Noah resisted the urge to look to his mother as he took his gear off, too sore and sweaty to keep it on any longer. He didn't care what she thought. This was his victory, and he wasn't inclined to share it with her of all people. His team, sure. They deserved basically all of the credit. His mother had fought him every step of the way, and he wasn’t about to turn around and pretend that she’d had anything to do with this, or that he was glad she came.
A half-second after he’d taken out his mouth guard, Jace turned Noah around by the shoulder, so they were facing each other. “I was waiting for that,” he said, and then leaned in.
It took Noah’s brain a moment to catch up with what was happening, but he reached up at the last second to hold Jace’s face in place as their lips connected. Heat sparked deep in his belly, rising up slowly, making him tingle all over and blush as Jace kissed him, parting his lips just enough to make Noah want more. It was both the sweetest and most frustrating kiss Noah had ever been on the receiving end of.
Way better than the one they’d shared when they got married. Noah mentally replaced that one with this as their first kiss. This was their firstrealkiss, and therefore the only one that counted.
Noah sighed as Jace pulled away, finally becoming aware of the cheers and wolf-whistles from the crowd, and from both teams. He could feel himself blushing, and he couldn’t stop grinning up at Jace, even when his cheeks started to hurt.
He loved Jace. Jace, apparently, loved him. Noah couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.
“That felt amazing,” Noah said softly. “Can we have victory sex? Are you ready to do that?”
“I could definitely be persuaded to try,” Jace said in a low whisper that made the back of Noah’s neck tingle. “Not in public, though.”
Noah shook his head. “No way. You’re all mine, and I’m not sharing you with anyone.”
“I can live with that.” Jace smiled. “I don’t really wanna share you, either.”
“Everyone’s looking at us,” Noah said, becoming uncomfortably aware of being the center of attention all of a sudden. Or at least, being the center of attention for something other than his performance on the track, which he loved.
“Let ‘em look,” Jace said. “I’m proud of you, like I said. I’m proud to be married to you. Also, this may come as a shock, but I don’t think I’m entirely straight.”
Despite his embarrassment, Noah laughed. “You think? What clued you in?”
“Well, it all started when I realized I didn’t want to live without my best friend, or his really great ass…” Jace looked down at the floor, smiling to himself. “And kinda escalated from there. I had some help from Dr. Love.”
“Appropriate. Not why he calls himself that,” Noah pointed out. Brian wasn’t unaware of how attractive he was, but he was a nice enough guy that his cockiness didn’t detract from that attractiveness. Noah’s first clue that he was into Jace should have been that he was never really interested in Brian, who he would otherwise have been all over.
Jace snorted. “I know. But he’s one of the good guys. I owe him like a million drinks for this.”
“Maybe try to spread them out over time,” Noah said. “So he doesn’t die of alcohol poisoning before we make it to the nationals next year. We’ve still got a whole ‘nother season to get through, you know. If this marriage is going to fulfill its original purpose.”
“I didn’t marry you to get to the nationals. That was just an excuse.” Jace wet his lips. “I mean, I didn’t know that then. I thought I was just unusually invested in winning for once. But I couldn’t face losing you.”
“And now you won’t have to.” Noah reached out to take Jace’s hand.
“I could get really used to you holding my hand,” Jace said, linking their fingers together.
Noah beamed at him. “Good, because I’d like to hold your hand as often as possible.”
Perhaps it was a cliché, but Noah felt like he’d won something way more important than a derby game. If there was such a thing. He was pretty sure Coach Williams—and most of the rest of the team—would disagree, but to him, knowing that he and Jace were going to be together was the best part of the day.
Hopefully, it’d also be the best part of the night.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Noah’s mom had decided, after all, that she would stay somewhere else for the night, and Jace had been only too happy to drop her off at her hotel on the way home. Even Noah hadn’t bothered to object or say she was actually welcome to stay with them. She wasn’t, not until she apologized to Noah at the very minimum.
Besides, this meant that he and Noah had the place to themselves. Now that he’d managed to come out to Noah and made his feelings clear, he was ready to get on with the fun part. His fingertips tingled with the need to touch Noah, start exploring his body, learn all the ways he could make him gasp or sigh or moan.
Even as he unlocked the door to the apartment, Jace could feel tension beginning to grow low in his belly, his skin prickling with anticipation. Noah was quiet, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. Every now and again, on the ride home and while they’d been heading inside, Jace had seen him chewing on his lower lip.
He was probably nervous. Jace was nervous, too, but his excitement far outweighed it. Noah was his best friend, so it wasn’t as though he was bringing home a stranger for this. They’d still be friends in the morning, regardless of what happened tonight.
All the same, he wanted tonight to go well. He opened the door to the apartment and let Noah go ahead of him, shutting the door behind them once they were both inside.
“It’s okay if you’re not ready to experiment,” Noah said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I get that this is new for you and I don’t ever want to push you into something you’re not comfortable with.”
