he was so much more than my best friend ⦠He was my whole world.
âLukaâ¦â I whispered, my soul melting at his words. And his lip hooked into a smirk.
âKisaâ¦â he imitated. Then his gaze fell to my lips and my heart raced to an almost impossible speed. âI want to kiss you now,â Luka said, all humor dropping from his beautiful face.
âBut Iâve ⦠Iâve never been kissed beforeâ¦â I said, a blush forming on my sun-kissed cheeks.
Luka tilted his head and gave me a crooked smile. âMe neither.â
My eyes widened and relief melted in my chest. âYou havenât?â I asked in shock.
âWho else would I have kissed?â
I shrugged. âI donât know? You have a lot of girls at church following you around.â
Luka laughed and shook his head. Squeezing my shoulders, he leaned down and rasped, âBut none of them are you .â Luka pointed to his eye again. âWe match. Why would I want anyone else? Nobody else is you. Long brown hair, blue eyes and tanned skinned beautiful you.â
Dipping my eyes, I pushed my toes into the sand, loving the soft feel of the hot grains beneath my feet. When I lifted my long lashes, I met Lukaâs eyes and whispered, âOkayâ¦â
Luka tensed and regarded me so seriously that my stomach began doing flips. His hand released mine and he gently cupped my cheek, hand slightly trembling. âYou ready?â he said, licking his lips.
Swallowing my nerves as he moved to only an inch from my mouth, I confessed, âI hope I donât mess this up.â
âNot possible,â Luka said as he leaned all the way forward and pressed his lips against mine. Everything seemed to go quiet around us and my eyes closed of their own accord. Lukaâs lips were so soft and, like the pieces of a puzzle, fit perfectly against mine. There was no movement of tongues, no frantic caressing of lips, just two innocent young mouths feeling one anotherâs intimate touch for the first time.
Finally pulling away, Luka wore an expression of shock, making my heart thump too slow. But when his swollen mouth pulled into a happy, besotted grin, I knew mine reflected his own.
Lukaâs heavy arm pulled me down to curl into his chest, and I stared out at the glistening water in perfect contentment.
âLike I said ⦠we match,â Luka confirmedâI think to himself. I knew right then and there that Iâd given my soul to this boy ⦠I knew thereâd never be anyone else that ever came close.
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
âKisa?â a heavily accented female voice called out from my right. Sitting back in the wooden pew, wiping away the tears from my sacred childhood memory, Mama Tolstoi came into view. She too had dressed in all blackâthe traditional color of mourning. Not a day had gone by in twelve years that Lukaâs mama hadnât worn black.
Rising to my feet, I smiled at Mama Tolstoi and embraced her. âHow are you, Mama?â
Her brown eyesâthe same eyes as Lukaâsâstared off to look upon Christ on the cross, and she shrugged. âToday is a very hard day, my girl.â
My stomach fell and I nodded my head, unable to speak through the threat of tears. Talia joined us at the pew, and I saw her eyes rimmed with red. She could barely meet my gaze. Today was our mutual nightmare.
âHe would have been twenty-six today,â Mama Tolstoi added. The tears that had been a threat to me finally trickled slowly down my face.
Mama Tolstoi reached out and grabbed my hand. âYou two would have been married and perhaps I would have been a grandmama by now.â Her eyes gazed over and she added, âHe would have loved you your whole life. You would have looked so beautiful on your wedding day and my Luka would have looked so handsome in a tux. Your mama would have smiled down from heaven on that day, Kisa. Her