VALENTINES' DAY KISSING CONTEST

Today I'm entering the First Kiss Contest on Miss Snark's First Victim Blog:

 http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/2015/02/first-kiss-critique-round-early-info.html

What this entails is a 250-word snippet detailing the first kiss in the book, with a super short intro for lead-in purposes only.

My entry:

Excerpt from HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS, by Ann M. Noser

(How they met: Emma tried to raise Mike Carlson from the dead after he drowned. Jake came back instead, and changed all her plans.)

"You're gonna to leave me…" I whisper.

Jake sighs. "Emma, we've both known this all along. I've been living on borrowed time, in a way."

My stomach sinks. "Please don't leave. I think I've been asleep my whole life, and I'm finally just waking up."

Jake cocks his head and crinkles his eyes. He has no idea what I'm saying, and I've no idea why I'm saying it.

"It's just…" Tears fall down my cheeks, and I swipe at them. "If you leave, I'll go back to being who I was before, and I'm so tired of being me. I'm boring."

"I never thought you were boring. Annoying, of course, yes, but not boring."

"Shut up!" I swing at him and lose my balance.

Jake catches me and wraps me in a tight hug, patting my back much too vigorously.

"Jake, you're squishing me," I squeak.

He relaxes his hold. I gaze at his face.

Our eyes lock. Everything else turns fuzzy. The Christmas lights dim and the music fades.

We just stand there breathing for a moment, and then I kiss him.

Jake breaks my hold. "Emma, I don't know about this."

"Shhhh, it's all right," I say and I kiss him again.

We slide into the room and fall onto my bed.

***Thirty Entries are chosen by lottery for public critique, to be published Wednesday, February 11th. Wish me luck! 

Happy Valentine's Day.