The Rivals of Copper County (Copper County #2)

Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

JASPER

By our third skating lesson, I was feeling pretty cocky. Not skilled —I wouldn’t go that far—but cocky. I hadn’t wiped out spectacularly in our first two sessions, which felt like a win. And while I still wobbled like a newborn giraffe half the time, I was getting the hang of the whole “let go and glide” concept…

At least, as long as Watt was holding me.

Watt was skating backward around the empty rink, his grip on my hands firm but easy as he pulled me along. His hazel eyes held mine, and I knew without a doubt that he was trying not to smirk… and also that the smirk would break through soon enough.

“Keep breathing,” he teased. “The key to skating is not passing out.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I shot back.

I did sound ridiculously breathless, but it had nothing to do with the skating. Even with only a single set of lights turned on above the middle of the rink—not the best lighting to show anyone to advantage , but the best Watt’s friend was able to do for us since the rink technically didn’t open for a couple of hours—and dressed in an oversized hoodie, Watt looked really good on the ice. Then again, the man looked stupidly good all the time. I didn’t understand how a person who was so incredibly tall and broadly built should be so effortlessly graceful with a pair of thin blades strapped to his feet, but he was, and his confidence and competence made my heart thud in my chest.

Or maybe it was just him and the fact that in some ways, I felt closer to him now than I had twenty years ago.

Watt pulled me closer, dropping one of my hands and resting a palm on my waist to steady me when I wobbled again. “Relax. Remember, it’s all in the knees. Bend ’em a little more.”

“You’re obsessed with my knees,” I muttered.

He laughed. “Definitely obsessed with you bending them for me,” he said in a low voice that made my stomach flip and my knees weaken just slightly?—

“There you go,” he said proudly, displaying the smirk he’d been holding back. “Perfect knee bend.”

I scowled. “Did you just flirt with me on purpose to help me achieve the right form?” I determinedly ignored that it had worked… and that a smirking Watt Bartlett was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.

“A stellar coach—that’s me, by the way—adapts to the needs of his student.” He booped me on the nose. “That’s you.”

Hmph .

Watt and I skated side by side, and I was temporarily so annoyed that I forgot I didn’t know what I was doing. It turned out bending my knees did help. My legs wobbled less, and I glided more confidently.

“There’s a reason there isn’t an episode of John Ruffian where he pretends to be an ice-skater,” I complained. “This shit is difficult.”

“Maybe there is and you just haven’t gotten to it yet.” He narrowed his eyes. “Wait. You didn’t keep watching without me last night, did you?”

“Where is the trust, Bartlett?” I demanded. “I told you I wouldn’t. Which, I’ll point out again, is massively unfair since you’ve already seen the whole series fourteen billion times.”

“Yeah, but I like watching your face when you watch it. It’s even more fun than watching it on my own,” he said, which was the sweetest thing ever and made my stomach flips turn to handsprings… until he ruined it by adding, “ Oh my god, Watt! Why couldn’t John keep his mouth shut? Now, Duane the illegal lumber trafficker is going to throw John in the giant woodchipper! ”

“Hey! It was a tense moment for me, asshole,” I argued. “And I was a John Ruffian newbie then.”

“It was a week ago.”

“It was thirteen episodes ago!” I shot Watt a glare and added menacingly, “And I’m starting to understand where Duane was coming from.”

Watt’s grin widened, and he glanced pointedly down at my skates, which were moving in a reasonable facsimile of skating. “Look at you go. When you forget to look at your feet, you’re unstoppable. Next thing we need to do is put a stick in your hands.”

I shot him a sidelong glance. “I think my stick-handling skills are in top form. I haven’t had any complaints, Coach.”

He chuckled, his hazel eyes darkening. “ Coach is still not a thing. It’s not ever going to be a thing.”

“The bulge in your jeans says diff-erent-ly,” I singsonged. “I think you’ve got some unresolved fantasies?—”

He shuddered and made a sound like he was vomiting in his mouth. “Shut your mouth. My old hockey coach is Joe Cross .”

“Who?”

“The mechanic in O’Leary. The guy who looks like Santa Claus and?—”

“And wears nothing but decade-old Tom Brady T-shirts?” I widened my eyes. “Oh. Wow. I mean… no judgment, Watt. When I was in college, I had a thing for one of my drama professors who sounded just like David Attenborough, and—hey!” I cried as Watt let go of my hand and skated two feet away.

“I have never had any unresolved sexual anything for any of my coaches,” Watt said firmly.

“Fine.” I scowled. “You’re a saint. A very overgrown, repressed saint. Now, come back here and help me…”

“Or what?” he taunted. He skated in a slow arc, close enough to catch me if I fell but too far away for me to lunge at him. It was maddening. “Why don’t you come and get me?”

I gritted my teeth, digging the toe of my skate into the ice as I pushed off. My legs were still embarrassingly shaky, and my arms flailed a bit as I tried to balance and reach for him at the same time.

Watt’s eyes widened in surprise, but his grin was brighter than the sun—though maybe that wasn’t saying much since it had been dark o’clock when we’d gotten here.

“Eyes up, Jasper. Stare at your feet and you’re gonna fall,” Watt called, skating just out of reach. “Did your mindfulness gurus not teach you that?”

Fuck .

I pushed off again, trying to do it smoothly, the way he’d shown me a dozen times. One foot out, then glide. One foot out, then glide. But my skates kept slipping at awkward angles as I overbalanced. Instead of smooth, I probably looked like I was doing a strange kind of dance. A sort of hiss-less version of the Marmot Cheer.

“Get back here,” I ordered.

“Pardon?” He slipped away again. “Can’t hear you.”

I let out a sound like a boiling teakettle and pushed off again, except this time, I wobbled a little too hard, nearly toppling over. The ice rushed up to meet me… but at the last second, Watt swooped in and caught me by the waist, pulling me close enough that our noses brushed.

“Fucking excellent ,” Watt said, kissing me hard and twirling us in a circle before I had a chance to be embarrassed. “You did it.” He sounded nearly giddy.

I opened my mouth to protest, but I realized he was sort of right. I had done it. Until I hadn’t.

Team fake it ’til you make it was almost, kinda… making it.

“Now we just need to see this kind of fire from the team in their game this afternoon, and we’ll be golden,” Watt said.

I snorted. The team was doing really well, in my inexpert opinion, but I couldn’t help adding, “Gonna provoke the shit out of them, too?”

Watt laughed out loud. “If they were all as contrary as you, I would.” He ignored the look I shot him and kissed me again, more deeply this time. “You know, I never had a thing for my coach,” he whispered when he pulled back, “but my rival … Yeah, I definitely had a thing for him.”

My stomach did a triple cartwheel, and I wrapped my arms around Watt’s neck. “Is that so? Tell me mo?— ”

Wham .

The sound of a door slamming shut echoed through the empty rink. Watt shoved me away from him immediately and turned, one hand shielding his eyes from the overhead lights as he scanned the empty stands. I couldn’t help but notice the look of panic on his face.

I wavered on my skates, arms whirling like propellers as I tried to keep my balance.

“Shit,” Watt muttered, exhaling in relief. He turned back just in time to catch me before I landed on my ass. “Sorry. I was startled. I didn’t know if it was one of the kids, or one of the hockey parents, or someone else…” He swallowed hard, and we both realized how he’d meant to end that sentence.

Or someone else who might have seen him kiss me.

“I get it,” I said. And I did. I’d been down this road before, after all. I just hadn’t expected to be traveling it again.

I extricated myself from his grasp and picked my way over to the gate that led into the stands. A moment later, Watt skated over to join me.

“Fuck. Jasper, I’m sorry. I overreacted. I didn’t think.”

“I know.” Sighing, I sat on the bench and bent to unlace my skates. “Did I ever tell you about how my ex and I first got together?” I asked, though I knew the answer.

Watt scowled fiercely. “No. Just that he was your agent before anything happened. Which is kinda skeevy.”

I ignored him and continued the story. He wasn’t wrong, but that wasn’t the point. “It happened in June—I remember because I was in Miami doing a shoot, and I couldn’t believe how hot it was. I’d just gotten off the phone with Mabel, and she’d filled me in on all the gossip from Copper County. My mom usually traveled with me back then, but she was in Arizona at a spa retreat, so it was just me and Martin?—”

“I don’t want to hear this story.” Watt jammed his hands in the pocket of his hoodie.

“It’s not a bad story. I was feeling lonely and homesick and a little lost. Martin was… a friend, sort of. The closest thing I had to one at that time, anyway. And I wanted sex, which was exactly what he was offering.” I took off one skate and flexed my toes. “It wasn’t my first sexual experience by a long shot, and it was totally fine. Good, even. When it was over, he said he hoped we could do it again… and asked me to keep it quiet because it would be complicated to explain to people. I agreed.”

“What?” Watt demanded. “That’s?—”

I tilted my head and looked at him, silently daring him to continue.

Watt sucked in a breath, and his face turned red. “No way… I don’t… It’s not the same situation. I don’t care if people know I’m with a man ?—”

“Neither did Martin.”

Watt’s nostrils flared. He stalked off the ice and threw himself onto the bench. “My wanting to keep this quiet has nothing to do with you , though. It’s about me . I thought… I mean, you said you understood that. You said I should figure things out on my own timeline.”

I bent to untie the other skate. “I did. I still do. You have mental baggage to unpack and sort through. I get that. I’m carrying some luggage of my own.” I tapped at my temple. “Part of us getting to know each other again, being friends again—or friends with benefits or whatever—is me sharing how my luggage sometimes doesn’t coordinate with yours.” I gave him a half smile. “I’m not angry at you, Watt, and I’m not pressuring you. I’m explaining why your reaction just now made me feel… not great. And that’s my shit to sort through. Okay?”

He pressed his hands to his eyes. “I don’t want to be like Martin. I don’t want to treat you like he does.”

“You’re not like him,” I assured him. “Jesus, no, Watt.” I scooted over and bumped my arm into his. “That’s not what I was getting at, I swear. You couldn’t be like Martin if you tried.” This was true. “And I’m not the same person I was back then, either. I know all that.” I pointed to my head again. “Sometimes I just don’t know it.” I tapped my chest. “And I need a second to remind myself.”

Watt considered this for a moment, then nodded. “Thank you for explaining. I do want to hear these things… even when I don’t want to hear them.”

I grinned. If I needed further proof that Watt and Martin weren’t remotely the same person, there it was. In no realm would Martin ever thank me for sharing something he might take as criticism. “You’re welcome.”

“I don’t ever want you to feel bad because of me, Jasper,” he said softly.

I bumped my arm against his again, and this time, I let it rest there. “Please,” I teased. “This, from the man who once challenged me to ride the Tilt-A-Whirl with him after downing four milkshakes?”

His lips twitched just a little. “As I recall, I’d had five .”

“From the man who once bet me that I wouldn’t stand up at the O’Leary Fourth of July festival and do a dramatic reading of the ingredients on the back of a potato chip packet?”

“Not a dry eye in the house when you got to the bit about the malic acid,” he said solemnly.

“From the man who dared me, just this morning, to tie knives on my feet—” I kicked at my skates. “—and glide around a rink?”

“I held your hand almost the whole time. And you did it,” he pointed out.

“I did do it,” I agreed. “I’ve done a lot of things I didn’t think I could do, thanks to you.” I winked. “And possibly a few I shouldn’t have done.”

Watt laughed, and so did I, and when he wrapped one arm around my waist, pulled me down against his chest, and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, it felt genuinely soothing. Like he was healing some old hurts I hadn’t even known I had.

“I care about you,” he said softly. “Always have. Even when I was stupidly angry, even when I was blaming you for leaving, even when I was being an ass. You matter to me, Jasper. I don’t want to fuck things up and lose this again.”

“Same.” I turned to face him and caught his stubbled cheeks in my two hands. “You’re a pain in the ass, Watt Bartlett, and you’re the best man I know.” I pressed my forehead to his. “So let’s not fuck it up. Some coach I know once said that if you want different results, you’ve got to put in the effort and change the way you play.”

Watt’s smile broke over his face slowly. “He sounds brilliant. Probably really hot, too.”

“He has his moments,” I agreed.

When game time came that afternoon, I was feeling a whole lot less cocky. In fact, I was forced to recite my own mindfulness mantras to keep my nerves from showing. It had been a whole lot easier to believe that winning and losing don’t matter when I hadn’t known twenty hardworking kids who’d be crushed if they lost.

The first two periods went by in a blur, and despite Calvin wrenching his knee pretty badly in the first period, we’d managed to keep the game tied at two apiece. Then, three minutes into the third period, Derry had completed an elegant one-handed pass that shot the puck over to Zach, who’d sent it flying to the back of Baxter’s net. While the team had erupted into cheers, more than half of the hometown crowd that packed the stands had let out a coordinated, feral, truly bloodcurdling marmot hiss.

Kayla was ecstatic.

I’d tried to stay mostly quiet throughout the game so as to not distract Watt or any of the players, but when we were down to ten minutes left on the clock, I couldn’t help screaming encouragement.

“You’ve got this, Rodney!” I shouted at one of the players. “Focus on the ice, no distractions.”

He tossed me a jaunty salute. “Got it, Coach.”

“Nice try on the last play, Kip!” I called toward the goal as the kids lined up for a face-off. “This time, try to extend your arm a bit further to make the save.” I extended my arm like a ballerina in demonstration. “Remember those stretches I showed you?”

Kip nodded back.

Watt made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh, and I caught him side-eyeing me. “Enjoying yourself, Coach Lancaster?” he asked.

I snorted. Enjoying myself? Is he kidding? My heart was racing so fast my Apple Watch kept telling me I was suffering a cardiac incident, and every time a Fighting Marmot got checked against the boards too roughly, I wanted to stalk out onto the ice and crack a few of the opposing players’ helmets together.

“I… am,” I admitted, shocked to find it was true.

When we won the next face-off, I found myself leaning over the boards of the rink, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

“Yes! Go, Derry! Skate the puck!” I screamed as he flew past us on a race to the net.

But one of the Baxter Badgers appeared out of nowhere, stealing the puck from Derry’s stick and turning to skate back up the ice.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one surprised because I was pretty sure our defense wasn’t in position like they were supposed to be. And before they could scramble to correct, a Badger built like a brick shithouse was bearing down on our goal… with only little Kip, the smallest player on our team, standing between him and a flashing score light.

I gasped. “Kip!” I clutched Watt’s shoulder with both hands. “Oh, crap. Ohhhh, crap . I can’t look, Watt,” I cried. But despite my words, I was unable to turn my head or stop watching.

The Badger player wound up his stick and swung at the puck like it was a golf ball, sending it arcing toward the goal in what even I recognized was an absolutely flawless, unmissable shot.

Time slowed as we waited for the flashing light that would signal their goal and, effectively, our first loss of the season. In that fraction of a second, I decided I hated sports with a passion, that I was bringing five dozen consolation cookies to practice on Monday, and that I needed a stiff drink or a hard fuck, possibly both.

But at the last possible second, Kip sprang into action, stretching his arm out like it was made of rubber as he lunged across the net and caught the puck in midair.

For a second, there was stunned silence throughout the rink as we all processed the fact that we’d witnessed a walk-on-water-level miracle. Then Kip pushed up his mask and called, “Hey, Coach Lancaster? I think the stretches are working!”

The crowd jumped to their feet, exploding into screams and whistles, and the players around us went wild.

“Oh my God!” I crowed triumphantly. I hadn’t let go of Watt’s shoulder, and I found myself shaking it violently… not that it moved him much. “Did you see that? Holy shit, Watt, did you see?”

“Yeah, I saw it.” Watt glanced at me from the corner of his eye and smiled the smile I loved—I mean… in a friendly way—then grabbed me up in a hug so fierce my feet left the ground. “Yeah, I fucking saw it!” he repeated, spinning me in a giddy, dizzy circle. “You did that, Jasper. You! I’m so proud of you.”

When he put me down two seconds later to congratulate the team, my giddiness didn’t go away.

Fortunately, the clock had run out. The remaining players streamed in from the ice shortly thereafter, with Rodney carrying Kip in front of him like the mermaid on the prow of a ship. The players tapped the ends of their sticks against the ground forcefully, chanting first Kip’s name, then Calvin’s, since he was our wounded warrior, and then… mine.

My face went hot, and I shook my head. I took zero credit for Kip’s awesome move. But Watt grinned at my discomfort and let the celebrating and chanting go on for a long-ass time before finally calling the kids to order.

“Awesome job, everyone. Kip, I really hope your parents caught that because that save was highlight reel material. And here I’ve been encouraging you to tighten up your form and work on your speed when all you really needed was to extend yourself.” Watt shot me a wink that had my blush ramping up exponentially.

“But this win is about more than one person or one moment,” he went on. “You all got us there. Zach, Derry—amazing job on that last goal. Rodney, you really stepped it up.” For every player, Watt pointed out something they’d done particularly well, reminding them that they were part of something bigger than themselves and that their fortunes rose and fell together.

It did things to my insides, watching Watt interact with the kids. A strange and new addendum to my competence kink, maybe. Or maybe Watt wasn’t the one of us with a coaching kink after all.

His eyes met mine over the players’ heads, and he lifted an eyebrow like he could read my thoughts. “Anything to add, Coach Lancaster?”

I blinked. Was I supposed to say something meaningful? I was totally unprepared. “Uh. No? Just… celebrate your win this weekend, and on Monday, let’s start preparing for our next game.”

Apparently, that was the perfect thing to say anyway, judging by Watt’s warm smile and the way the team broke into exuberant catcalls again. Within seconds of Watt dismissing them, they were heading to the locker room to shower, grab their gear, find their families, and enjoy their victory.

“I get it now,” I told Watt in a low voice as we stood by the back of the box, watching the kids file out. Derry had been the first to pack up his stuff and was already headed to his mom’s house near Rochester for the weekend. “The hockey thing, I mean. I can be competitive?—”

“You?” Watt feigned confusion. “I had no idea.”

I rolled my eyes. “My point is, I hadn’t fully realized how much bigger it is when you’re on a team. When you’re not just winning so you can win but so everyone can win.”

He stepped a bit closer, almost crowding me against the back corner of the box. The stands were only inches away, but nobody was paying attention to us. “You’re saying the hockey has converted you to team sports?” he teased.

“I’m saying I think the coach is more brilliant than I gave him credit for,” I said softly. “Nice job… Coach .”

“ Never ever gonna—” he began.

I laid a hand on his forearm where it rested against the wooden gate that separated the players from the spectators. “Oh, it’s a thing,” I said in a low voice filled with promise. “Yep. As in, I might need some remedial coaching later.”

“You… oh .” Watt’s eyes flared with heat, and he leaned toward me slightly. “Well, then. I?—”

“Watt, honey! Oh my heck, Watt!”

Watt closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose.

I stiffened and snatched my hand off his arm, immediately aware of just how close Watt and I were standing.

I was stuck in the corner, unable to move much, but I braced myself for Watt to spring away.

And you won’t make a big deal of it , I told myself firmly. Once per day was plenty.

Watt did not move away, however. In fact, he left his arm braced against the board exactly where it had been so that when we turned to watch Kayla approach us, his hip came to rest just slightly behind mine, overlapping us like dragon scales. I was completely surrounded, suspended in a bubble of Watt .

“Kayla. Hi,” he said with easy politeness, as though nothing were unusual about our proximity. “Great game, huh? Were you coming to congratulate Jasper? It’s thanks to his amazing coaching on foundational skills that we were able to pull off the win.”

I turned my head to blink at him in surprise, vaguely aware of Kayla doing the same.

“Well… yes, actually.” Kayla smiled gamely. “I was coming to congratulate both of you. Wonderful game, well coached. I’m glad to see you were able to put aside your rivalry. Pity that Calvin couldn’t push through and left the team shorthanded, but the others stepped up so well, thanks to you, Watt… er, and Jasper.”

“Calvin hurt his knee pretty badly,” I informed Kayla. “I imagine his parents are taking him to get it checked out.”

“Pfft. I used to get injuries like that all the time when I was cheerleading. As I tell Zachy, if you want something badly enough, you push through. Oh, speaking of which…” She lowered her voice. “I tried to keep an eye out for the Utica scout. I didn’t see him, but I’m sure he was here.”

“Was he?” Watt frowned. “I didn’t hear anything about him coming. Jasper?”

I shook my head. “It’s common for scouts to introduce themselves to the coach first, right?” When Watt raised an eyebrow, I shrugged. “I’ve seen The Blind Side .”

Watt chuckled. Kayla looked slightly annoyed—whether at my joke, or my proximity to Watt, or the idea that the scout hadn’t come, I wasn’t sure—but I found I couldn’t care much about that because in the next second, Watt’s hand, hidden by both the box and my body, where no one could possibly see, came to rest firmly on my ass.

I sucked in a sharp breath as my cheeks heated—both sets of cheeks—and narrowly resisted the urge to ask Watt what the fuck he was doing.

“Well, if not this game, then certainly the next,” Kayla said. “Or perhaps there’s been some confusion since Tam Monroe is still the Marmots’ coach, and Jasper’s only her substitute.”

She turned to me for agreement, and I nodded eagerly… though, frankly, I would have agreed to just about anything she said. Watt’s hand had moved just the tiniest fraction so the full weight of my ass cheek was cupped in his large palm. The heat of him seeped through the thin material of my running tights, making my cock swell instantly.

“T-Tam might have gotten a call,” I blurted. My voice came out like a chipmunk high on helium, but I couldn’t stop it. “I… I mean, I would think she would have told me. I was over there last night. And Tuesday. And Sunday morning. But she was super uncomfortable yesterday. Like, in a pregnant way. Lucas said it was probably almost g- go time, and Tam burst into tears because she didn’t want it to be over. And then Delaney said he was m-manifesting that the baby wouldn’t come until December so he could win their family betting pool, and Tam whacked him in the face with a cushion for dooming her to four more weeks of pregnancy. And Charlene said Tam was?—”

Watt’s fingers flexed, digging into the muscle and pulling my cheeks apart. I sucked in another breath like a deep-sea diver preparing to submerge. “She said Tam was close. Really close,” I said in a desperate rush. “ Too close.”

Kayla waved a hand. “Nonsense. There’s no such thing as too close, Jasper.”

Watt’s chuckle was laden with so much pure sex I couldn’t believe Kayla didn’t notice it.

With his arm blocked from view, no one could see how tantalizingly close Watt’s fingers were to rubbing over my hole. Thanks to the hang of my fleece jacket, no one could see the effect his touch was having on me, either.

To anyone looking, we probably looked like two men crowded a little too close together. Not particularly remarkable. And yet, Watt had freaked out earlier at the idea that anyone might see us being more than friendly. So what the hell was he thinking now? Why had he suddenly become Mr. Risky McRisktaker?

“Speaking of things that are close, though.” Kayla’s smile widened a fraction. “The Pilgrim Prance is only two weeks away, Watt. We should coordinate. Maybe go for a practice run this weekend? I’ll text you.”

Watt’s hand hesitated for a second before journeying on, and I decided I was dying.

Or, okay, that might be a bit dramatic. Possibly more like… dying-lite.

Lightly dying.

“I already have plans this weekend,” Watt said, managing to sound both apologetic and uncompromising. “But don’t worry. I’m not as young as I used to be, but I can run a 5K.”

“Oh my heck, I’m sure .” Kayla fluttered her lashes in open flirtation and set her hands on Watt’s arm—by which I meant the arm that wasn’t busy defiling me. “But then you’ve always been so athletic. Watching Derry make that pass to Zachy at the end there was like stepping back in time and watching you on the ice again! Isn’t it exciting to think about us going to their games next year and reliving our glory days?”

So much of my concentration was locked on the movement of Watt’s fingers, and on assessing whether anyone could see us, and on trying very hard not to groan or squirm, I probably shouldn’t have had enough left over to notice the way Kayla’s fingers clenched possessively on the sleeve of Watt’s hoodie… but I managed it.

And I was therefore very aware of the way Watt’s free hand clenched into a fist before he shifted his weight and casually pulled his arm away from her.

“It’s exciting to think about the boys doing something they want to do,” Watt agreed. “But I have no interest in reliving the past. I’ve spent twenty years learning from my mistakes… and I try not to make the same ones twice.”

I turned my head and found Watt was already looking at me. Though his expression was bland and neutral, his eyes carried a weight of regret, pride, and affection that would have stolen my breath… if I hadn’t already been seriously breathless.

“In fact,” Watt went on, “I’m pretty excited about the present. Wouldn’t you agree, Jasper?” He trailed one thick finger down my ass crack.

“ Yes !” I yelped, jumping in place. My cock throbbed, and though I refused to look down, I knew it was tenting the front of my thin tights. I was two seconds away from a public decency violation.

“Gosh, I’m so sorry.” I pressed my hands to my flaming cheeks. “I just remembered that I have to… to do something. At home. Immediately . Can’t be delayed.”

“Wow.” Kayla looked genuinely concerned. “Is everything okay, Jasper?”

“Hmm? Yes, fine. It’s just that I need to, uh…” I turned to Watt in desperation.

“Stretch his sourdough,” Watt said with perfect solemnity.

“Stretch…” Kayla wrinkled her nose. “Huh. Really?”

“Oh, yes,” I managed to say, torn between laughter, annoyance, and desperate arousal. I yanked my fleece down as far as it would go and grabbed the bag I’d left under the bench. “You know how finicky sourdough is.”

“A pain in the ass, but worth it.” Watt hurriedly grabbed his own bag. “I’ll come in case you need a hand. See you, Kayla!”

“You’re so helpful, Watt,” Kayla sighed as the two of us ran up the stadium stairs and out the door.

I managed to hold back my laughter until we’d escaped into the twilight chill of the parking lot. Fortunately, most of the crowd had departed while we were chatting with Kayla, and hardly anyone was around to see me looking deranged and aroused. I felt strangely euphoric—like I’d committed a bank heist and gotten away with it.

“What the hell was that, Bartlett?” I demanded in a whisper as I wiped my eyes. “You went from shoving me away this morning to practically making me come in public.”

Watt’s answer when it came was more serious than I’d expected. “I told you, I never want you to feel shitty because of me.” He shrugged. “I’m not taking out an ad in the Gazette . I’m not ready for that. But I’m not pushing you away again, either.” His eyes glinted in the streetlight as they met mine. “That’s not a compromise I could live with.”

“Oh.” I swallowed and felt my heart stutter in my chest. “Right. Good.”

He glanced down at the front of my pants and licked his lips. “I… may have taken it a little too far.”

I stared down also. My bulge was obscene, and the way Watt stared at it while licking his lips wasn’t helping anything. “You think?”

“I’ll make it up to you. Race you to your house?”

“Yes—no, wait, fuck.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I forgot, the engine on the Jag wouldn’t turn over this afternoon, so I left my car at school and got a ride with Ms. Govostes.”

“And you couldn’t diagnose the issue yourself and fix it immediately?” Watt teased. He bleeped the lock on his truck. “What a lucky coincidence that you and I are headed in the same direction.”

“You’re so helpful , Watt , ” I said, channeling a smidge of Kayla’s simpering tone.

“Move your ass, Jasper.”

We sprinted through the chilly twilight shadows toward the flashing lights…

Heedless of anyone who might see.