Hotbox (8 page)

“We can move into the middle if you want. I just automatically sit on the end of our group. That way I don’t have to climb over anyone if I have to go to the bathroom.”

“No, I’m perfectly fine. I like the end. And you are more than welcome to climb over me to get out.”

She laughed. “Good
because I’m going to right now. I’ll be back
in a few
.” She put her hand on my shoulder and stepped by me
, but before she was completely
past
, she softly touched my neck with her
fingers
. My heart raced, especially when she smiled at me, and then
I watched her head down the stairs.
I stared at her until Cali’s voice brought me back to reality.

“She’s awesome, huh,”
she
said to me.

I
was still smiling, but I hoped she couldn’t hear my heart pounding. “She is,
”
I replied.

“Well,
Ty,
she’s pretty much told me everything she knows about you, so tell me something I
don’t
know.”

She
eagerly
leaned
over
the armrest to talk to me. Chris was also listening to our conversation
, and I felt like I was being put on the spot.
I was afraid her friends wouldn’t like me, and
that
they’d pass their opinions on to Jayden.

“What do you want to know?” I asked
tentatively
.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Are you gonna kiss her tonight?”

It took me completely by surprise
, and I barely mumbled, “Uh, w
ow, that’s…”

“Invasive,” Chris offered sourly.

             
Cali laughed. “I’m only giving him the idea.”

             
“I’m sure he’s got his own ideas,” he said under his b
reath
.

             
“Do
n’t be such a jerk
,” she told
him.

             
“You’re the one asking stupid questions.”

             
“Whatever,” she said, turning back to me. “What do you like most about Jay?”

             
Every night I thought about all the things I liked about her
.
It was a long list.
“
Uh,
I wouldn’t know where to start. Uh…
Probably that she’s very…
authentic.” That seemed like the right word. “
She’s very
sincere.
A
nd
she’s
a lot of fun. S
he’s
also
funny and really smart—”

             
“And it doesn’t hurt
that she’s pretty hot, right?” C
hris
cut in
, sounding a little irritated.

             
He was treating me like I only had one thing on my mind, and it
was insulting
. However, I smiled and replied,
“She’s beautiful.
Inside and out.
”

             
Chris was going to say something
more
, but I saw his sister
elbow
him
and he shook his head at her
with a scowl
.
I could tell that his original plan to stay neutral, or maybe a promise he’d made to be nice, was getting too hard to stick with any longer.

             
Cali leaned closer to me and whispered, “If you can get used to Chris, then you’ll be
prepared to meet Jayden’s dad. Now that’s a challenge.”

             
She turned away
when someone down the row called her name
.

I thought about what Cali had said about Jayden’s dad. So far we had kind of stuck to keeping family talk
out of our conversations. He’
d come up a few times, but she never said too much about him. I did realize he was pretty hard-nosed
,
though, and I was beginning to wonder if Jayden
would intentionally keep
me from
meeting him. But I brushed it off
, being that we had only known each other for
barely
a week now.
It was hardly necessary to
meet
each other’s
parents.

             
When
Jayden returned,
there
were two other people
with her
.
The girl was petite, with long black hair, dark eyes, and olive skin. She was dressed fashionably, with lots of j
ewelry and manicured nails. The guy had sandy colored hair and was dressed more casually in jeans, a sweatshirt, and a pair of skate shoes. He was
around six-two and almost
a foot taller than the girl he was holding hands with.

             
“Look who I found wandering the halls,”
Jayden
said.

             
“Hey,
you guys!
” Cali waved.

             
Jayden introduced me to Silvia and Josh. The two said their hellos as the
y
squeezed by to sit in the two empty seats in the middle by
Matt and
Stacie, and then
Jayden stepped past me and sat back down just as the previews began. I was very glad when she took my hand
back
right away.

             
Ten minutes into the movie she looped her arm through mine and leaned against me. “Cali won’t talk to me the whole time if I’m clear over here,” she whispered. Her smile was completely beguiling and I would have kissed her righ
t then if we had been alone. I began thinking about it and
probably missed the next
twenty
minutes of the movie. Cali’s mention of kissing Jayden was nothing new; I had been
dreaming
about it all week. And I really had pla
nned on doing it
that night
if it
felt right.
Now I was trying hard
not
to think about it,
and
it was imp
ossible.

             
“So what time do you think you’ll be back in town tomorrow?” Jayden asked.

             
We were driving down my street, almost to my house.
I was already feeling a little anxious since I didn’t want our date to end, so the timing was right when she got me thinking about the next time we would see each other.

             
“Uh, let’s see
…
a
fter the second game…
I’d say around
seven
.
Does that work for whatever yo
u have planned for me?”

             
She smiled and said, “Ye
ah, that’s fine. I was thinking
nine
.”

             
“Good, I have plenty of time to pick out the right clothes.”

             
She laughed and
squeezed my hand.
“But I’ll take you sooner if you’re
able
.”

With a smile, she tilted her head and pe
ered at me through the dark as a
streetlight flashed
over us
.
I pulled into my driveway and a sudden twinge of nervousness hit me. I was thinking about that kiss…

             
It was almost one in the morning and I was way past my game night curfew.
Jesse promised to cover for me if the coach called, but I still didn’t like being dishonest.
But at that very moment I could
n’t
care less about the punishment for breaking curfew; I was with the most amazing girl I had ever met.

I moved around the truck to walk her to her car, but just the sight of her made me
weaken
. I got that feeling again, just from looking at her, and I knew
how badly
I
wanted
to kiss her. She stood there with a partial smile
, seeming to wait for me just for that reason, so
I closed the distance between us
.
I stepped close to her and
ran my fingers through her hair
for the first time. It was soft like silk. The night air had temporarily separated me from her vanilla
fragrance
, but now it was intoxicating me again. It was very subtle, but just enough to draw me in, wanting more.

I
studied her beautiful eyes before I leaned in.
She didn’t even meet me halfway
,
and for a moment I thought I was making a mistake, but the way she was looking at me… It made my heart
pound
. I slid my hand behind her neck
and just did it. I kissed her. And i
t was an
incredible
rush. I
took another step toward
her and she put her arms around my waist
, pulling me
close
r
.
Apparently what they say about fireworks is true, but the jolt of electricity I felt through my body was a surprise. It was followed by an intense heat that covered every inch of me, and I had to remind myself that I was a gentleman.

I probably could have st
ood there all night kissing her—I
wanted to
keep
her
for the rest of my life—b
ut
after a while
,
I slowly pulled away.
My heart was still thundering in my chest, and I was even a little short of breath.

“I could do this all night,” I
admitted
with a smile, “but you should really get home.”

She only nodded as she stood there looking at me.
I wondered if she could actually hear my heart pounding.
Finally she put both her hands behind my neck and pulled me closer to kiss me again. There was no way I was going to
object
, so I kissed her some more until she was the one that stopped
with a smile
,
took
my hand, and walked
us to her car.

“Thank you for the movie,” she said.

“
You
invited
me
,” I reminded her.

“But you paid, so thank you.”

“Anytime.
Can you call me when you get home? I want to know you got home safe
ly
.”

She nodded, so I gave her a final kiss goodnight
(it turned out to be a bit lengthy)
and
then I
watched her drive away.
I couldn’t believe how she made me feel. I could almost still feel her on my lips as I
staggered
through my front door. I’d never kissed someone and felt so…
inebriated
.

She called me fifteen minutes later, and my pulse raced just from seeing her name on my phone.
I really should have been asleep, and she even told me that over and over, but I couldn’t help talking to her for another half an hour. I even told her that I couldn’t stop thinking about kissing her, and that I couldn’t wait to do it again.

She softly laughed. “Tomorrow. I promise.”

“It is tomorrow
.
”

“Oh,” she replied. “Then you’ll just have to count down the minutes until you see me again.”

And that’s exactly what I had in mind…

Chapter Five

Our team bus left at
six
that
Saturday morning. I was still tired when I woke up, but I knew that I would be ready to go when game time came around. Also, thinking about J
ayde
n sent the same rush through me as the adrenaline I felt before every game. I was equipped with a double dose that morning.

I closed my eyes o
n the bus and put my earphones o
n, ready to endure the
two
-hour ride.
Our bus was
actually
pretty nice
and fairly comfortable, and
because
I was
a senior, I was
spread out across
my own seat
.
I was content with listening to the music, but my main focus was a set of beautiful blue-green eyes
, and the lips that went with them
.