.

My mom relequished custody of me to my dad when I was 6, and I moved to his house on the creek in Ketchikan, Alaska.

I only saw my mom a couple of times a year, and when I did it was stiff and weird, but my dad and I were really close.

I fit right in to life at Ketchikan, since my dad is Tlingit and has standing here among the tribal part of the town.

Benny, or `benson’ has been my best friend since I came here and practically lives in a mansion with his parents and older sister, Brooklyn.

I start to undo the laces on my skates and benny comes up beside me to do the same.

I looked over at him and he grinned back at me with one of his cute, lopsided grin thing boys do. At least, Benny does it.

I got this fluttery feeling randomly when I’m around him, and suddenly I had the urge to step closer. Weird, am I right?

Then I really wanted too.

I was going to step closer. At least until I started falling.

“Easy now, why don’t you let me help you undo your skates?”

He asked that so gently. Why? Why would he ask a question like that when all it did was turn me inside out?

“Uh sure!” I say trying and failing to make my voice not wobble.

He steps closer and reaches for my foot, which was propped on top of the snowmobile. He takes his gloves off hand starts to slowly undo my laces, then very gently takes off the shoe and sets it to the side.

I couldn’t keep my eyes from wandering to his face.

He had the cutest brown hair, and in the summer it naturally highlights, leaving golden streaks in his hair.

He had the dean forrester kinda cut, which I of course made fun of him for, but on him it was really cute.

He had hazel eyes. And I don’t mean regular old hazel, I mean the rare, take-a-second-glance kinda hazel. I mean parts of his eyes looked literally golden and I got stuck with dark brown.

Although that did give me a good excuse to look at his eyes though. At least, a good enough excuse for me.

Benny is right, I am delusional.

But that thought still couldn’t stop my eyes from looking at every part of his face, from the way his nose has a little bump on it from the time it was broken playing hockey, to the small little brown freckles that dotted his nose and cheeks.

I glance back up to find that stopped putting my snow boots on and was just staring at me with a small smirk in his face.

I was tempted to look away and break this wonderful but terrifying tension, but instead I just gazed back, locking eye contact.

There was humor in his gaze. And respect, and fun, and nostalgia, and so much more that I couldn’t quite decipher.

Something flashed in his eyes, as if an idea had come to root there and taken hold.

Then he took either sides of my face in his hands. I didn’t pull back. How could I?

He was holding my face with his hands and stroking my now warm skin with his cold fingers.

I felt my lips part as if by they’re own doing, and I pressed mine to his.

He is a great kisser. His lips aren’t flat but rather the exact opposite. His grip on my face tightens and he deepens the kiss, sending shivers of delight down my spine. He firmly turns me and presses me against the snowmobile.

I pull back only slightly to get some air, and when I open my eyes and look back at him I see his eyes are closed, his lips and mine inches apart. His warm, minty breath coming in spurts across my face.

“Wow.” I say breathless.

“Yeah.” He is just as breathless as me when he says it.

He looks into my eyes and smirks again.

I look back at him and in this light his eyes look like cinnamon.

“I should get you home.” He says.

Disappointed, but knowing he was right, I turned around to where i was before he pushed me into the snowmobile and resumed putting on my snow boots.

He got done with his before me and once again stepped in to put them on for me.

“Come on cubby.” He said, using the nickname he gave me when we were younger.

He leaned in and brought his mouth really close to mine. I locked eye contact with him.

A quick peck in my mouth was all I got. He chuckled and I realized he was teasing me.

That was supposed to be annoying.

But instead it was just cute and funny and I couldn’t help but giggle to.

He swung around and got on the snowmobile, waiting for me to do the same behind him. I lift my leg over the side, and put my arms around him.

He starts the engine and sets out toward the village.