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A/N: Continuation of the Red X Chapter 2. This was originally Chapter 18.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, we are now at the final challenge!"

Everyone cheered and applauded, excited to see what they had in store for us this time. The sun had finally set now, leaving us under the night sky with just street lights and spotlights. Some people had left already, and there were only ten couples left, including myself and Kimmie. We stood side by side on the stage this time, and they gave each couple a mint the size of a dollar coin.

"In this challenge we dub it the Minty kiss!"

My heart skipped a beat in surprise. By the sound of that title, I think we all knew that meant. I didn't look at Kimmie, knowing that she felt uncomfortable already.

"Each of you were given a pretty bigger than normal mint. What your goal is to melt the mint until it is gone. But in order to do so, you must kiss each other during the process of melting it!"

Cat calls whistled loudly and cheers roared from the crowd. Kimmie bent her head forward to let her hair cover here blushing cheeks. Even I could feel a bit of heat on mine.

"Whichever couple finishes first wins! Simple, easy, and fun!" the host winked. "Everyone get ready!"

"We can always quit now you know," I said, feeling butterflies fly wildly in my stomach when she looked at me. "We don't have to..."

"Go!"

We stood there while the other couples had already started the game. But we ignored them all, and the host who was confused by us.

"We made it this far," she said to me. "Let's not give up now."

And then to my surprise she took the mint from my hand and popped it into her mouth, hesitating only for a second before pulling me into a kiss.

My heart was racing as I stared in shock at her squeezed shut eyes, her hand gripping hard at the back of my neck. I slowly closed my eyes, opening my mouth when I felt the mint press at my lips. I couldn't believe we were actually doing this! I couldn't believe that she had actually let me kiss her! All those other times it was just for a cover up for my family, but still, I didn't know what this kiss meant. More like make out session.

The cheers had gone silent to our ears. It was as if a little world of our own had been create just for us. Just for this moment. We moved our lips in sync, passing the mint between us. Our tongues stroked each other, our lips pressing more and more closer as she dug her nails into my neck. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her closer to me until our bodies were pressed together. I don't think I've ever experienced a kiss like this. It was heated like most I had before, but the sensation was different. I just didn't know how to explain it, the feeling the tingling, everything.

I think we got so caught up in our kiss that we didn't notice we had broken the mint in two and were now just practically kissing each other instead of competing. I forgot all about the mint and ran my hand up her back, feeling her tremble at my touch. A little moan erupted from deep within her throat, and I only had the urge to kiss her harder and deeper. My hand found it's way into her hair, and I stroked her scalp and ran my hand through her soft silky hair, letting her fiery strands fall through my fingers like water.

Her hands moved from my neck to my face, running her thumbs over my cheeks as if she wanted to feel every inch of it and memorize it, committing everything to her heart. The mint had long from our mouths, and so have our breath. We pulled apart just a few inches, opening our eyes to find each other. There was something in her eyes as she stared back at me. This feeling...

The cheers roared, pulling us out of our trance and back into the real world. Kimmie broke away from me quickly, and I felt so cold, so bare without her. My heart felt like someone had grasped it tightly, threatening to crush it any second.

It turned out that we were the last couple in the third challenge. But even though we made it as last place, everyone still got a prize for participating. It was a coupon to Ivy's Ice Cream for free ice cream. It wasn't as great as the top five, but at least it was something.