I looked up to face Jakob before he offered up some version of “my eyes are up here, Zane” that would make me want to scream. My eyes locked onto Jakob’s again and I felt trapped. I honestly thought my heart had skipped a beat.
“Are you going to finish that sentence?” I asked.
“Why should I? I think you know the score here. Shit, I should be the one askingyouwhat’s going on.”
“Nothing’s going on.”
“Oh, really?”
“Hey, I have a gym membership here, pal.” I dug my phone from my pocket and showed him my membership in the Planet Fitness app. “Nothing more to it than that.”
“And you bugging me all the time?”
“Bugging you? I was trying to make peace. Sue me for being the mature one here.”
“Mature one, that’s rich. There’s no such thing as maturity when it comes to the Lions and Riptides. We’re supposed to hate each other.”
“Says who?”
“Says the Lions-Riptides rivalry. There’s an entire history that goes back a long way. I guess you don’t care about tradition?”
“See? That’s the difference between you and me.”
“Well, that and I use soap.”
God, Jakob Martin could be so infuriating.
“You think that’s funny?” I asked.
“What’s funny is that you think you can make nice with me and I’ll fall for it.”
“Well, I sure as hell don’t apologize for taking the high road in all of this.”
The little asshole actually rolled his eyes. That drove me crazier than anything. Until now, I thought I could take anything Jakob dished out, but he’d tried my patience.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me.” I heard the anger and contempt drip from my voice.
“What are you going to do if I roll my eyes again? I’m already one-and-oh against you in fist fights. Might want to think better of trying anything physical.”
“You laid me out with a sucker punch, and you know it. No way on earth would you last two seconds with me in a real fight.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, dude. I’d mop the floor with you and then twist you into a pretzel. Then I’ll slam dunk you if I get bored.”
He rolled his eyes again. Honest to God, the guy must’ve had a death wish. My heart quickened, my muscles tensed, and my breathing grew hectic. I swore I was about to lose it.
When he turned from me, I snatched his wrist, pulled him in close until his (bare) chest pressed against mine. Jakob’s eyes stared deeply into my eyes. Then I leaned in and brushed my lips against his. Oh, who am I kidding? I practically inhaled the guy. He didn’t put up a fight, though. Matter of fact, he seemed every bit as into the kiss as I was. I kept my grip firm on his wrist, but he reached past my shoulder and clamped his hand into the back of my head, pressing our faces together. When our mouths opened, my tongue slipped into his mouth. They lapped over one another, mingling and playing.
The rest of the world fell away. I can tell you that much. No violins sounded and no birds appeared, but I can honestly say that only Jakob and I existed in that moment. I felt weightless, as if filled with helium.
And then I came to my senses.
Our lips broke apart. We pushed away from one another. I can’t say who did or didn’t do what. We both sort of broke away from the kiss. Then we stared at one another like we couldn’t believe what we’d done. I wasn’t angry, though. I couldn’t speak for Jakob.
I realized that we couldn’t undo what’d just happened. Part of me didn’t want to, though I understood it could have serious consequences.
When I peered down, I noticed his bulge now tented his towel. Worse, that throbbing hard-on would’ve brushed againstme only a moment ago. I hadn’t realized it because I’d lost myself in the moment.
