Page 42 of One More Time
Jai shifts a little closer to me and reaches out, wiping something from my face. I let out a huff as I swipe at my cheek too.
“You had some crumbs,” Jai says and then focuses back on eating.
“Are we cool?” I whisper to him, and he nods.
“Yeah, of course. We’re totally fine.”
He doesn’t look fine, and I stare at him for a little too long, but it’s interrupted by Alec who stands up as he wipes his hands off and settles down next to me on the couch. It’s a small space to fit into, but he manages, and I feel tingles shoot up my side at the mere contact of our bodies.
“Couldn’t see the TV,” he says just as Ollie grins and asks about the water heater.
Apparently, it’s just fine and nothing needs to be done about it, which is good news. The bad news is, my dick is hard again and I’m feeling the urge to panic.
No, scratch that, I’m already panicking.
I’m going to come right here in front of everyone if he touches me, if he so much as moves against me.
“Jai, want to play a match?” Lucas asks when the silence grows a little unbearable. Actually, it’s not that silent. Ollie is humming and my throat is making unseemly rasping noises each time I breathe. I’m developing pneumonia. A chronic condition, it seems.
“Sure,” Jai says, getting up and moving to where Lucas sits. He scoots over a little, making room for my friend, and Jaisqueezes in next to him. Which is just as well. I’m over here having some kind of attack. And I can’t be trusted.
It doesn’t dissipate either, not for the entire hour I sit next to Alec, watching everyone play games. I can’t even get my fingers to function to participate, and when I finally manage to try, I fail miserably. Because Alec is pressing his leg against mine, and I can feel the pressure straight in my balls.
It comes to a breaking point when I spring up from the couch and wordlessly walk outside.
The cool night air smacks me in the face, and for the first time since Alec arrived, I can inhale shakily.
“Where are you going?” Alec asks from behind me, and I do the only thing I can think of.
I run.
CHAPTER 7
ALEC
Ididn’t give a damn about the water heater, didn’t have any reason to think something was wrong with it, but I needed a reason to head over. One that was somewhat plausible. So I fucking lied to get in.
And now he’s running from me, a fast sprint that leaves me chasing after him.
Fuck. I hate running. Never was into athletics. I was more of a band geek in high school. Did a lot of marching and baton tosses. Nothing more than that. A few years ago I started lifting weights to look good and stay fit. But running? Nah, that shit is terrible.
I pant loudly as my feet hit the pavement, a cramp starting in my side. Thankfully Jude is a worse runner than me, or maybe it’s the giant boner I saw tenting his pants when he stood up and bolted for the door that’s prohibiting him from actually escaping me.
Suddenly he veers right and turns down a gravel street where he stops, immediately bending over to catch his breath. It’s thereI catch up to him, grabbing him by the nape of the neck. The feel of his warm skin against my palm makes my stomach flip-flop, but I ignore it. I beat it away. I hate the way just a subtle touch from him undoes me.
Why does it have to be him?
“What the fuck, Jude,” I say on a wheeze.
“I just…” his words trail off and he moves away from me, running a hand down his flushed face. I can make out the pink in his cheeks even under the dim street lighting. And shit, he’s even prettier when he’s like this. Embarrassed and turned on.
My favorite part of Jude Martin is when he’s blushing for me.
In the past, there were days when I wanted to see him undone like this, hated him for being so goddamn hot and so seemingly self-assured. For being mouthy and belligerent. But the longer I know him, the real him, the more I wonder how self-assured he really is.
He doesn’t look like it right now. He looks utterly lost.
“I need some space,” he says brokenly. “I need some space from you and your dick. You’re…you’re intoxicating.”