The bowling alley is blissfully warm, and I shed my coat to thaw faster. Scanning around, I try to spot Callum, and as soon as I do, I find that it’s a lot harder to breathe.
Holy motherfucking shit, he’s at risk of burning the whole building down with how scorching-hot he is. My god. He’s wearing a simple blue Henley that I haven’t seen before, a little looser than I'm used to, but it still shows off his powerful frame and gives my ever-hungry eyes alotto feast on.
Callum tilts his head up and locks eyes with me, sending a sweet smile over my way. I pick up the pace, not wanting to wait any longer.
“Hey,” he says. “You look good.”
Ido? “You're one to talk. Is that a new shirt?”
He nods.
I swallow, finding words as I run a sneaky hand down the fabric covering one of his arms. “You look amazing.”
“You’re such a flirt,” he says, smirking at me in a way that melts even more of my testy self-control.
Since when did he smirk? Hell, his usual small smiles already make me go loopy, butsmirking? It’s lethal. Fuckinglethal.
“I have half a mind to drag you back home and undress you with more than my eyes,” I whisper, getting on my toes to reach his ears, which turn red as soon as I finish my sentence. “But I was looking forward to taking you out tonight, so we’re both gonna have to wait.”
Callum turns his head to me, his eyes narrow and sensual. “I’m used to holding out for that. At least this time the wait will be worth it.”
Whew. Okay. I can stay calm, even in the face of Callum managing to be vulnerable and tantalizing at the same time. Shutting my eyes, I smile and repeat a much-needed reminder in my head:I will not be a horndog, I will not be a horndog, I will not be a horndog.
“Alright, Cal, enough of that,” I announce, slinging an arm around his waist. “We’re here to have some nice, wholesome fun together.”
And we do. Callum is abeast, and he smokes the hell out of me. By the end of the night, I’ve won a single game out of five, and he isn’t gloating nearly as much as he should be.
“I’m telling you, you gotta sign up for the Kinesiology rec league at least,” I say as we leave the alley. “You have serious skills.”
Modest as ever, Callum shrugs me off. “Nah. Beginner’s luck.”
“Aw, come on, Cal, you can gloat a little.” I dig my thumbs into hisshoulder blades, hyping him up. “Repeat after me: I’m a fucking champ and I got five strikes in a row.”
He snorts. “Not saying that, sorry.”
“Okay, fine,” I reply, lying. “But c’mere.”
I stop walking, prompting Callum to do the same, and I stare up at him. As if he reads my mind, he leans down for a kiss, and I press up to join him.
And I pull away at the last second. “Sorry, buddy. You gotta gloat before I kiss you.”
“You’re ridiculous.” He rolls his eyes, and I swear I’ve never seen sexier sass in my life.
I nudge his head with my fingers so he’s facing me again. “Hey, I’m serious. You know what you have to do.” For added pressure—uh, incentive, I run my thumb along his lower lip.
That’s what gets him to snap. “Okay, fine. I’m a fucking champ, I got five strikes in a row, and Ian’s a sore loser because he’s finding ways to punish me.”
Recoiling, I open my mouth and let out a noise that’s somewhere between a snicker and a scoff. “Jesus, the mouth on this guy,” I say, molding my face into an expression of false offense. “Where did that come from?”
Callum closes the distance between us and hooks an arm around my back. “I don’t know. Can Ipleasekiss you already?”
Yes, yes, he can.
And he does, making me regret ever holding out on him. It’s official: I’m never withholding a kiss ever again. I’ll have to find some other way of teasing Callum, a way that doesn’t deprive me at the same time.
Every gentle sweep of my tongue in his mouth imparts more and more of his heady, addictive flavor: the pizza he insisted on buying for us after I paid for his shoe rental, the soda I bought him after betting that he wouldn’t get five strikes in a row, and then something unplaceable and uniquely him. He tries to pull away, and I only let him take a quick inhale before crashing my mouth back onto his for more.
I want him in every way: physically, romantically… If he wasn’t going through post-religious deprogramming, I’d say I want him biblically, too, but he has the past that he does, so I’ll want him carnally instead.
