Page 35 of Fast Break
“Later. Eat first,” I grin, taking a bite of my own pancake. We make our way through the entire stack and then JT follows me to the kitchen where we load the plates in the dishwasher. When I stand up he is looking at me, a hesitant expression on his face that I want to wipe off. I take a step towards him, closing the gap between us.
“So, want to talk about that promise I made last night?” I suggest.
“I’d rather cash it in than talk about it,” he returns. Well, well, well. Seems like my shy boy has disappeared on me.
“Yeah? You want me to kiss you again, JT?” I tease a little, caging him in against the island.
“Yes.” His reply is instant. I try not to gloat.
“Okay. You want to talk about that first though?” I prompt. “About the kiss?” He narrows his eyes at me and I nearly get sidetracked but I really want to clear this out.
He lets out a puff of air. “Not really,” he admits. “I’d rather just kiss you again.”
“Okay … but is this just, like, a one-time thing?” I ask. “I just kind of need to know the lay of the land here.”
JT smiles and it’s the shy smile I think I’m obsessed with. “I really hope it’s not just a one-time thing.”
I didn’t realise how fast my heart was beating until I hear those words. I try not to let my delight show too much as I quirk a smile at him. “Good. Cos I gotta admit I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a while.”
“So why didn’t you?”
It’s my turn to chuff a laugh. “It’s not that simple from this side of things, JT. I picked up a few hints from you but not enough for me to go charging in and accidentally making a move on a guy who might be straight.”
“Ah, yeah, that’s fair enough,” he agrees, dropping his eyes. “I guess I don’t really know much about this kind of stuff. I’m not very good at this.”
“Oh, I disagree with that, JT.”
He smiles again, pink staining those pretty cheeks. “Does it bother you that I don’t have any experience?”
“Not one bit,” I assure him, reaching out and taking his hand in mine. “It doesn’t change the fact I still want to kiss you. But it does change the pace we go at.”
“What if I don’t want slow?” he says, chin jutted out in a challenge.
“Well maybeIneed slow. I don’t want to just dive in with you like I’ve done in the past. That hasn’t always worked out well for me. And you’re kind of … sweet and special.”
“Oh.” That shy smile is back, the one that has a high probability of killing me.
“But on the other foot, does it botheryouthat I’ve been with … a few guys?” Well, more than a few. He doesn’t need to know that though.
JT bites onto his bottom lip, somewhere I want to be biting soon before he shakes his head. “No, Quinn. That doesn’t bother me. It’s probably good that one of us knows what they’re doing.”
I can only smile back at him, relief coursing through me. Not that either of us can change our past. And it’s not as though I am ashamed of mine. It’s just different from his and I want to make sure he’s okay with that. But I also can’t help hoping he never wants the numbers conversation.
“Do you have basketball training this morning?” I ask, letting my gaze drift down to his lips.
“Yeah. And I have to go home first to change so I don’t have much time.”
“What if I lend you some clothes. How much time do we have then?”
A slow grin crosses JT’s face as he glances up at the clock on the wall. “I’ve got about forty-five minutes.”
“Well then,” I say, letting my pointer finger trail down his neck to rest on his bouncing pulse. “What do you want to do in the meantime?” JT’s smirk tells me everything I need to know. I don’t hesitate to drop my hand into his, threading our fingers together.
“Want to come back upstairs with me, JT?”
***
JT and I make excellent use of those precious minutes as I soon have him laid out on my bed, my hand tracing the muscles on his stomach and my tongue down his throat. He tastes amazing, like blueberries and maple syrup and I know I’m never going to have enough of this, of him.
