“I can’t promise I can get back down, but it’s closer than the ground at this point, so I’ll take my chances.”
“Alright.” He laughs. “Be careful, okay?”
“No, I want to fall and break my neck,” I snap back, and I know he’s still smiling, but he’s restraining his laughter, so I feel a bit better about that. I continue to climb, counting each step into the opening that I have to force my eyes forward to hoist myself into the treehouse. Tito helps a bit, guiding me with his hand and pushing me up. I crawl across the floor to make room for him as he pulls himself into the treehouse after me. He makes it look too easy.
He’s smiling at me as he stands to his feet and crosses the rather spacious treehouse to a corner. It’s dark, and I can barely make out anything until the flicker of a lantern illuminates part of the room. There’s some sort of work desk and little gadgets that look like a child made them. Rubber bands and pencils on metal structures that could fit in a small hand. Then he lights more lanterns, and I look at all the shelves, stacked full of books and drawings and little tech.
“Did you make these?” I stand up next to him, surprised that the ceilings are so high.
“Yeah.” He laughs, nervously grabbing the back of his neck and stepping to my side. “I used to shoot water balloons and whatever else I could fit in this at the girls.”
“Oh, they weren’t allowed up here?”
“Of course not. Boys only.” He chuckles, handing it over for me to look at.
“It’s very detailed.” I set it back down.
“I had tiny hands.”
“You definitely don’t now.” I exaggerate through a partly closed mouth as I study it. He hears this side comment and a breathy laugh escapes his nose just as something else catches his attention.
“Oh, this one is hilarious.” He walks over to another corner where a bench is lining the bottom of a small window. I follow him and watch as he lights another candle to show me what he’s talking about. He turns around with it in his hands like he’s presenting an award to me. At first, I don’t know what it is, and then it hits me. It’s a handheld, flip phone-looking box that I now recognize as an interface fromCowboy Bebop.
“Oh my god.” My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. “You were obsessed.”
“I told you I loved the show. Like it even more now that we’re watching it together.” I tilt my head at the smoothness of his tone.
“Oh?” I take a step forward, realizing the tension between us has been growing every minute we fill the air with our laughter and smiles. I find myself focusing on his movements. His large hands set the tiny-in-comparison tech down, the curvature of his muscular arms moving with him as he explores the memories this tree-house holds.
“You know, something I always wanted to do here?”
“What? Turn it into a spaceship and fly away?” He pauses at my dry tone, smirking slightly before leaning against the wall.
“We would have been friends when we were younger.”
“Would we?”
“You don’t think we would have been?”
“Considering, I wouldn’t have been allowed anywhere near this treehouse without getting shot by whatever objects fit in the thing over there. No. I don’t.” I mimic his position, sitting on the opposite facing wall, leaning against it. My heart is racing like we’re inches apart, and there’s a swell of something growing. A wave I can’t quite see over, a mountain I haven’t fully climbed.
“I would have made an exception for you,” he says like it’s definite. Like we were always going to have this effect on each other. I’m nervous all of a sudden because now he’s moving across the room. Nearing me, inches at a time, until his feet touch mine and hands tangle in the back of my hair as his palms bring my face to his.
I look down at his ear lips, then back to his eyes, and notice how dark they look compared to normal.
“Your pupils grew.” I stupidly note, thinking it will break the tension of the movement after I say it, but it doesn’t. A soft grin raises to his eyes, and I bite my lip nervously.
“It’s dark in here.”
“True.” I try to shake the stupid comment away, but he keeps smiling at me like he’s figured something out. “What?” I breathe with a timid laugh.
“I just thought,I’m trying to take in your beauty all at once, sounded a little too cheesy.” I like the way those words sound coming out of his mouth more than I should.
“Not at all.” I try to hide my grin, but I can tell I’m unsuccessful. He takes one trailing look at my attempt, then back into my eyes, and kisses me squarely on the lips without hesitation. It’s in a way that makes the moment feel destined and stirs my longing for more of him than ever before. It’s embarrassing how strong the urge is to just tell him to take me right here. But I don’t think I need to, the way his hands trail down my body, knowing my desire for him before I even say a word.
He pulls me close, and our hips collide as his hands find their way down my back. I break away from our kiss, continuing down his neck and trailing his chest with my fingertips. The swell of his cock against my thigh grows stronger as I trace his abs and raise my lips back to his.
When I reach the button of his slacks, he touches my hand, and I pull my head back to look into his eyes.