“Pinterest?” My face screwed up at the screen, and then up at him. “How do you know about Pinterest?”
“Hey! I know about stuff!” He held my hand and swiped his phone screen, bringing up a board filled with houses, textiles, and interior design inspirations. “When I built my house in Malibu, my architect showed me Pinterest. It helped me find exactly what I wanted by taking bits from lots of different places. It turned out perfectly.” He looked up and smiled. “I can’t wait to take you there. It’s right on the cliff above the beach.”
“What were you looking at just now?”
He tapped the screen and moved to a new board, one that looked more countryside than beachy. “I’ve been making one for our new place.”
I scrolled through the images; there were hundreds.Hundreds.Farmhouses, English gardens, wooden beams, roll-top bathtubs, tiling, theater rooms, and… planetariums.
That middle of the night feeling began scratching at my gut. I handed the phone back to him.
“I’ll share this with you, and then you can look through and delete anything you don’t like, and add anything you do. We’ll build our dream house, Marn.” He leaned up and kissed me, his tongue swiping across my lips before I could stop it. Lifting me off his lap, he stood me back on the floor, pocketing a roll of LifeSavers I’d already opened and started for the door. “Okay, I have to go for a meeting with my third base coach. I’ll call you when I’m done. Love you.”
He stopped. I stopped. Time might have also stopped. His hand was hovering halfway to the door handle. I’m not sure I blinked.
His eyes widened, and a broad grin broke through his shock as he walked straight back to me. Warm hands cupped my face, and I could feel the calluses on his thumb as it brushed over my cheeks. “I should have been a bit cooler with that, but hey, you already knew. I love you, Marn. I love you so fucking much, and getting you back...”
His tongue did the rest of the talking with more than a swipe across my lips. It sunk deep into my mouth, caressing mine, twisting together, hot and soft. Every swipe filled with emotion, and I returned it a hundred fold, especially when I could feel him smiling against my lips.
This man, this fucking man.
He was going to be the death of me.
Again.
I pushed him gently. “Go, you’re going to get in trouble if you’re late.”
“Okay,” he winked. “I’ll see you later.” He stole one last kiss and ran out of the door.
I walked to close it, peering down the hallway until I knew he was really gone, only then did I shut it and slump onto my desk. My head fell forward, cushioned by my arms.
The sex, the hand-holding, the winks, the laughter, the present…
I could do those. I could manage that.
The girlfriend-thing, the house, the Pinterest board planning, the future…
My heart was pumping so hard that it felt like I’d taken a weightlifter’s pre-workout shake. An Olympic weightlifter sized one. I sat up and rubbed my chest. It made things hard to concentrate when it felt like your heart was about to give way any second.
Either that or crack a rib.
I didn’t think this had anything to do with my caffeine consumption either. Before I gave myself any time to ponder it, I snatched up my phone and earbuds, and walked out.
I needed air.
Fifteen minutes later, I found myself along the boardwalk; on one side of me were the canoes setting up for the game tonight, and on the other, Jupiter was staring at me. Or rather his poster was. The one I’d seen on my first day.
Who knew six weeks could feel like a lifetime?
I uncrossed my legs, then crossed them again, settling back into the bench opposite.
Fans, tourists, passers-by; they were all out in full force; every other person wearing a black and gold shirt. It was busier than usual. Since the boys had settled into the season and were playing well, Penn had opened up practice times. Tickets wereon a first-come, first-serve basis, so for the last week, there’d been lines forming from eight a.m.
There were a few guys in front of Jupiter’s poster today, but they were soon pushed out of the way by another posse of girls.
It was never going to change.
Everywhere Jupiter was the girls would follow, desperate for any breadcrumbs he left them. And while in school it might have been his winning smile they dropped their panties for, even I could attest to the tattoos as a verified vagina magnet.
