Page 29 of Totally Fanatic

“Yeah. I was thinking I could have, like, one of those cool food trucks, then I can still travel, too. If the tour is still going without me, I could follow it around.”

“That sounds like so much fun. Oh wow, you have to do it. Have you started looking at trucks? Your menu, you have started that right? Like you have some recipes you know you want to do. Ohhh, can I try one? I could help. I could be your taste tester, and then when you get the truck up and running, if you need help, just let me know. Most of my jobs have been in restaurants, cafes, and serving at weddings and stuff. I could totally help you out. A food truck sounds amazing.”

Suddenly, Tim’s hand cups the side of my face, and then his lips are pressed tightly against mine. A burning need overtakes me, and I slide my fingers through the hair at the back of his neck and pull him closer. I need more. More of his lips, of his tongue, of the heat that spreads through me as we kiss. I’ve never been kissed like this before. Like I’m the air he needs to breathe. But that is what this feels like. Like Tim was drowning and my lips are bringing him back to life.

He pulls away and brushes his fingers over his swollen lower lip.

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Yes, you should have. It was amazing.”

“It was.”

“The best kiss I’ve ever had.”

He raises one eyebrow, a smirk on his lips.

“Really, the best?”

“By far.”

“Okay, then.”

“Okay, then, what?”

“Okay, then, I should have.”

“Damn right you should. Now tell me more about this food truck before I grab you and kiss you again, and then all this barbeque will go cold.”

His eyes sparkle with the light of pure happiness, excitement, joy, and as we dig into the trays of mixed sides and smoked meats he tells me all about his big dream. I have to help him reach his dream, because he just made mine come true.

Chapter eleven

TIM

I shouldn’t have doneit. I mean, he liked it, and he said I should have, but now I’m lying in the hotel room, listening to Pat lightly snore wondering, was I wrong for kissing Lion?

We were talking and he was saying all the right things, all the things I needed to hear. And I just had this overwhelming need to kiss those big, beautiful lips that were making me feel so good. And then, fuck, did they make me feel even better when they were pressed against mine.

It wasn’t even awkward afterward. We sat for over an hour eating and talking about the food truck. He had heaps of ideas, and he loved all of mine. But is that the only reason I kissed him? Am I only interested in Lion because of how he makes me feel about me? And if I am, is that a bad thing? Isn’t that part of why anyone starts a relationship with anyone else, because they make them feel good? Shit. I’m already thinking about relationships. It was one kiss. One incredible kiss. And it’s true that I really wanted to do it again when he walked me back tothe hotel, but I didn’t because there were a few of the players still hanging in the downstairs bar.

“What’s making you smile so big?” Ryan asks, leaning across the aisle of the bus on our way to Orlando.

“Lion,” I reply, and Duckie shakes his head a little beside me but doesn’t say anything. I know he has his concerns about Lion, but he doesn’t know him. He doesn’t see how adorably sweet he is. Him starting as a fan doesn’t mean that it’s a terrible idea. I bet Ian is Duckie’s biggest fan now, so why does it matter that Lion was a fan first?

“I thought I saw him at the game, it was cool of him to come down. Is he coming to Orlando, too?” Ryan asks.

“Yeah, he has one of those Big Banana season tour passes, so he’ll be at every game this year.”

“Nice. You said he posts stuff about the games online all the time, do I follow him already?”

“Not sure, his handle is Kittyball100.”

Ryan does this weird smirk-frown thing with his face, and I laugh before going on to explain.

“He’s a huge cat fan. Has four of his own.”

“My handle was Ryan out of water until I joined the team and closed that account to set up a new one that just focused on Banana Ball.”

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