Pretty Boy (boyxboy)

Chapter Twenty Two

My body is frozen and my eyes are wide.
Is this real? Is he actually kissing me right now?

His lips are soft and warm. His hands are gentle on my face as he lets his thumbs run back and forth on my cheeks in a soothing movement.

I find myself melting into his touch and my eyes flutter closed. I feel him smile against my lips and he pulls away slowly.

"Is this okay?" He whispers, breath fanning my face.

I nod, eyes darting up to meet his gaze. He grins, pressing his forehead onto mine.
"You were jealous."

I laugh and shove at his chest.
"Shut up."

"We should probably go find Jamie."

I nod.
"Does that mean I get my phone back?"

He rolls his eyes playfully and pulls my phone from his pocket, handing it back to me.
"Thank you."

There's a message from Jamie.
'Jesus. How'd it go?'

I reply back quickly.
'I'll tell you later. Come to the food court.'

"Jamie's gonna meet us outside the food court." I tell him, pushing my phone into my jeans.

"Well then we should probably get going. Come on, love."

I blush and he laughs, grabbing my hand and pulling me alongside him as we head back outside to wait for JJ.

He doesn't drop my hand like I expect him to and intertwines our fingers together as we wait.

I feel eyes on me from behind but I can't find the strength to make myself turn around and check. It feels like everyone that passes us can only focus on his hand in mine.
I lower my head down and focus my attention on my shoes.

Nate nudges my shoulder.
"You okay?"

I keep my gaze low.
"Everybody's staring." I whisper.

I can see him frown from the corner of my eye and his fingers pull themselves away from mine.
Now he's upset. Why do I have to ruin everything? Why can't I just ignore people?

"Hey you guys ready to go?" Jamie asks as she jogs up to where we stand, towing bunches of bags along with her.

"Yeah, lets go." Nate answers, walking off toward the exit without us.

JJ gives me a look.
"What's up with him?"

"I'll explain later."

She nods and we follow behind Nate to his car waiting outside.
Jamie shoves me toward the front seat and slides herself in the back.
If it wasn't awkward enough before, it sure as hell is now and we've barely left the parking lot yet.

"Hey can you drop me off at home before you take Matt? I gotta pee."

I turn and glare at Jamie. I know damn well she's lying. I also know that she's just trying to give us time to talk because she knows somethings up, and I appreciate it. But right now I Could kill her.

"Yeah."

The ten minute drive of complete silence drives me insane. It's made even worse when Nate stops outside of an apartment building and Jamie lets herself out of the car, yelling a short goodbye to us.

"Where's your place?" He asks, breaking the unbearable silence.

I clear my throat.
"It's on Hopkins Street."

He nods, keeping his eyes on the road.

I keep my eyes on my lap, fiddling with my fingers.
"Please don't be mad at me. I'm sorry." I mumble, lamely.

I feel his eyes on me now but I don't look up.
"I'm not mad, love. I just wish you didn't care so much about what everyone else thinks of you." He sighs.

"You have to remember that this is all new to me, though. I'm scared."

His hand reaches across the console of the car and grabs mine. The weight on my chest seems to have lifted upon his touch.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I know it's scary, I've been there."

I give him a half smile.
"It's fine."
"That's my house." I point and he pulls into the empty driveway.

"Let me ask you something." He speaks, parking the car and turning to face me.

"Okay."

"How do you feel about me?"

I pause, licking my dry lips.
"I mean I like you, a lot. And I can admit that I'm attracted to you." I laugh.
"I'm just scared with what everyone will think. I know Jamie won't care, we've talked about it. But my mom is the only family I have left. And she might not be so understanding. As much as we don't get along, I don't know what I'd do without her." I explain, voice shaking.

He squeezes my hand.
"I know how scary it can be. I knew I was gay for a year or more before my family found out..." he trails off and my mind goes back to when he told me about his father catching him with another boy. My heart aches for him.

He clears his throat.
"I was worried about what my mother would think too, but I was lucky enough to have her accept me anyway, and Jamie too."

"You're lucky to have them."

He smiles.
"Listen, I'm just gonna get this out here. I like you. And I'd really like to see where this could go, if you let it. I know you're scared and that's fine, nobody has to know anything for right now. We can take it slow. I won't push you to do anything you don't want to-"

I cut him off and press my mouth against his. I can feel him pause in shock but he eases himself closer, large hands curling themselves into my shaggy brown hair.

His lips are so warm and inviting and i feel my body swirl with excitement. Our lips move together in sync until I finally pull away, grinning at him.

"You're cute when you ramble." I tease.

He laughs and shakes his head at me.
"You gonna answer my question or just keep me in suspense for another couple hours?"

My hand comes up to brush the stray hair away from his face tenderly and I smile.
"Yeah. I'd like that."

He grins.

"I better get inside." I tell him, moving away from him to sit back in my seat.

He nods.
"Call me later?"

I grin, already feeling the heat rise to my cheeks, and I nod.
"Yeah."

I push the car door open and hop out, waving at him through the closed door before heading up the steps and inside the house.
I sneak a peek at him through the living room window and catch him pumping his fists in the air happily and smiling brightly.

I laugh, shaking my head, and make my way to my room and trying to find a way to calm my frantically beating heart.