The Switch Hitter (GxG)

Chapter 21

Shout out to @Loiosh whose insane commenting made me come back and write this chapter. I think you'll be satisfied with the outcome.

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We stumbled back inside, dripping wet from head to toe. The cold rain soaked through my clothes and left me shivering. My hair hung straight down, sticking to my neck and face, and I brushed it back behind my ear, then looked up to see Ari doing the same. I was freezing cold, thoroughly wet, and aching from softball and a severe lack of sleep.

I had never felt more alive.

"How about I grab us some towels?" I said to her.

"That sounds like a great idea."

I went down the hallway from the kitchen and grabbed us each a towel from the hall closet. They were beach towels, and one had a bunch of flamingoes all over it. I gave that one to Ari, keeping the one covered in little rubber ducks for myself.

She chuckled at the design. "How come I get the flamingoes? I wanted the ducks."

I pulled the towel away from her. "Too bad. This one's mine, you can't have it."

Ari stuck her lip out and shot me some class-A puppy eyes. "Why not?"

I froze for a second, locked in her gaze. She was absolutely adorable when she did that, and, quite frankly, absolutely irresistible. But I held my ground.

"Because it's always been mine!" I said, backing away and holding the towel behind me so she couldn't snatch it while I was distracted.

"So? You wouldn't give it up for me?" Impossibly, her puppy dog eyes grew even more intense, and I found myself folding, giving in to her gaze.

"Fine."

She smiled huge and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, which lightened my feigned moodiness considerably. I maintained just enough composure to glare at her as she took my duck towel and gave me the flamingoes.

"Is this how it's gonna be from now on? You flash those eyes at me to get what you want?"

"Sure, if it keeps working." She was still smiling, and I unintentionally grinned back at her.

"I suppose that's alright."

The towel dilemma resolved, we dried ourselves off as best as we could. I flipped my hair over to towel it off, then tried to wring some of the excess water out of my clothes. I looked back up to see Ari scrunching her hair in the duck towel, wrinkling her nose as she concentrated. Her shirt was sticking to her, enough for me to see every inch of her body, without really seeing anything at all.

My heart was pounding in my ears as I looked at her. She was so damn beautiful, she took my breath away. Her wet hair had a hint of curl to it, and it was slightly frizzy from the rain and her toweling efforts. Her eyes shone, even as she grew increasingly frustrated with the state of her soaking wet clothes. Even as I watched her, she looked up and met my gaze. I knew my stare was intense, because I couldn't hold back the rush of feeling, affection and lust all rolled up into one big firework show, exploding inside my chest. She blushed heavily, but didn't look away.

"Hey," she whispered softly.

"Hey," I said back, a smile pulling across my face. "You're so beautiful."

Ari scoffed, but her cheeks reddened further. "No way you say that to me right now, dripping wet in the middle of your kitchen."

"Would you rather I said it when you were dripping wet somewhere else?"

She sucked in a breath, fluttering her eyes shut. "Don't say those things to me."

I smirked. "Why's that, princess?"