Chapter Text
“Good night, Ricky.” Gina impulsively leaned over to kiss his cheek when he finally tore his eyes from her porch and looked back at her. The result? Her first kiss.
Ricky froze as he felt Gina’s glossy lips touch his. Cherry. She tasted like cherries. Then he felt cold air touch his lips as Gina mumbled something about mistakes and reached for the car door. “Wait.” Ricky leaned forward to put his hand over hers on the handle. He was so close he could smell her hair. Coconut.
He glanced up to meet her wide eyes. She looked as shocked as he felt. When she licked her lips he couldn’t help glancing down to watch. He wanted to do it again.
“Ricky.” He was sure that if he’d been sitting back in his seat as he should he’d never have heard the whisper. He looked up to her eyes only to find that she was looking at his lips. He didn’t remember deciding to kiss her again but it was only seconds later that he found himself doing exactly that.
When Gina froze underneath him he started to pull back. “I’m sorry, I don’t-” But then Gina buried her hand in his curls and pulled him back to her cutting off any intention he had of taking this all back.
Gina tugged on his curls and felt butterflies erupt in her stomach when Ricky quietly moaned into her mouth at the sensation. This was actually happening. She was kissing Ricky Bowen. Ricky Bowen was her first kiss. And her second.
Ricky groaned as he felt her nails scrap his scalp. Why did that feel so good? Why did she taste so good? He pulled back an inch to catch his breath but kept his eyes closed, too afraid to open them and see the expression on Gina’s face. What if she regretted it? What if she was disgusted?
“I have to go.” Ricky fluttered his eyes open at her words. She nodded her head toward the porch and he turned his head just enough to see the porch light flicking on and off again. Great. He was kissing Gina while her parents watched through the window.
He sighed and nodded in resignation. “Right.” He slowly sat back in his seat but kept his eyes firmly on Gina. She didn’t look horrified or disgusted.
Gina opened her mouth and then closed it and he felt something in his stomach lurch as he watched her struggle to find something to say. Finally, she settled on, “I’ll see you Monday.”
Ricky nodded dumbly as he watched her climb out of her car. His eyes followed her all the way to her door. She looked back at him one last time before she disappeared. Fuck. He just kissed Gina. Twice. Ricky’s eyes flashed to the moving curtain and realized it was probably verging on creepy if he didn’t leave.
“You kissed Gina? Like the Gina you pissed off at homecoming?”
Ricky rolled his eyes as he paced in front of Big Red. “I told you… I apologized.”
“And that’s why you borrowed my car?”
Ricky turned to face his oldest friend. He’d already word-vomited the whole story to him. Red was just processing. “What do I do?”
“How was it?”
“How was what?”
“The kiss.” Big Red replied exasperated. Sometimes it was like pulling teeth.
Ricky opened and closed his mouth a few times as he tried to decide how to describe it. Cherries. Surprise. Warmth. “It was a kiss.”
Big Red rolled his eyes. “Was it better than… you know.” Ricky’s brow furrowed. “You know.” Big Red stressed. Ricky’s frown deepened. “Nini!”
Ricky felt his stomach swoop as he listened to his ex-girlfriend’s name fill the air. “No.”
Red raised his brow at his friend’s monotone reply. “No?”
Ricky spun around on his heel and started to pace again. “It was different.”
“Good different?” The truth was as scary as Gina might be, it was time for Ricky to give up on Nini and finally move on. He wasn’t even sure they were that great together to begin with.
Ricky groaned. “Different different.” It wasn’t worse than kissing Nini and that was as far as Ricky was willing to admit. Cause if it was a better kiss, if kissing Gina was better than kissing the girl he was pretty sure he was in love with, then he’d screwed everything up. Again. “I have to stay away from her.”
Big Red frowned. “But you’re her Troy-”
“Gina. I have to stay away from Gina.” Ricky let out a big exhale. He could do this. “I love Nini and she’s single now and if I just keep trying, she’ll forgive me and everything will go back to the way it was.”
“What about Gina?”
“No Gina.”
“She’s in the musical, dude.”
“I can avoid her.” Ricky signed. “It’s not like I spent time with her before homecoming.”
“Well, you have to at least talk to her.”
Ricky’s head whipped around. “That’s not the plan.”
Big Red’s eyes widened. “You can’t kiss a girl and then never talk to her again.”
Ricky could feel the question ‘why not?’ sitting on his tongue but he knew Red was right. That would make him the biggest jerk ever.
“Fine. But then, no contact.” Big Red frowned as he watched his best friend continue to pace. If Ricky needed a Gina ban, then he must like her a lot. If only he’d let himself.