Chapter Four
Ali watched JT go up to the bar and return with another round of drinks. She set Ali’s drink in front of her and waited to clink glasses before sipping her own. It looked like JT had switched to seltzer water, but it could have been something else.
“So, are you going to tell me the truth or just some bullshit about why you never flirt with me?”
JT laughed and looked toward the bar. Tommy was still surrounded by his former jock friends. She sighed and looked at Ali. “Fine. I’ll admit that since leaving this town I’ve been called a flirt from time to time.”
Ali laughed. “If people didn’t know before, they do now. Flirting on national television…”
She grimaced. “Not my best move. But I take your point. Yes, I like flirting with women. It’s fun. Sometimes it gets me a date, sometimes it’s just fun to banter a little.”
“Yes, JT, I am aware of the fun and side effects of flirting.”
She looked at the table between them. “But when I do it, it’s nothing serious. It’s fun, I see where it goes, and that’s it. But you…” She looked away.
Ali watched her face change with every thought going through her head. If only Ali could tell what she was thinking.
“Scoot in, dude.” Tommy slid across the booth seat, knocking into JT and forcing her to the inside. “Sorry I left you guys here for so long.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I saw Kyle come in, are you okay?”
Ali waved a hand dismissively. She knew why he was asking but everyone’s concern was getting boring. “Yes, I’m fine. We both still live in this town. If I wasn’t fine running into him at least a couple times a week I’d have to move.”
Tommy nodded. “Okay, but how weird is it that his date is basically you?”
Ali looked at JT over the rim of her glass. “I’m hotter.”
Tommy laughed and high-fived Ali across the table. “Okay, but if you need me to pull some protective brother shit, I can.”
She shook her head. “Really, it’s fine. I’ve been having a good time grilling JT.”
“Oh yeah?” Tommy leaned back and threw his arm over the back of the booth so he could look at JT. “Anything good?”
JT shook her head with a slightly panicked look on her face.
Ali smirked at her, letting her squirm a little. “I was just getting to the good stuff when you arrived. So go on, get out of here so I can talk to her. I see you all the time. I want my chance with the gold medalist.”
“I invited both of you to the bar and it turns out neither of you want to hang out with me? Wow…” He shook his head but didn’t seem too offended when he walked away.
JT took a swig of her seltzer. “So, what did you mean, ‘your chance’?” Pink climbed up JT’s neck toward her cheeks, and she worked hard to meet Ali’s eye.
“What do you think I mean? No. Better question…what do you want me to mean?” Okay, maybe Ali was going too far, but she hadn’t had this much fun flirting in a long time.
Even if she was Tommy’s best friend, it didn’t take away from the fact that JT was hot.
Hell, even the straight women in the bar were staring at her.
And Ali’s fingers were dying to know if the buzz of her undercut was soft or bristly.
“Ali,” she said, her voice low. So low Ali felt it more than heard it.
“JT. Or do you prefer Coxie?” Ali smiled around her straw and ran her foot up her calf under the table.
“Jesus.” JT’s voice escaped in a breath.
Before either of them could say anything, Tommy returned. “So, I know I’m your ride, but would you mind if JT drove you home?” He looked at Ali and then at JT. “Do you mind giving Ali a ride? She’s on your way…”
“Two seconds ago you’re pouting because we want to talk and now you’re pawning me off?” Ali said, giving Tommy a look.
Tommy shrugged and looked across the bar at a pretty woman standing by a high-top table.
“I see,” Ali said with a laugh.
“Of course. I’m happy to drive you if you don’t mind.”
JT’s eyes were locked on Ali’s, and Ali hadn’t wanted to kiss anyone this badly since she first started dating Kyle.
Ali nodded, not taking her eyes off JT. “If she doesn’t mind taking me home, I’m in.
” Ali forced herself to look at Tommy. He was confused, but judging by the fact it looked like he was ditching them to hook up with some woman he only met that night, he didn’t seem inclined to argue.
Tommy gave JT an appraising look. “You’re okay to drive?”
She nodded. “This is water. I’m good.”
He patted JT on the shoulder. “Thanks. And I’ll see you tomorrow, right? Mom wants us to…”
“Shut up about Mom and get out of here,” Ali said.
The last thing she wanted was thoughts of her mom and her annoying expectations.
Ali could hear her mom telling her that Kyle would take her back, that she should really think about it, that they were so good together…
Ali ran a hand through her hair hoping it would push her mom’s voice out of her head.
JT cocked her head to one side. “So, do you want another drink or…?”
Ali had an idea for how to get her mom out of her head.
She looked JT in the eyes. Goddamn, she had gorgeous eyes.
She let her eyes move to JT’s lips and wondered if they would feel as soft as they looked if Ali leaned forward to kiss her.
Someone laughed loudly close by, reminding Ali they were in public.
Ali reluctantly dragged her eyes from JT’s mouth, back to her eyes.
In a town of very few queer people, and even fewer her age, Ali didn’t have many options to indulge her curiosity about kissing a woman.
Two drinks into her night, she was facing a very hot single woman, and it dawned on her that JT might be willing to be the answer to some of Ali’s curiosity.
The thought of kissing JT intrigued her.
She’d been a teenager the last time she kissed someone new, and the anticipation, the uncertainty about whether JT would reciprocate, the question of how it would feel, how JT would taste, all of it made Ali deliciously, tantalizingly nervous.
She licked her lips, tasting the sweetness of her drink lingering at the corner of her mouth. She didn’t miss the way JT’s eyes tracked her tongue or the look in her eyes as she held Ali’s gaze. Game. On.
“I want you to take me home.”
JT’s eyes went wide like a cartoon. She quickly recovered and leaned forward, her sculpted forearms resting on the table. “Ali.” Ali didn’t know eyes could spark, but hers looked ready to combust. “Did I hear you right?”
JT was giving her an out. Part of her wanted to take it. It was JT, Tommy’s best friend. Ali had known her forever. There were so many reasons to say, Yes, you heard me wrong. So many reasons to chicken out.
“Yes.” Ali swallowed and fought the urge to break eye contact. “Unless the only thing you want is to drive me, you heard me right the first time.”
JT exhaled and looked over toward Tommy. Pink crept up her neck. She was flustered. Ali knew she should feel bad, but all she could think about was how cute it was when JT blushed and how Ali wanted to touch her cheek to see if it was hot from all that blood rushing into it.
“Tommy—”
Ali wrapped her hand around JT’s wrist. “My baby brother has nothing to do with who I…” It was Ali’s turn to be flustered. “It’s none of his business.”
JT didn’t look convinced, but when her eyes dropped to where Ali’s fingers were curled around her arm, she bit the inside of her cheek like she was trying to suppress a smile. “Okay.” She slid out of the booth and then held out her hand to help Ali up.
Ali took it, her fingers lingering a beat longer than necessary on JT’s palm.
JT moved to the side, her hand finding the small of Ali’s back to guide her through the crowd.
When JT reached to open the door, Ali pressed back into her hand.
They didn’t speak as they walked to her car, but Ali stopped her when JT tried to open the passenger door for her.
“I appreciate the chivalry, but I am perfectly capable.”
She was taller than Ali and she looked down as she reached around Ali to grab the door handle.
Her chest was deliciously close to Ali. “I know.” She looked around the empty parking lot, before leaning forward and brushing her lips against Ali’s cheek.
“But maybe I want to take care of you.” She moved back but Ali would still feel JT’s breath ghosting across her ear.
JT gave her a wicked smile over her shoulder as she walked to the driver’s side.
JT turned the heat up and then looked at Ali. “Where do you live now?”
Ali giggled. “No one told you?”
JT frowned. “Why would they?”
“I live next door to your parents. Ms. Grant’s old house.”
JT put the car back into Park. “What? You bought that place?”
Ali nodded, a proud smile catching the light from the streetlights.
JT’s hand rested on the shifter. “Toby and I walked past it earlier. I really like the paint you chose.”
“Thanks,” Ali said, her hand hovering over JT’s. “Wait, is Toby your girlfriend? Should I not be flirting with you?” The moment of panic cut through some of her buzz from the alcohol and from the flirting.
JT’s laugh startled Ali. “No. Toby is my puppy. I definitely do not have a girlfriend. I would be a complete dirtbag if I had a girlfriend and was flirting with you like this.” Her eyes held Ali’s gaze.
A car beeped near them, breaking whatever moment they’d been having. Ali looked out the window at several people piling into a car in the next row and giggled at her nervousness.
Ali leaned against the headrest to watch JT. Her hands gripped the wheel, but she made no move to put the car in gear. She stared into the rearview mirror. Either she was an exceptionally cautious driver or she was avoiding looking at Ali. Could she be nervous?
“Okay, so why don’t you have a girlfriend?”
JT shook her head. “Too good-looking.”
Ali laughed.
“Oh, so you think I’m not good-looking?” JT glanced at Ali long enough to offer a wink.
Ali paused, deciding how to respond. She could tease her, she could placate her, or she could call her out for whatever it was she was trying to hide. Ali really wanted to kiss her when they got to her house, so she contemplated which approach was least likely to screw that up.
“I think you know exactly how hot you are, and I think it’s a dangerous thing for you to be aware of. I also think you’re full of shit and there’s something you’re not telling me, but for tonight, I’m perfectly happy to focus on how hot you are and ignore everything else.”
JT grinned. “You think I’m hot?”
Ali swatted JT’s leg. “How did you put it? The sky is blue, the earth is round, and you, JT Cox, are really fucking hot.”
Ali liked the way JT’s mouth curved up at the corner like she was holding on to a secret.
She liked it so much she wished she could crawl into JT’s lap and kiss those lips.
Except, she didn’t really like the idea of one of her students or their parents seeing her straddling JT in the parking lot of the local bar.
Instead, she reached across the car and let her fingers find out how soft JT’s hair was. Ali kept her eyes locked on JT’s.
“I really want to kiss you,” Ali said, her mouth hovering inches from JT’s.
“So kiss me, then.”
JT’s kissable smile was too much for Ali to resist. She’d waited twenty-eight years to kiss a woman; she wasn’t going to wait a second more.
Her hands found JT’s hair, and her lips brushed JT’s.
After a moment, Ali pulled JT closer, her lips moving hungrily against JT’s.
JT matched her intensity, her tongue sliding out to tease along Ali’s lip.
The second it touched her, Ali thought she’d been struck by electricity.
She surged forward, annoyed that the interior of the car wasn’t designed for this.
She wanted more, and to get it she was going to have to wait until they drove home.
But she wasn’t ready to stop, not yet. Her hands wandered from JT’s hair to her shoulders, down to her waist and finally to the belt loops of her jeans.
Ali gave them a firm tug and was rewarded with a guttural sound in the back of JT’s throat.
“Ali.”
Ali smiled, leaning her forehead against JT’s. “Yes?” She asked innocently.
JT looked out the windshield, slightly fogged from their breathing. “I think I should take you home.”
Ali nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, please.”