Sun Kissed ✓

nine

TANNER was right; he did suck at bowling, but Austin thought it made him endearing. It was nice to see someone so outwardly perfect fail at something so simple-- especially when it was something that was in Austin's area of expertise, not at all like mini-golf.

Maybe their second date was even better than the first, though the first one was hard to beat. Austin wouldn't have even guessed that he ever had a chance with Tanner, much less that he wouldn't stumble his way through it and ruin the night with his catastrophic overthinking, but it couldn't have gone better.

They'd teased each other and offered flirtatious glances and shy smiles. When they walked, Austin noticed that Tanner liked to touch him, whether it was a arm around the shoulders or brushing fingers or a graze of the waist or even intertwining their fingers and pulling him forward to the next part of the course. He was so tender and considerate and carefree and Austin was very quickly getting ahead of himself, but how could he not? He was entirely wrapped up in Tanner's sweet scent and soft touch and melodic voice.

It was hard for him to narrow down the moment where his heart had been beating the fastest and the butterflies had been fluttering the most intensely but he had to admit that there was one image that he couldn't get out of his head, that replayed over and over and over until his mind was like a broken record.

At a certain point, his failure to establish himself as some kind of mini-golfing champion began to frustrate him a little and Tanner had insisted on easing him back into the game. Apparently, the most efficient way for that to happen was for Tanner to stand closely behind him with his hands over Austin's, guiding him on the strength he should use to hit the ball. His soft, sweet lips brushed against the shell of Austin's ear and Austin's body responded by sending a chorus of shivers down his shoulders, through his spine and down his back, trailing goose bumps all over his skin in a way that made him cold, even with the great heat. Tanner had laughed at this (both to Austin's relief and embarrassment) and smoothed his thumb over Austin's hand, his blonde halo glowing besides the mess of dark hair. The laugh rang through the chest that Austin could feel pressed to his back and he felt like one of his cupid's arrows had been shot straight through his heart.

The bowling alley had been a nice change of atmosphere for them, less natural daylight and romantic sunsets and more neon lights and loud noises; the thudding of bowling balls rolling down the alleys and knocking down the pins or sliding into the gutters, the sound of cheering and clapping and laughing rippling through across the building. It was fun to be somewhere with Tanner where Austin more frequently spent his time, other than work and school, away from the beach and from golfing.

"You know, I didn't suck as bad as I thought I would," Tanner said, sliding into the booth and placing their milkshakes on the table.

Austin scoffed as he stirred his straw around the small diameter of the cup's plastic lid. "Your expectations must've been in hell," he said, sipping and savouring the taste of caramel.

In response, Tanner laughed and crumpled up the receipt into a tiny ball and threw it at Austin, who looked up when it hit his shoulder. "Shut up," he said. "I told you it wasn't my strong suit!"

Night fell outside and Austin peered out the window, his eyes darting from star to star. "You did good," he smiled.

Tanner was looking around the cafe which was packed full of people, eager to stay out, bringing the building to life with laughter and music and the clash of the bright lights and the cool, dark night.

"I don't need your pity," he said, his voice dripping with fake dismay.

"Can't you just accept my genuine congratulations?" Austin teased.

"Tch, not a chance," he said, taking a sip. "You got three strikes in one game. I didn't even think that was possible."

"It's not your fault that I'm a natural," Austin grinned.

"Guess I'll just have to take you to the club and kick your ass at tennis," Tanner said, leaning forward on the table.

Mimicking his lean forward, Austin shrugged, "You're on."

His confidence was destroyed when Tanner's eyes not so subtly dropped their gaze down to his lips. After a long second, they darted back up to meet his eyes, "I guess that means we're on for a third date."

"I guess so," Austin smiled, fiddling with his fingers.

Then he felt those soft hands take hold of his and Tanner pressed a soft kiss to his knuckles. Austin felt a sharp rush through his chest that crawled up his neck and over his face and, again, he felt a little dizzy.

"About that third date," he began, glancing through thick, dark eyelashes. "How soon can we do it?"

NOTE

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, dears! This story is on track to be completed by the end of August so that I can turn my attention to the novella that I'm working on from September :')

Please vote and comment if you enjoyed! Massively helps!

Thank you again for reading and supporting Sun Kissed xo

NEXT UPDATE

Tuesday. 17. August. 2021.