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My heart was pounding like a drum in my chest, but I reached over the table, clasping Charlie’s hand in my own again.
And the look in his eyes was worth every fucking shred of initial awkwardness I’d felt. Talking about myself wasn’t easy, even when I wasn’t in the process of coming out to a guy I’d known for years. But it was worth it.
“Yo,” Stevie said, having his own little realization next to the booth. “You guys are on a date?”
“Yes.”
“Jax, holy shit, I’m sorry—wait, didn’t you always, uh, go for girls? Am I tripping, right now?”
“I always went for girls, but now, I’m very much going for a guy,” I said. “Guess I kind of swing both ways, you know?”
Stevie clapped one hand to my back in his usual way, suddenly getting a big smile on his face again. “Well, hot damn. Good for you. Charlie—you have to know that you’re on a date with an absolute fraternity celebrity right now. Jax is a hot commodity. He raised more money in our last four annual car washes than any of the last three decades. He’s always on the Dean’s list. And he once woke me up after a night of drinking by dangling a single, hot and fresh piece of bacon right over my lips, and all I had to do was take a bite. Jax is a superstar. You’re a lucky guy, Charlie.”
Charlie lost it laughing at Stevie’s old story about the strip of bacon, and I couldn’t help but laugh, too melting away whatever tension was left in my body.
“God, I forgot about that morning,” I said. “And Stevie is being modest. He’s like the godfather of the whole fraternity, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. Even if he does always leave empty coffee cups all over the kitchen table.”
“Guilty as charged,” Stevie said. “Well, feel free to come join me later on the air hockey table if you want to get creamed. Have fun, you two.” With that, he was off, just as casually as he’d come over.
My worlds had crashed together. And instead of something destructive happening, something new had formed, and that newness felt good.
I got up, walking over to the other side of the booth and holding out my hand.
“Race me,” I said, nodding over to the two side-by-side arcade racing cars.
He took my hand and stood up, and the moment he was near me I pulled him into a hug, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“Hope you’re ready to lose,” he challenged me.
I leaned in and pressed my lips to his. “I’m fucking ready for anything.”
11
CHARLIE
“You cheated,” Jax said, reaching over from his little fake race car compartment over to mine, giving my shoulder a shove.
“Bullshit!” I shoved him right back, then went lower to tickle him on his side, just above his hips.
“No, no,” he said, cutting me a stern glance. “I am way too ticklish. Do that at your own risk.”
The current race was still happening on the two screens in front of us, but we’d abandoned our duties entirely, grinning at each other like kids on a sugar high. I threatened to tickle him again and he laughed, lurching away before coming over to my seat.
He straddled me, his warm weight hitting my lap as he sat down on my lap and retaliated.
“Not going to work,” I murmured up at him. “I’m not that ticklish, so I’m just going to sit here and enjoy you touching me.”
“Fuck,” he swore under his breath, puffing out a laugh. “How am I supposed to get you back for that, then?”
I gripped my fingers on his waist now, long past any thoughts of tickling him. He dipped to kiss me, catching his lips on mine like he’d done many times over the last hour or two. Each time his mouth was on mine I felt like finally, this time, I’d be able to keep my cool. Each time, I failed.
It actually felt like I craved his touch more with each one, like an addiction I wasn’t even trying to quit.
And with each kiss, he was starting to feel more like he was mine. It was a line of thought that always seemed dangerous to me nowadays, but I had no power over the way my body felt next to his.
“Think we both lost the race,” he said against my lips as he pulled back a little, the little losing musical jingle going off behind him from the speakers.
“Don’t think I care.”
“You distracted me by being too hot behind the wheel.”
I groaned, shifting on my seat. “Well, you’re making me get really fucking hard in public, so get off of me before you get us both arrested.”
We did one more round of the racing game before heading back over toward the booth. We’d taken a few steps away from the games when I felt Jax’s hand brush against mine, and then, like it was nothing, he laced his fingers in mine. Jax wanted these little things with me, and it made my stomach twist a little to realize how badly I’d just been craving them.
