Page 31 of Winging It with You

“Bocce, you dork.” Jo elbows me as she maneuvers around me.

“I’m in.” She leans down and picks up her own ball as our group gathers around them.

Bistro lights hang above us and the music from inside trails through the open windows.

Though we’ve all been traveling the globe together, tonight feels like the first time we’re all just hanging out. It’s nice.

“Why am I not surprised you’re not a lawn-sport enthusiast?” Theo’s raspy voice says from behind me once we all navigate out into the courtyard, the warmth of his breath on my neck.

“I’m glad my indoor-cat reputation precedes me. I take it you’ve played?” I ask, wrapping my arms around myself. The combination of the summer breeze and Theo’s sudden closeness sends chills down my spine.

To my surprise, he pulls me flat against his chest like it’s something we’ve done a million times.

My breath catches in my throat, especially when I recall just how perfectly my body aligns with his.

“My dad loves outdoor games like this. We would always play horseshoes or lawn darts or even croquet when the family got together and the weather was nice like tonight.”

“That’s sweet.” I’m only half listening, unfortunately. His walk down childhood memory lane truly deserves my full attention, but I’m sorry, with his big arms wrapped around me and his lips practically on my ear, I’m distracted.

Everyone rotates in, repeatedly tossing wooden balls across the manicured lawn, trying to have theirs be the winning shot. Ellie and Jo, who seem more interested in flirting with the gaggle of men who’ve now joined from the outskirts of our group, are quickly defeated by Ruby and Kiara.

Griffin and Alana are up next. I hadn’t noticed them join us, but they are defeated rather quickly against the dynamic duo of Arthur and Jenn.

Alana shoots Griffin an annoyed look that he simply returns with a half-hearted shrug before sauntering off back toward the bar. They make marriage look so fun.

Arthur and Jenn do their best against the sisters and actually hold their own. Until Kiara surprises everyone with a Hail Mary toss that causes us all to jump up and down in exuberant celebration.

Except for me, of course.

Because I’m quite comfortable playing my own game of control as I lean firmly against Theo. He’s resting his chin on my shoulder, the roughness of his scruff an ever-present burn against my own skin. The warmth from his body radiates to my very core.

I could get used to this.

“Asher, Theo…get your cute little butts over here. You two are up,” Jenn shouts with an extra cheerfulness that can only be credited to the limoncello.

The thought of playing sports publicly causes me to physically recoil, but Theo shakes my shoulders from behind. “What do you say, Ash? Should we teach all these ladies”—Arthur clears his throat—“and gentlemen a thing or two about playing with balls?”

Deceased.

“Mm-hmm.” Theo talking about balls does something to me. Something bad.

He takes my hand and leads us the short distance to where the rest of the group is gathered, and I instantly miss our spot secluded at the edge of the crowd. Where we could watch from afar. Where I had him all to myself.

Theo proceeds to bend down and pick up a set of wooden balls that have been painted a deep navy. He places one in my free hand. “Ready, partner?”

“Okay, hold on, hold on.” I put my hands up. “How do you play this again?” I ask, flicking a clump of dirt off my wooden ball.

“You see this here?” Arthur says. “This is the jack.” He holds up a much smaller white ball.

“Or the boccino , as the Italians call it. We’re going to give this a little toss…

” he says, gently launching the jack in front of us.

It lands about twenty feet or so from where we’re standing.

“And each team takes turns trying to get their ball closest to it.”

Theo slings an arm around my shoulders. “Simple enough, huh?”

“If you say so.”

We are going head-to-head with Jenn and Ellie now and I’m hoping enough limoncello has been passed around that come tomorrow, no one from our group will remember what I can only assume will be a lackluster athletic performance by yours truly.

“Should we make this more interesting?” Theo whispers so only I can hear. Chills run down my spine as he lets his lips gently brush against my ear.

“Go on.”

“Each turn we take,” he says, and I can hear a slow grin forming on his handsome face, “we have to tell each other a secret.”

The thought of sharing secrets with Theo makes me giddy, but considering that I am quite literally the most boring human being on this entire planet, his flirty little game is just enticing enough for me to want to go along with it. “You’re on, Fernandez.”

He laughs, an electric sound that I can’t help but smile at. “After you, then,” he says, dropping his arm from my new favorite spot around my shoulders, indicating that I should proceed.

I roll the wooden ball between my hands and hate that I can feel every pair of eyes on me. The ball is heavier than I expected, and I have to squint slightly in the dimness to make out the white target I’m supposed to be aiming for.

Am I supposed to roll it like I would if I were bowling? Or throw it like a baseball? Why wasn’t I paying more attention to everyone else?

Fuck it. I swing my arm backward before bringing it forward with some attempt at precision and release the ball when my arm reaches its apex. It soars momentarily through the air before landing with an unimpressive thud a good ten, eleven feet short of the jack.

There’s a slow round of pity applause. Well, that was…embarrassing.

“Nice one,” Theo says from beside me as Jenn steps up for her turn. He’s lying through his teeth, obviously. “But time to pay up.” He crosses his arms as he waits for my secret.

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking,” I say slowly, hoping to buy myself an extra two seconds. “Uh, I’m double-jointed in my thumbs. Or, I can bend them backwards. Does that count?”

He smirks, feigning interest. “Let’s see.”

I stick my hands out in front of him and pop my thumbs out with ease, the way I’ve done for years since I learned I could, the closest thing to a party trick I have.

He smiles and nods in some weird sort of dude approval. “Gross. I love it.”

If his smile wasn’t the most dazzling thing I’d ever seen, hearing him call my appendage anomaly gross would make me feel a type of way.

Neither of us is paying any attention to Jenn, but the resounding thud from behind us indicates it’s Theo’s turn.

He steps up to the invisible line we’ve all determined is where we’re throwing from and expertly launches his own ball toward the jack.

It lands about half a foot away from where he intended, resulting in a more genuine round of applause from our audience than I received. I hold back from rolling my eyes.

He turns back toward me, his smile wider than before—if that’s even possible—and comes back to reclaim his spot by my side.

“And?” I say, wiggling my eyebrows at him as he gets closer.

But he doesn’t stop where I assumed he would. Theo walks so he’s directly in front of me and puts a tentative hand on my waist. He leans forward so our cheeks are practically pressed against each other.

“My secret is,” he says, his voice a husky whisper against my ear. I shiver when his lips graze my sensitive skin again, each syllable purposely drawn out to maximize contact. “I cannot stand mayonnaise.”

“Mayonnaise? Really?” I struggle to stammer out. His confession against my ear has practically left me panting. Only Theo could make condiments sound sexy.

“It’s vile,” he breathes. “The stuff of nightmares.”

I laugh, leaning my head against his shoulder.

And so begins this new, flirty element to our secrets game.

Sure, we throw our little balls and do our best to put up a competitive fight against Jenn, Ellie, and the others.

But it makes my heart soar to see how we’ve both thrown ourselves into this exchange of secrets.

After my next turn, which is far better than my first, I share that I used to tell people I was allergic to peanuts when I was younger instead of just admitting I didn’t like the taste. He shakes his head at my ridiculousness. Rightfully so.

I learn that he didn’t have his first kiss until he was eighteen. A fact I genuinely have a hard time believing considering just how charming he is.

Back and forth we go, haphazardly tossing balls and leaving our lips to linger longer and longer while we whisper stories to each other.

I lose track of how long this tantalizing game has gone on or who wins at bocce ball, and soon, it becomes clear that everyone’s energy is dwindling for the evening.

At this point, Theo and I are practically fused together.

His arm draped over my shoulder. Mine snaked around his waist. It’s the most naturally physical we’ve been with each other without a camera in sight.

And as we walk side by side, back through the lounge and out into the quietness of a town half asleep, Theo and I trail behind the rest of our group.

I don’t know if it’s exhaustion or lust, but my eyes are heavy, so I lean in to Theo and inhale the sweetness of the summer night off his skin.

“You up for one more adventure?” he asks, his lips now at my temple.

I’m pretty sure I’d be up for anything with him.

But instead of telling him that, I just nod, and the two of us quietly veer away from our group without a single soul noticing.

/////////////

We wind our way through the city’s maze and stumble upon a gelateria moments from closing for the night. Eyeing each other with a shrug, we race through the old door and show some restraint in trying every delicious flavor.