The mingled heat of summer and adrenaline trickles down my spine as you step in closer.

I beg my fight or flight response to knock some sense into me before your outstretched hand reaches my cheek; pray for the strength to escape the deadly moment that I know – we both know – will erupt into a lifetime of destruction.

Yet my feet stay rooted to the ground like the woodland trees that shroud us, and I’m overcome with a frenzied, fatal yearning.

Before I can protest, your lips lock onto mine.

Oh God, my mind screams.

There’s no going back now.