me into an attic?”
“Just go, smartass.” I stuck one beer in my back pocket and held the other one as I followed him up, and once we were on the plywood landing, led him over to a window before shoving it open and crawling out. The porch was about twelve feet wide with a brick surround and some broken-down porch furniture. The place mostly got used for smoking weed during the week, but we kept it closed during parties.
I plunked down on a rickety bench and sank back, closing my eyes. There was a nice breeze going, and the noise of the party sounded far away. I let out a contented sigh and cracked an eye. Jesse stood at the railing, but his head was tipped back looking at the stars. “What do you think?”
“It’s not a bad view for being in the city,” he said with a squint. “I can at least pick out the handle of the Big Dipper.” He held out his hand, and I tossed him a beer, then eased from the bench and leaned against the wall alongside him.
I cracked the tab and took a swallow of icy brew. “What are you like on a date?” I’d been wondering ever since his date with John.
Jesse sputtered around a mouthful of beer, swiping his mouth with the back of his hand before barking out a laugh.
“I don’t know. I haven’t been on many actual dates in a while.”
“You went out with John the other night, but you didn’t tell me the whole story, just that it was a bust. Do you get nervous?” Was he picky with a menu since he had such high standards when it came to food? The thought made me grin.
I couldn’t tell whether the musing smile that followed was because he could see right through me or just because he found me ridiculous. “Sometimes, yeah. But John was my first real date in at least six months. The last couple of years have been mostly hookups. What are you like? Is this where you bring your victims…errrr, dates”—he shot me a wink—“to seal the deal? Show them the stars, then show them the brightest star of all?” He snorted softly to himself.
“I’ve never tried it before. Is it working?”
His gaze sharpened on me. “Is this…did you want to do a scene up here or something? Was that the idea you mentioned earlier?”
“Nope. That was a poorly thought-out ruse to try to entice you into coming here.” I set my beer can aside. Jesse’s gaze lifted warily to meet mine as I took a step closer. “I need to kiss you again. For real this time.”
“You do?” He squinted at me as I cupped his jaw and nodded. “Okay. I mean…wait. Why?”
“I need to see something.”
His shoulders relaxed incrementally as I tilted his chin up, and when I brushed my lips over his, I felt him rise onto his toes to meet the soft sweep of my mouth. A tingle danced over the nape of my neck and slid down my spine. There. There it was.
Jesse’s hands landed lightly on my shoulders and squeezed, which I took as permission to trace the tip of my tongue over the seam of his lips and open him up to my exploration. His grip tightened and his body pressed closer to mine, a soft mmph escaping him as our tongues moved together, smooth and slow and so damn sensual, like neither of us had anyplace else we wanted to be.
And just like the other morning in bed—although on a greatly expanded scale—it was comfortable. Not alien, not weird. That was the thing that’d struck me most. I’d wanted to know whether it was a fluke or not.
Now I did.
And it wasn’t.
I ran my hands along his sides and then tentatively cupped his ass until the resulting moan made me bolder, and I squeezed the handful of it I had in each hand.
“Fuck.” He tore his mouth from mine, and we rested cheek to cheek, panting. “What did you need to see?”
“If kissing you again would feel as good now as it did the other day.”
“Oh.” The cool tip of his nose ran along my jaw. “Did it?”
“Uh-huh. But I think we should do it some more just to be certain.”
Jesse leaned back a little to meet my eyes. “Are we doing this? You sure?”
“Hell ye—” I didn’t get to finish my sentence before his mouth was back on mine, just where I wanted it.
I squeezed