I didn’t like it.
Behind me, the oven beeped, and I heard Christian’s mom call from upstairs. “That’s the pizza rolls!”
“I’ll get them!” I hollered. I put on an oven mitt and pulled the sheet of molten nuggets out while Trent grabbed Chip’s shoulder.
“Come on.”
Chip gave me a little closed-lip smile and followed his friend downstairs.
I turned off the oven and tossed my Gatorade in the recyclingbin. The sound of Trent’s hyena laugh echoed up from the basement.
I went upstairs to use the bathroom.
I didn’t actually have to pee.
I mean, I did pee, but I didn’t actually have to.
I just needed to get away.
I washed my hands and sat on the edge of the bathtub with my phone. I read an article Coach Bentley had sent out to the team about post-game recovery, sent Mom a text to let her know the party was fine and Christian’s parents were home, took a quiz to find outWhichStar Trek: Deep Space NineSupporting Character Are You?
I thought about hiding in the bathroom for the rest of the party, but someone knocked on the door.
“Just a sec,” I said, and flushed the toilet again, so they wouldn’t know I’d been hiding. I washed my hands again too.
“Thanks,” Gabe said, and closed the door behind him.
I found Landon in the kitchen, drinking a bottle of orange Gatorade.
“Hey. Sorry.”
“No worries.” He pulled me in for an orangey kiss. “You good?”
“Yeah. Just needed a second away from the crowd.”
Landon’s arms slid down to my hips. He kissed me one more time, then pulled me toward the living room. I settled on the corner of the big beige couch, and Landon sat on my lap, his knees on either side of my hips and his butt resting on my thighs.
“Hey.” He kissed my nose. “You were awesome today.”
“Yeah?”
He kissed me again, on the corner of the mouth.
“Yeah. I loved watching you play.”
“Really?”
“Really. Have you seen yourself in those shorts?”
I couldn’t breathe.
“You like them?” I squeaked.
Landon’s eyes twinkled. “I do.” And then he kissed me again, and his tongue slipped into my mouth, and I decided breathing wasn’t all that important anyway.
I’m not going to lie: With all the kissing, I got an erection pretty quickly.
And I couldn’t tell for sure, but I thought Landon had one too. It was either that or his belt buckle rubbing against me as he rocked back and forth on his hips.
