Chapter 267: A First Intentional Kiss

April looked at Alexander, watching the stubborn, protective frown etched across his handsome features.

Part of her considered just telling him straight out that Xavier and Nat had both kissed her yesterday. But the moment the thought crossed her mind, a sudden wave of heat rushed straight to her face, making her heart violently spike against her ribs.

​It was far too embarrassing. Just thinking about the word kiss in relation to yesterday’s madness made her pulse race completely out of control.

​Stopping in the middle of the quiet, carpeted corridor, April turned around to face him completely.

​She took a deliberate step closer to him.

​Alexander’s heart gave a sudden, hard thud against his chest. Seeing her close the distance with such a focused, unreadable expression, his posture stiffened. What is she planning to do? he thought in a flash of frantic confusion. She’s not going to hit me... is she?

​Instead of a slap, April reached up and gave a subtle downward flick of her hand. "Lean down for a second."

​Alexander blinked, completely off guard, but instinctively bowed his head toward her.

​The moment his face came level with hers, April leaned up and lightly pressed a quick, soft peck directly to his lips.

​Alexander froze instantly. His mind went entirely blank, every single thought screeching to a halt as the subtle scent of rain on her skin filled his senses. His breath caught in his throat, his eyes wide as the touch of her warm lips lingered on his for a brief, electric second before she pulled back.

​"Something like that happened yesterday," April murmured, her face flushed a bright, unmistakable crimson. She quickly looked off to the side, clearing her throat to hide her mounting embarrassment. "Between the three of us. I... I can’t go into details because it’s far too embarrassing."

​With a sudden, stiff motion, April folded her arms tightly over her chest, closing both of her eyes to avoid his gaze.

​After a second of suffocating silence, she peeked open a single eye, looking up at his utterly stunned face.

​"You... you understand what happened now, right?" she asked quietly, sounding a little bashful, which was very unlike her.

​Alexander stood rooted to the spot, his entire face flushing a deep, radiant scarlet long before his brain could even begin to register her spoken words. He raised a trembling hand, his fingers slowly brushing against his own lips where her warmth still lingered.

​What... What just happened?!

His heart was hammering so hard he could literally hear the loud thudding of his own heartbeat echoing in his ears. His mind was spinning in circles, completely paralyzed by the lingering, warm touch of her lips on his.

​She... she just kissed me. April just...

​His face was burning, a deep scarlet flush creeping all the way up to the tips of his ears.

​Then, as his brain slowly rebooted and tried to process the sheer reality of what had just occurred, her words finally caught up with him. They echoed back through his head in slow motion:

​Something like that happened yesterday... between the three of us.

​The sudden, intense rush of romantic shock drained out of him in a single second. The deep flush on his face faded, replaced by a sudden, pale stillness.

His heart, which had been racing at a breakneck speed, gave a strange, sickening skip—the exact kind of hollow drop someone feels when they get a sudden, terrible fright.

​Slowly, his hand dropped from his lips. He stared down at her, his eyes wide with shock.

​"April?" he croaked out, his voice cracking slightly under the sheer weight of his confusion.

​The words spun wildly in his mind, assembling the most absurd, horrifying mental pictures possible.

​Something like this happened... They kissed. The three of them?!

​His brain completely short-circuited. Wait—a threesome kiss?! How does three people kissing even work?! Did Xavier kiss Nat?! Wait, no, that doesn’t sound right. Then, did Nat kiss April while Xavier was holding them?! Or did she kiss Xavier, and then Nat jumped in and—

​He was so utterly, profoundly confused that he couldn’t even figure out what kind of question he was supposed to ask. He just stood in the quiet VIP hallway, looking at April as if she had suddenly started speaking an ancient, unparseable language.

​"Are you... wait," Alexander stammered, raising both hands in a completely lost gesture, his eyebrows drawn so far together they nearly touched. "What do you mean between the three of you?!"

"I don’t think I owe you a proper explanation, though," she said coldly, her sharp tone causing him to flinch for a split second.

​Alexander’s hands froze mid-air, a sudden splash of cold reality dousing his wildly spiraling thoughts. He swallowed hard, his posture stiffening as he braced for her complete withdrawal. But she didn’t. She didn’t walk away and she didn’t dismiss the issue either.

​"But that said..." April continued, her voice softening slightly, though her cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of crimson as she looked steadfastly at the floor. "It wasn’t... whatever ridiculous scenario you’re currently imagining in that head of yours. They were separate incidents. Xavier kissed me after I fell on him. The floor was slippery. Nat walked in, lost his mind, and forcefully kissed me afterward. I scolded them, so that’s why, well, they aren’t acting like gullible puppies today, I guess."

​She crossed her arms tighter, practically burying her burning face into her shoulder. "I wasn’t the one who kissed them, nor did we decide we were going to have a kiss fest or whatever. As far as the count goes," her eyes darted even more. "You’re the first one I’ve taken the initiative to kiss on the lips. But I only did... this... to you because I couldn’t find the words to explain it without wanting to sink through the floor! Don’t get the wrong idea."

​Alexander stared at her, the chaotic storm in his chest instantly dissolving, replaced by a sudden, overwhelming wave of profound relief and a dark, dangerous spark of possessive possessiveness.

​His eyes locked onto her flushed, embarrassed face, and the lingering phantom sensation of her lips on his flared back to life with a vengeance.

​"Separate incidents," Alexander repeated slowly, his voice dropping into a low, quiet rumble. The tension drained from his shoulders, replaced by a steady, towering confidence as he took another half-step toward her. "So... you gave me your first intentional kiss."

​April’s eyes snapped open, shooting him a glare meant to kill, though her bright red cheeks completely ruined the effect. "I told you not to get the idea. Don’t start getting ahead of yourself, Greels!"

​"I’m not getting ahead of anything, April," Alexander said softly, a rare, genuine smirk finally breaking across his handsome features.

He leaned down slightly, his eyes burning with devotion as he met her gaze. "I’m just taking note of the facts. And unlike those two, I didn’t need a slippery floor or a brute force entrance to get mine." He straightened up. "Regardless of what you say, I’ll just take it that our first time was... special."