Teenage Millionaire

Chapter 48: Distracting

Eventually we do go in. It does get colder and snowier, and neither of us are too fond of getting sick (mostly because that would for sure put a damper on... whatever we have, now). We both shower, me upstairs and him in the basement. Once I finish, I go to to the room I slept in that one time I stayed a whole weekend and pick out some of his clothes to wear, since mine are drenched in freezing water and therefore completely out of the question (not one person in his family would let me wear my cold, wet clothes). Then I go to his upstairs Mario Kart room.

He's already lounging on the bed, already racing. The second I come in, he quits the race and returns to the home screen, not even giving me a chance to tell him that I can wait for him to finish.

He turns to look at me, and holds his arms out for me immediately. I go to him, and he kisses me a little more heatedly than he did outside. My breathing shortens even more and my pulse spikes, my stomach flipping excitedly. He lets out a little groan as he detaches our lips and scans me again.

"You have no idea how hard it was not to throw myself at you every time I saw you in my clothes..." he whispers, and I swallow, my throat dry at his tone.

"And after Raymond's makeovers? And when we went swimming?"

He gives me a rakish smirk that does not help at all to calm down what I'm already feeling. "Not too subtle?"

"You would look at me the same way. I started recognizing it."

He gently tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "All those times were unnecessary reminders of how much I liked you."

"You looked at me like that the first time I came over here. After Raymond."

"That was probably about when I realized that it was going to be really, really hard to walk away from you after that day. I also quickly realized I didn't want to. And then, that I couldn't. Everyone else seemed irrelevant. I just wanted to be around you. Long after I'd learned how to predict your behaviour."

"When did you learn how to predict my behaviour?" I ask, but he says it at the exact same time as me, in the same tone, with the same emphasis (but pitching his voice just enough for me to know he's mocking me). I roll my eyes as he smirks.

"It took a little longer than other people. But even after I'd figured that out, it didn't feel boring or finished. I still wanted to be around you, not to observe, but just because I wanted to."

I smile a little. "You wanted to be around me?"

"So badly. I still do." He pecks my lips again, grinning. "You're cute, and just great company. You're either sarcastic or very very tease-able, or comforting, or just plain fun. And you have a calming presence. Not like, peaceful-calming, but just... you make me feel anchored. Less volatile. It's nice."

"I'm glad," I murmur, kissing him again. "You're the opposite for me. You make me feel more alive. You're a very vibrant person. Did I tell you that when my parents tried to enact the studying rule, I actually talked back to them? I argued with my parents. I never would have done that, before. You're a very positive influence."

He flashes me a toothy smirk. "That's something I don't hear a lot."

"Well, it's true."

He grins and pulls me closer, kissing me a few times before grabbing his controller again. "You know what was really comfortable?"

"What?" I grab the other controller, already knowing what he's going to do. Shocking- I'm right. He sits behind me and puts his arms around me, resting his chin on my shoulder. I snuggle into him, and he plants a kiss on my neck. His body warmth seeps into me, and I slouch into him a little more.