Page 91 of The Alternate Captain
“Well, that’s exciting.” He grins. “How amazing would that be? It’s like when the scouts come around. Not that you need to worry.”
“You’ve never even heard me play,” I say playfully.
“I don’t need to. I know you’re one of the best.”
My whole face flushes, but he leans in and kisses me, anyway.
“Okay, I need to tell you something,” he says, pulling away but keeping close. “I’m really fucking nervous about—you know. I’ve got a therapist, I think I mentioned it before, but her name is Justine and I’ve been seeing her since Sarah and I broke up. She’s been helping me through some things. And the problem with my dick being one of them. Honestly, no one knows about that except you. I want to do this right with you. You turn me on so fucking much, Kelly. You know that, right?” He clenches his jaw. “I’ve had blue balls ever since—actually, never mind. But I’m worried that if I do, we do, whatever, and I can’t... I don’t know.”
“Johnny? There’s no pressure at all. I want you to have a good time, but it’s not something that’ll push me away. We’ll take things easy. See how it goes, right? Work things through together.”
“I’m so grateful for you,” he says, wrapping his arms around me. “I’ll let you know when I’m ready. Cross my heart.”
We lay looking at each other for a moment.
“Johnny? I think we should hold off telling Mike. Because it’s another layer of stress neither of us needs right now. Obviously, if you want to tell him we can, but he’s enthusiastic about me not dating and, ugh, I don’t have the energy right now. I just need to get past my performances. Besides, I like your face how it is.”
“It’s actually legs he’s threatened to break, not jaws. But no. I get it. Okay, so, once you’re done with that, and we see how thingsare, we tell him?” he says.
“Agreed.”
But this feels like it could be the worst idea either of us will ever have.
The entire morning throwsmy routine out of the window—but that’s on me, and the fact that I didn’t want to leave Kelly’s bed.
I ignored my alarm and, surprisingly, didn’t care at all. All I wanted to do was make her come again.
I was completely sated. And I was comfortable, even if her bedroom was fucking freezing.
When I finally dragged my ass away, I had a swim, followed by breakfast, then I met Ryan for coffee and a trip to the bookstore a short walk from our apartment building.
Which is where we are now, browsing the aisles for something he doesn’t know he needs until he sees it.
“How’re you feeling about tonight?” he asks, skimming through the books in the fantasy section.
“Couldn’t be more excited,” I say.
Ryan suppresses a laugh.
Dad texted me this morning to say they’d arrived, and they were settling into their hotel. He said he’d see me at seven on the dot at the restaurant. My guess is, he’ll be late.
“Liam’s going too,” Ryan says, reaching for a paperback. He turns it over and skims the blurb. “Apparently, your dad invited him personally.”
I let out a breath. “I’m sure that’ll delight Vicky.”
“I was going to ask you how that’s going from your angle, actually,” Ryan says, flicking through the pages of the novel in his hands.
“As expected, I guess. I’m not really sure what’s going on. I’m a little preoccupied if you must know.”
Ryan discards the book before selecting another.
“Sarah? I thought you blocked her?”
“Well, yeah, I did. But she’s been texting me from a different number. It’s probably time for me to get some new digits.”
“Or a restraining order,” Ryan says sympathetically.
My phone pings, and I slip it out of my pocket to glance at the screen. Kelly.
