Page 49 of Game Changer
He considered where he had been less than a year ago. Last August he had been in Spain. Torremolinos. Alone.
Scott had spent his days there anonymously exploring the small beach town, sometimes heading to the beach to swim or check out the...sights. He hadn’t quite gathered the courage to go to the “gay” beach that he had known was there.
At night, the darkness making him brave, he had made his way to one of the many gay bars. He preferred the pubs. It was much easier to take a seat at a bar and nurse a beer than it was to embarrass himself on a dance floor.
He’d never had trouble attracting the kind of attention he had been secretly hoping for. He couldn’t flirt to save his life, but he knew he had a good body. He would sit with his beer in the tightest T-shirt he’d dared to wear and wait for someone to approach. Someone had always approached.
Doing anything in public terrified Scott, so he had gone to their hotel room, or, on a couple of rare occasions, brought them to his. The encounters were provisional, educational. They were just...maintenance. They had filled a basic need, and they’d prevented Scott from losing his mind. There had been nothing romantic about them.
They had been nothing like the times he had been with Kip. Scott had carefully stored the memory of every kiss and touch and moan Kip had given him, and had filled the lonely hours on the road by replaying them over and over again.
He was smitten. That was the only word for it.
Water was heating up for the pasta, and the shrimp were all cleaned and ready to go into a pan of butter and garlic. His plan was to throw it all together after Kip arrived.
He checked the dinner table to make sure everything was perfect. He adjusted the lighting and lit a little candle in a glass holder in the middle of the table. He was nervous. He’d never celebrated Valentine’s Day before.
He inspected himself in the hallway mirror. He’d dressed a bit beyond his usual T-shirt and jeans, going with nice charcoal-gray pants and a button-down blue shirt. He didn’t expect to be wearing clothes for very long anyway.
But he wouldn’t rush things. He had plans. Lots of plans.
He smiled to himself and went downstairs to greet Kip. He had been counting the minutes all day. All week, really. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d looked at the selfie Kip had sent him.
And then, there he was. Walking through the front doors of Scott’s building with a shy smile that made Scott’s heart race.
“Hi,” Kip said.
“Hi.” Scott wanted to hug him, but he worried if he made contact he wouldn’t be able to control himself. Better to get behind closed doors.
In the elevator, a minute later, Scott said, “It’s so good to see you again. You have no idea.”
“I think I do.”
He flushed and pressed his lips together. “Are you hungry? I have to boil the pasta, but it will only take a few minutes.”
“Sure. Whatever you want to do.”
“I mean, we could wait, but I was thinking we might want to get eating out of the way...”
Kip bit his lip, and just that small gesture turned Scott on so much.
He fumbled with the code to unlock his apartment. Kip was right behind him, leaving barely any space between them, but still not touching.
Finally the door unlocked and they slipped inside. When the door clicked shut, they stood facing each other for a moment, nervous and grinning. After a ridiculous few seconds, Scott huffed out a laugh and, with a gentle hand on Kip’s face, guided them together.
They kissed deeply and openly for a long time. Scott heard Kip’s backpack hit the floor before his hands wrapped around Scott’s back. Scott dropped his own hands to Kip’s back and pulled him tight against him. It felt so good to hold him. The frustration and stress Scott had carried all week drained away.
When they eventually broke apart, Kip laughed. “I missed you too.”
Scott smiled and took his jacket from him to hang up. Kip had a red sweater on that made him look so handsome and cuddly...
“You look good,” Scott said. “Really good.”
“Was just thinking the same thing about you.”
“Come on in,” he said, extending a hand. Kip smiled and took it.
Scott led him to the dinner table that, he had to admit, looked pretty romantic. He had done a good job setting the mood, considering his lack of experience.
