I saw the perfect opportunity, so I took it.
I knew it was a stupid gesture, and god knows it was dangerous. The other boys were still showering but they could walk back in at any moment.
Okay—so it was a hopelessly stupid gesture, I admit it, but even that knowledge couldn't seem to stop my legs from moving—carrying me to him in order to press my lips to the small dimple in his shoulder.
It was his fault of course. He should have known better than to think I could control myself when he was showing off all that skin.
But any amount of skin seemed like too much these days. I had no idea how I had managed to last months without touching him, especially considering the fact that I had fallen for him the very first time I had seen him play.
It had been excruciatingly painful—it would have had to be to get me to do anything about the situation. Had it been merely a crush I probably could have managed to eke out the rest of my high school career without saying anything—but as it was, the thought of moving on with my life and leaving him here without his knowing the profound effect he'd had on me…that had been unbearable.
Nothing in my history could compare to the stomach eating terror I had experienced right before I'd confessed my feelings to him. But I didn't have room in my mind to think of that moment now. Not when my lips were smoothing over that flawless skin, still damp from the shower.
Worth it I thought even as I felt him freeze beneath me, muscles tensing up tightly. He had been about to pull on his shirt but I had intervened just in time. As it was he had his arms through the thing but had yet to bring it over his head.
If it was up to me you'd never wear a stitch of clothing I thought, before realizing how much of a lewd old man that made me sound like. It was bad enough the kid was three years younger than me; I didn't have to go around with the mind of a pedophile.
"K-kasamatsu," Kise stuttered, one of his hands shooting out and hitting the lockers in surprise, "What are you—"
I pressed a second kiss to his skin, slightly higher this time, right by the nape of his neck.
"Ryouta," I whispered hoarsely, feeling my heartbeat thrum through my veins. It was no good. I couldn't think clearly when I was this close to him. I had forgotten all the reasons I shouldn't be doing this now. My world had drastically narrowed in the space of a second. Now all that was here in my reality were my tingling lips and the small patch of already flushing skin beneath them.
I pulled back slightly to watch the pretty blush spread itself farther down his neck, "Beautiful," I muttered, leaning back down and letting my tongue dart out to catch a small droplet of moisture beading on his shoulder, "You make my heart stop, you know."
Only that wasn't quite true…because my heart hadn't stopped. In fact, it was moving like an out of control locomotive, its beats ranking up near the 200 times a minute mark. My breathing was quick and shallow. There was never enough air around Kise it seemed. His presence sucked it right out of me.
"Senpai we c-can't—" his eyes were wide with anxiety but they were also alight with something else, and I figured that it was that second thing that had his fingers closing down around mine and squeezing like he couldn't hold them tight enough. "We can't. They'll see. It's too—"
I darted forward, chest slamming into his back as I wrenched his neck around and stole his lips.
It never seized to surprise me how soft those lips were. Pillowly almost. I hadn't expected that the first time I'd kissed him, but I'd quickly grown to associate the feeling uniquely with Kise.
I felt him gasp beneath me, the intake of breath catching in his throat as I let my tongue swipe across his bottom lip—just for the briefest moment. Because I knew.
I couldn't. Not here. It would mean being thrown off the team, and I couldn't do that to Kise. He belonged on the court—was born to meet with it. So no, now I had to cut back, it was time to reign myself in.
Momentary lapse in judgment aside, I had to be responsible.
But that didn't mean the fun had to end.
"Three seconds," I managed in a low growl, letting my breath huff against his lips for one moment more before I pulled back, forcing some distance between us, before turning away.
"T-three…what?"
I felt a small thrill of satisfaction upon hearing the flustered note in his voice—I had done that to him.
I twisted my neck around and shot him an intense stare, "Three seconds to get the rest of your damn clothes on and follow me through that door." The statement had more command in it than any others I had ever issued on the court (and trust me, that was saying something.)
"You're coming home with me," I added in a voice that brooked no argument, "Understood?"
The effect was immediate. The pink flush that covered his cheeks changed to something darker—bordering on crimson. "I—um— I mean…"
"Kise!" I interjected, cutting off his awkward rambling.
He looked up at me and held my gaze even though it only managed to make the flush on his skin even worse.
"Yeah…okay."
Not exactly the rousing enthusiastic chorus I had been expecting, but I knew better than to feel bad about that. Even if his words weren't shouting agreement, his downcast eyes and the barely perceptible tremor in his fingers were enough of an indication.
I reached out to swipe my thumb across his jaw, but dropped my hand when I heard a rustle near the door. I jumped, but tried not to look blatantly suspicious as Moriyama swept into the changing room, toweling off his hair.
I quickly moved back to the bench I'd been standing at before my brief moment of folly had seized me. I bent to put on my shoes, noting gleefully that Kise seemed to be dressing a hell of a lot faster now.
As I bent to knot the laces I glanced up and caught his eye.
They were smoldering.
The gold irises seemed to have shrunk drastically because of how dilated his pupils had become.
He had a sense of urgency about him now that I could identify easily enough—if anything I was even worse off than he was right now.
I saw one of his canines come down to bite at the corner of his lip in a gesture that seemed almost pleading.
I felt the edges of my mouth curl up in a smile even as I felt a flash of heat flood my stomach.
Soon, I promised him with my eyes, very soon.
Because even though I had said "home" earlier, I had a sneaking suspicion that we weren't going to make it that far. I'm sure there had to be some conveniently placed closet around here somewhere. I certainly wasn't about to start getting picky.
Kise seemed to read the thoughts on my mind, because an answering grin tugged at his lips right before he made a dash for the door, his bag slung over my shoulder as he moved, managing to keep his eyes on me all the way to the exit.
Like hell he was going to beat me there…
Shoes tied, I streaked after him, managing to close the distance between us just as he made it past the doorway.
I let out a surprised laugh when he suddenly tugged me forward, his fingers scrambling to get a lock on mine as he tugged me down the hall. We were half running and half falling, and I didn't care because his hand was so warm in mine and his laugh so bright.
"Now who's being the reckless one," I muttered around my grin.
"If you can talk then you can find the energy to move faster," he growled in a tone that was totally lacking intimidation-wise. It was having a different effect on me though. I now very much had the urge to keep moving faster.
"Impatient for me?" I teased, as we screeched around the corner, nearly colliding with the opposite wall in our enthusiasm.
"Shut up," he muttered gruffly, but tightened his hold on my hand regardless.
A little thrill shot through me at the sound. Yes, I agreed. Less talking and more physicality.
I squeezed his hand, reveling in the simple touch, astounded at the depth of pleasure it could give me.
This was Kise's doing. It was all his fault that I felt this way, and I would blame him for it for the rest of my days.
But somehow, I thought, risking a glance at the look in his eyes, I didn't think he would mind too much.