Heart and Soul [bxb]

Chapter Forty-Eight (Pt. 2)

*This chapter contains mild sexual content and explicit references to sex in conversation*

Richie took Luca back to the cabins, where they'd left the cars.

Johnny's brother Kevin went with them. Meanwhile, the rest of them had to see their hike to the end. Johnny and Bella were the ones who complained the most about that decision.

It was after dark when Luca returned, with his ankle patched up and medical assurance that he would, in fact, live. He did, however, have a new excuse to sit down and have people bring him stuff.

That day, Carter and Seth fell asleep as soon as they hit the mattress. When Carter's eyes opened again, Seth was no longer lying by his side. But the bed wasn't empty. Carter squinted through the bright morning light to get a better look at the honey-brown eyes smiling down at him.

"Hey," he croaked out.

"Hey," Johnny replied, lips stretching into a smile that made Carter's stomach feel fuzzy.

Carter rolled onto his side. He examined Johnny's tousled hair, falling gently over his face; the glimmer in his enticing eyes; the curve of his inviting lips; the lines of his relaxed body. Carter's stomach came alive again and his chest stirred with that tingling feeling he didn't seem able to stop noticing since that conversation with Seth.

"This is a nice way to wake up," he mused through a lazy smile.

Johnny bit back his own grin, leaning in. Before they could kiss, Carter moved out of the way.

"Morning breath," he warned.

Johnny rolled his eyes. "I don't care."

So, Carter caved. He always did. He was hopeless like that. With Johnny, always.

Johnny deepened their kiss, tangling his fingers in Carter's hair a little too enthusiastically, before he climbed onto his lap. 

"Wow—"

Johnny slipped off Carter with a resigned humph, looking a little irritated.

"—sorry to interrupt, but your parents sent me to get you two outside," Seth told them. "I should've probably knocked, though."

"Ya think?"

Carter shot Johnny a reprimanding look at the harsh tone, but his boyfriend paid him no attention.

If Johnny was upset about their morning interruption though, his mood definitely didn't improve when he learned what was planned for the day. Being the last to get ready meant they didn't get much of a say when Kevin and Richie suggested a friendly touch football game.

Luca was also unhappy, but for different reasons. He tried to argue with Tony that he could play, despite his leg—"It doesn't even hurt anymore, old man!"—but his dad wouldn't budge. Jack suggested, with a little grin, that Bella should take his spot. She wasn't amused.

"I'll just keep Johnny and Luca company," Bella said as a final declaration.

"Johnny is playing," Kevin countered.

Johnny snorted, crossing his arms and taking a seat by Bella's side on the porch steps. "No, he's not," he said dryly.

"We're not an even number," Richie pointed out.

"I'll play," Charlie offered excitedly.

Tony picked him up. "No, you're sitting with us, little man."

"I'll play," Lydia offered.

"It's football, Lyd," Kevin remarked.

"So?" Lydia scoffed. "I'm better than Johnny, but you asked him."