Luke kicks my ass for the third time in a row.
“You can’t let me win just once?” I groan and slap the darts onto the table.
Luke clicks his tongue at me. “Never. You gotta earn your wins.”
“I don’t think I like this game very much.”
“You would if you were winning.”
I flip him off as he scoops up the darts and erases the chalkboard for another game.
As time ticks down, I wonder what’s going to happen when we ring in the new year. Is he going to kiss me? Should I kiss him? I can still feel everywhere he touched me the other night, but he never kissed me. Was it on purpose, or was he so caught up in the moment that he didn’t notice?
Luke checks his stupidly-expensive watch. “Wanna get out of here? It’s getting late.”
“Don’t you want to stick around to ring in the new year, old man?”
“Eh, I’ve seen enough new years in my time.” He holds his back playfully, pretending to be in pain.
I give him a little shove but finish the rest of my drink. “Let’s go.”
He holds my coat open for me, slipping it onto my shoulders. When we head toward the exit, I feel his hand hovering lightly on my lower back, and I want to lean into the touch more than I want my next breath.
I don’t know what possesses me to do it, but when we step out onto the empty sidewalk and Luke starts heading back toward his car parked across the street, I grab his arm. It takes him by surprise as I pull us both into an alleyway between the bar and the barbershop next door.
He looks at me with a silent question on his face, but I don’t have an answer for him. All I know is that I don’t want this to be done yet. And I fear the moment we get back into his car, he’s going to remember all the rules and reasons why we shouldn’t even be here in the first place, and I don’t want to go there right now. I want to stay right here, in this moment, where it’s just the two of us away from the titles that separate us.
Snow falls soundlessly, and a few flakes catch on his hair, his jacket, his eyelashes. He looks beautiful cast in the muted glow of the night sky. It softens his features, and he looks younger, lighter.
“Thank you for bringing me out tonight,” I say. “I had fun with you.”
He swallows thickly. “I had fun with you, too.”
Silence stretches between, becoming as taut as a bowstring, as each of us refuses to look away from the other. He steps forward until my back is pressed against the brick wall. His body cages me in, but I feel anything but trapped.
My heart races as pure want pumps through my veins as I look at the curve of his lips and imagine them on my own.
“Are you done fighting this?” My question sounds as breathless as I feel.
His chest shakes against mine, fighting to find that last bit of restraint, but I see the surrender in his eyes before he says, “Yes.”
With that single word, his mouth captures mine for the first time.
Fuckingfinally.
He’s not gentle, he’s not careful, and he surely has thrown all hesitation out the window as he absolutely devours me. He tastes like cinnamon and Coke as his tongue tangles with mine. I moan against him as I sag between the wall and his body. He pins me with his hips to keep me from falling.
I cling to his jacket as I kiss him back with everything I have. He’s wholly consuming and dominating, exactly how he is when he’s on the ice. It sings to me, and I nip at his bottom lip.
He pulls back, both of us completely breathless, and puffs of smoke fill the air between us. I open my mouth to demand more, but he silences me with a finger on my lips.
“Don’t say anything. Just get in the fucking car, right now.”
28
Lennon
The drive back to Luke’s apartment is tense. Neither of us speak because we both know if one of us does, it would break the spell and rationality might re-enter the situation.
