Leap of Faith

Day Twenty-Five

“You don’t believe me, huh?” TJ says as he moves from the chair and comes to lie on the bed next to me. “I wonder how I can possibly prove to you just how amazing you are.”

His eyebrows wiggle suggestively. I laugh. “What was that?”

“What was what?” He asks innocently. He moves closer to me and his hand rests on my hip. “I didn’t do anything.”

Well, that was a lie, because he was definitely doing something to me. My heartrate quickened, my breathing became erratic, and my skin started burning up. My mouth went dry, my palms got sweaty and my vision became blurred. I shivered as a tingle went down my spine, and my body started to move of its own volition.

The next thing I knew, I was straddling TJ Rushing on my bed, my lips crashing down on his as he reciprocated just as greedily. My hands were pressed against his chest and I felt a sting shoot up my right arm, but in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t matter. The pain was numbed by the rest of my body springing to life as soon as TJ’s hand cupped around the back of my head, tilting our kiss to the side so we could taste more of each other. When his tongue flicked against mine and traced a circle on the roof of my mouth, I gasped.

“What was that?” TJ asked as I pulled away from him abruptly, throwing myself back down onto the bed next to him.

“What was what?” I repeat his words from earlier. I flutter my eyelashes at him and smile. “I didn’t do anything.”

TJ laughs. “Oh, but I think you did,” he says before stealing another kiss from me. I push him away by his shoulders and roll my eyes at him. “I’m gonna have to think about dancing bears now.”

“That’s cruel,” I say as I flinch away from him.

“I know,” he says somberly. Then he winces and rubs his hand over his face. “It’s just… you kinda did something to me and now I’ve got to think of something really sad to undo what you did and-”

“I get it!” I shout as soon as I realize what it is he’s talking about. I scramble from the bed and rush to the bathroom. “That was an overshare. I really didn’t need to know.”

“The overshare was you climbing on top of me and kissing me like your life depended on it,” TJ says. His face contorts into a look of pain as he starts mumbling. “Dancing bears. Drowning kittens. Tasered elephants.”

I shut my bathroom door as TJ continues to list every possible form of animal cruelty. As an animal lover, I didn’t want to hear all about the ways people torture defenseless creatures. I grabbed a quick shower, washing my hair seeing as Cooped had chewed on it, and brushed my teeth to get rid of my morning breath… and the lingering taste of TJ on my tongue.

With a towel wrapped around my body, I stepped out from the bathroom and scuttled into my closet, picking out today’s outfit. I quickly dried off my hair at the roots and took the dampness out of the rest, but I didn’t make an effort to blow dry it all. I plaited my hair into a fishtail and let it fall over my shoulder. I pulled on a light denim shirt dress that came to a stop at my mid-thigh, and slipped my feet into a trusty pair of white Vans.

TJ was sitting in my desk chair as he scrolled through the pages of ESPN. I had to wonder how he had gotten into my account, but then I saw my diary open to the page where I had all my passwords written out. I rolled my eyes and walked up to TJ, wrapping my arms around his neck as I rested my chin against his shoulder. I read the words on the screen but it could have been Japanese for all I understood.

“What’s happening in the world of soccer this week?” I ask out of interest.

“Chelsea lost to Bradford City in the FA Cup,” TJ smiles triumphantly.