Page 108 of TJ Powar Has Something to Prove

“Very elementary school of you.”

“Always best to keep definitions simple. We define ‘Charlie Rosencrantz’ as...”

“Myesteemedopponent. Myvaluedcolleague,” TJ puts in, drawing her other leg up onto the cushion and bracing her hands on the backrest, facing him fully from where he stands behind the couch. “My partner.”

A warmth enters his eyes. He touches her cheek, knuckles brushing over her skin and then falling away. “Yes,” he says. “That.”

TJ hooks her fingers under the knot of his tie and tilts her head up, bringing their faces close together. “Well, don’t just stand there. List your contentions.”

Charlie leans closer. TJ’s eyes flutter shut, waiting for the touch of his lips. Then he puts a finger on her chin and pushes her away. She blinks, affronted.

“If I kiss you,” he says, “will you freak out after?”

“No.” She’s breathless.

“And will you run off without talking to me?”

“What? No!”

“Will you go tell your ex-boyfriend we hooked up to make him jealous?”

“No! And I was never trying to!” She’s getting annoyed now. “What is this, cross-examination?”

“If it is, you’re not doing a very good job. All these one-word answers. So easy for me to spin.”

“I’m nottryingto do a good job! I’m not on Side Opposition! Charlie, Ilike you—”

And then he kisses her, hands sliding over her neck to slant her head towards his, swallowing up whatever else she was going to say. Her stomach does an odd swoop. Then some part of her wakes up and remembers what to do. She pulls at his tie and kisses him back. He still smells like Sunday mornings. He still feels like a safe place. He touches her like she’s precious to him, rough edges and all. And when she runs her hand down his chest and he holds her tighter, she thinks maybe she makes him feel that way too.

He breaks the kiss this time. TJ keeps her eyes closed for a second before opening them. His face is inches away. His cheekbones are tipped red—she made him blush!—but he’s studying her like she’s a science experiment. She giggles breathlessly, because she knows what he’s looking for—a sign of a freak-out, that she’s going to run away. To dispel that notion, she flings her arms around him and rises up on her knees to properly hug him.

Charlie exhales and wraps his arms around her. His body is warm and sturdy and so very comforting. They stand like that for a moment until he turns his face into her neck. His lips move to her pulse, and she doesn’t think about the hair on her face, just his nose brushing against her jaw and the long, slow suck toher neck that makes her arch into him. “There’s my first contention,” he murmurs.

She shoves him away with a scoff. He lets go surprisingly easy. So easy that she loses balance and falls back onto the couch, nearly sliding off onto the floor, but she catches herself just in time.

He’s laughing at her. TJ finds she doesn’t mind. She’s splayed all over the couch in a ridiculous fashion. His eyes find hers, and then flicker down.

She realizes then that her shirt has bunched up around her stomach, exposing it and the happy trail. She reaches automatically to pull the hem back down.

His voice stops her. “Don’t.”

She freezes. Her breath stalls as he comes around the side of the couch and crawls onto the cushion with her, hovering over her. Then, carefully, deliberately, he leans in and plants a soft kiss to her navel.

She shivers.

He notices. “Contention two.” He slides back up to look at her, grazes his fingers over the raised hairs on her arm. “By the way, the dinner I’m going to tonight is the event for—I mean,againstpolio.”

TJ finds her voice. “I’m glad you switched sides.”

“Well, you’re very convincing.” Charlie pauses. “Do you—you—you want to go with me?”

“Of course I do. Because Ilike you, in case you forgot.”

And she kisses him right on his stuttering mouth.

“Well, then,” he says when they part. “Side Proposition rests their case.”

EPILOGUE