“I want to be in you tonight,” I said, even though I’d promised myself I would let him set the pace, but he always looked at me, waiting for me to make the bigger decisions in our relationship, and I had to find out if he was ready for this sooner or later. “I want to come back here, fuck you in your bed about seven or eight times, then go to sleep with your arms around me.”
He blinked at me and the smile that tugged on his lips was such a relief I had to kiss him again.
“Please,” he whispered. “I want the same thing. I miss you at night.”
Swallowing hard, I nodded. “I won’t ever do anything to make you sorry you gave me a second chance.”
He knocked his forehead against mine, and I stared in his eyes way too close until he chuckled.
“How much do you want it?” I asked.
He shuddered against me, and pure energy surged through me. I squeezed Micah, then slid my hands down to his belt, and he laughed, covering mine with his.
“Your game against the St. Loren Gators is going to start soon. And I do think Milo would blame me directly if the team lost and you weren’t on the court.” There was a twinkle in his eyes, and while he was probably joking, he didn’t know how right he was.
“Fuck,” I said, dragging the word out.
He snickered.
“Okay. Fine.” I backed off, but I kissed him again to make up for it.
“Let’s change our underwear,” he said, cutting a skittish glance toward his bedroom.
Laughing, I shook my head. “I can’t. If I go near your bedroom, do you know what I’ll do?” I raised my eyebrows at him.
He shrugged.
“Oh, I think you can guess.” I slid my hand down and gripped his crotch. I gave the semi that was still there a tiny squeeze, and he bit the corner of his mouth.
Laughing, I pecked his lips again. “I have to run. I can live with sticky boxers, but if I actually miss the start of the game, Coach will murder me. Change so you’re comfortable. I’ll have Milo’s mom save you a seat,” I said, dragging my phone out of my pocket to text her. On my way out I grabbed my hoodie from the chair at the breakfast bar I’d flung it over because it was getting cold outside.
“She was nice last time,” Micah called from inside his bedroom. He’d left the door open, and I took a step in that direction as I slid on my hoodie. No, I couldn’t. I kept telling myself I had to leave, but somehow, I found myself in the doorway of his bedroom instead. He glanced up at me in surprise as he tugged his jeans back up. I crooked a finger at him, and he walked toward me. He bent his head, and I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck, dragging him toward me. I kissed him and wanted nothing more than to toss him on the blue blankets covering his bed so I could mess them up.
He pushed me back. “You have to go.”
“But I wanna stay.”
He gave me a tiny shove, but there was still a cute smile on his face that had my heart pounding hard.
“Be careful driving,” I said to him, and I had no idea why those words came out of my mouth, but I meant them, so I didn’t take them back. I ran for my car. By the time I got to school I was swearing under my breath because it seemed like every spot in the lot was full, and I ended up having to park far out and run all the way to the basketball court. I was sweating and breathing hard as I made it to Milo’s side next to the home bench.
“Hey!” he said with a wide grin. He slapped my back. “Mom said you asked her to save a seat for Micah.” He gave me a hopeful expression.
“Yep!” I smirked and stripped off my hoodie, then flung it on the bench.
Coach came storming over to us and whacked his clipboard on his thigh. “What the fuck? Cutting it late, aren’t you, Hinode?”
“I ran in.” I jogged in place and winked at him. “I’m warmed up.”
“You better be. Milo, I want you on point. Yukio, take the number two spot at his side. If you’re shooting guard, you better own it.”
I nodded quickly.
Coach huffed, but he zeroed in on the ref and went off to harass him about something instead of continuing to chew me out. After all, I’d made it.
Milo and I gave each other low-key high fives as the pregame activities revved up. After the players were announced, we went out onto the court. I scanned the crowd and was relieved to see Micah squeeze in next to Milo’s mom. She was an older woman with graying hair and the same wide smile he had, and she patted Micah’s shoulder and waved her other hand while she talked. I loved her because not only was she a basketball fanatic, she didn’t seem to get on Micah’s nerves like a lot of people did. She noticed me looking and waved, then Micah did, and I blew a kiss in their direction, and they both laughed.
I was busy making goo-goo eyes at Micah and the tipoff took me by surprise. I was shocked when I suddenly had the ball in my hands, but thankfully Coach’s endless training kicked in and I raced toward the opposite net. I scored the first two points of the game without much effort and felt pretty good about myself as I flashed a smile toward Micah.
