Page 54 of Somewhere Only We Know
“When did you add black to your wardrobe?” Her tongue peeks out as she tries to maneuver my hand. “Don’t cheat.”
“I’m not.” She tells me guiltily. “Um, probably a few months after we moved to Cincinnati and Kamryn’s designs really started to take off. She was getting ready for a date with Mason and came up with the idea of doing an entire line of black clothes, just because she wanted to and somehow every piece from that line ended up in my closet. Ugh.”
I smile as I pour a shot for her to take. We’ve almost gone through this bottle of tequila and I’m wondering if we’ll need another or if we should switch to water soon.
Jax slaps her hand in mine and I count us off.
“Least favorite food?” she asks this time.
My thumb flexes to trap hers but she dodges it. “Um, brussels sprouts.”
Jax laughs at my distaste for the vegetable. “Fair.”
I look at her sitting between my legs and smile at howfar we’ve come. Jax never liked big crowds. Save for baseball games, so tonight was a lot. But getting her one-on-one has done wonders for her opening up to me.
“I’m not big on vegetables.”
“Still?” she asks.
It’s weird the things we remember when something manages to jog our memory. Jax remembering that I’m not a big fan of vegetables is that one thing that continues to spark the flame of hope.
“You sound like my mom and Kayla,” I pout.
“Don’t pout,” Jax scolds, “besides, don’t you need the veggies to be a big, strong baseball player?”
“You’ve been checking me out?” I ask and groan when she moves her thumb at the last second.
“I didn’t say that. Yes!” She cheers as she pins my thumb down.
My hand falls to my lap as she pours the next shot, effectively emptying the bottle.
“Bottom’s up, Natey.”
I smirk and wink at her before taking the shot. My eyes don’t leave hers once as I swallow down the liquid gasoline. When I place the shot glass down, Jax leans forward and presses her mouth to mine. Blame it on the alcohol, but my mind glitches for a second before I’m reaching for her. I tangle my hands in her soft hair and tilt her head, swallowing her moan when I lick into her mouth. Kissing Jax is like hitting a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and the bases loaded in the World Series.
I never want this feeling to end.
I pull her onto my lap and keep her sideways, because we’re still in public after all and she’s wearing a skirt. I kiss Jax like my life depends on it and it seems she’s doing thesame. The little moans she makes as her hands fist my sweater, pulling me closer than I already am, and my arms wind around her like ivy, eliminating every inch of space has me wanting to maneuver her so her legs bracket my waist. Cheering from the rooftop is like cold water poured on top of us. I slow the kiss down. Alternating between lingering kisses and pecking her top and bottom lips.
When I pull back, her eyes are still closed in concentration and I see the lipstick I hoped would smudge, did just around the edges. Using my thumb, I wipe the color off her skin while she watches me with those honey brown eyes.
“How drunk are you?” I ask, breaking the bubble.
“Not drunk at all.” She tells me.
“Are you up for a walk?”
Wordlessly she nods and I shift her off my lap, helping her to stand and adjusting her skirt. Our bottle was already paid for so we head back to the elevator. Jax isn’t as tense on the ride down. Could be the alcohol or the kiss still playing on a loop in her head. I know it is for me. When the doors open, I hold my hand out for her to take, giving her the option to follow or stray. My cheek twitches when she takes my hand and links our fingers together.
Look at me. Getting giddy that I’m holding her hand.
Pushing out to the street, I walk us to the curb where I flag down a cab. I’m all for walking but that would take us over an hour. When a car stops, I open the door for Jax and slide in after her.
“Where to?” the driver asks.
“Fremont Street Experience, please.”
I sit back in the seat as we’re whisked away. Some could say I’m doing this to win over Jax. And they’d be right. But I’m also doing this for me to live out the wild tales that I never got to experience because of baseball.
