I grasped the front of his T-shirt and pulled him against me. The edge of my porch light caught part of his face, and I could see his every emotion. He wanted this, me, enough to be as scared as I was.
“Well then.” He pressed his lips to mine.
Chapter 19
Lake
I don’t know where it came from, this need to possess Theo. I’d been working with Ben pretty much nonstop for a couple of days, and I found myself missing Theo.
It made no sense, missing him like that. If we’d been dating, then I’d get it. There wasn’t any dating to be done here, not with things still so uncertain and how hectic our lives were right now.
So as I’d sat there, talking about books with Ben during dinner, I’d started to feel Theo’s presence to my right in a more acute way.
I’d felt…excited. Like I was very naïve and inexperienced, the same way I’d felt the first time I realized I had a crush on a boy who was sitting next to me in the school lunchroom. I couldn’t do anything about it then—Johnny Petersen would’ve kicked my ass—but I could now.
At first, I moved my foot closer to Theo’s until I started to feel the heat seeping from him to me. I swallowed as I nodded to something Ben was saying. Then I moved my foot to Theo’s ankle, hooked it around and held it there.
He jumped. For a moment I thought the touch was unwelcome, but then I saw him looking at me and I decided to keep going.
We’d cleaned the table together and made sure everything was in order for whoever would cook tomorrow, and then Theo left the house.
I couldn’tnotgo after him. My heart was galloping in my chest and from somewhere, I got this spark ofI need him right nowand I…kind of manhandled him. It was hot. His consent was even hotter.
I pressed him against the wall and kissed him. Something about him felt right in a way nobody else had ever, and I had the urge to beg him to have a sleepover again, because I wanted to be so much closer to him.
Instead, we made out right there, until there was a very loud doggy huff next to us.
When I pulled my head back and glanced down, Bucky was sitting there, obviously annoyed.
“What?” I asked.
He huffed again, then very theatrically got up and walked around the corner. Soon after we heard the doggie door sound.
Theo chuckled. “He doesn’t understand this staying outside thing when it’s indoors time.”
“I can understand that.” I leaned back to him and kissed him gently. “I want to come in.”
Theo tilted his head. “But?”
“I don’t think we’re there yet.”
Then, Theo said something that surprised me. “We should go on a date or something.”
I blinked at him. “Uh…”
He dropped his gaze. “I mean, we don’t have to I—”
“No, no I really want to. I wasn’t expecting it.” I pecked his lips to show how much I meant it. “I want to go on a date with you.”
He relaxed. “Okay.” Smiling, he leaned in and kissed me, but he kept it chaste.
I hummed against his lips before stepping back. Then I changed my mind and hugged him close.
Theo chuckled and held me, pressing his cheek against the top of my head as we hung onto one another for a while.
Eventually, I let go and smiled at him. “Thanks, I feel like I needed that.”
“Me, too.” He pecked my lips once again, and then we separated reluctantly.
