Chapter 48: Distracting

Eventually we do go in. It does get colder and snowier, and neither of us are too fond of getting sick (mostly because that would for sure put a damper on... whatever we have, now). We both shower, me upstairs and him in the basement. Once I finish, I go to to the room I slept in that one time I stayed a whole weekend and pick out some of his clothes to wear, since mine are drenched in freezing water and therefore completely out of the question (not one person in his family would let me wear my cold, wet clothes). Then I go to his upstairs Mario Kart room.

He's already lounging on the bed, already racing. The second I come in, he quits the race and returns to the home screen, not even giving me a chance to tell him that I can wait for him to finish.

He turns to look at me, and holds his arms out for me immediately. I go to him, and he kisses me a little more heatedly than he did outside. My breathing shortens even more and my pulse spikes, my stomach flipping excitedly. He lets out a little groan as he detaches our lips and scans me again.

"You have no idea how hard it was not to throw myself at you every time I saw you in my clothes..." he whispers, and I swallow, my throat dry at his tone.

"And after Raymond's makeovers? And when we went swimming?"

He gives me a rakish smirk that does not help at all to calm down what I'm already feeling. "Not too subtle?"

"You would look at me the same way. I started recognizing it."

He gently tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "All those times were unnecessary reminders of how much I liked you."

"You looked at me like that the first time I came over here. After Raymond."

"That was probably about when I realized that it was going to be really, really hard to walk away from you after that day. I also quickly realized I didn't want to. And then, that I couldn't. Everyone else seemed irrelevant. I just wanted to be around you. Long after I'd learned how to predict your behaviour."

"When did you learn how to predict my behaviour?" I ask, but he says it at the exact same time as me, in the same tone, with the same emphasis (but pitching his voice just enough for me to know he's mocking me). I roll my eyes as he smirks.

"It took a little longer than other people. But even after I'd figured that out, it didn't feel boring or finished. I still wanted to be around you, not to observe, but just because I wanted to."

I smile a little. "You wanted to be around me?"

"So badly. I still do." He pecks my lips again, grinning. "You're cute, and just great company. You're either sarcastic or very very tease-able, or comforting, or just plain fun. And you have a calming presence. Not like, peaceful-calming, but just... you make me feel anchored. Less volatile. It's nice."

"I'm glad," I murmur, kissing him again. "You're the opposite for me. You make me feel more alive. You're a very vibrant person. Did I tell you that when my parents tried to enact the studying rule, I actually talked back to them? I argued with my parents. I never would have done that, before. You're a very positive influence."

He flashes me a toothy smirk. "That's something I don't hear a lot."

"Well, it's true."

He grins and pulls me closer, kissing me a few times before grabbing his controller again. "You know what was really comfortable?"

"What?" I grab the other controller, already knowing what he's going to do. Shocking- I'm right. He sits behind me and puts his arms around me, resting his chin on my shoulder. I snuggle into him, and he plants a kiss on my neck. His body warmth seeps into me, and I slouch into him a little more.

"Comfy?"

"Very. You're warm."

"You're freezing. Didn't you just shower?"

I grin. "Yeah."

He gives me a little squeeze. "You're all skin and bones. I'll have to cook you some more fattening foods."

"I wouldn't refuse anything you had a hand in cooking."

He kisses my neck again as he sets up another race, this time multiplayer. "You're so polite. I'm sure you hear that all the time. My parents say it to me all the time, like I don't spend every minute I can with you. 'Oh, Todd is just such a polite boy, such good manners, so mature, so responsible.'"

"What do you say to that?" I ask while I choose my character and car. I've graduated from Yoshi to Bowser now, which he thought was the funniest thing in the world when I first did it. Even now, he snorts a little as I press the 'select' button.

"I tell them that you're the most tastefully sarcastic person I've ever met, and you're hilarious and almost as competitive as me. And I don't tell them that you still blush every time I even hint at flirting with you, and you kind of purse your lips when you focus really hard, like when you're pulling out of a parking spot, and those two things in addition to many others are the most attractive things in the world." His voice is nearly a growl by the time he finishes, and I'm sure I'm completely red because of it. I'm breathless as he kisses up my neck and across my cheek to my lips, at which point I turn my head to kiss him desperately.

"We're never going to start the race," I gasp when we finally break apart. He smirks and presses a button on his remote, and I hear the countdown starting. I quickly try to focus again, but it's especially hard since he just mentioned something about how attractive it is when I purse my lips when I'm trying to focus. The race starts, and I can practically hear his self-satisfied smirk from where he's rested his chin on my shoulder again.

I also find that it's a lot more difficult now to focus on the game while I'm this close to him. Especially since every time I start to find my focus again and catch up to him, he kisses the side of my neck, which succeeds in completely throwing me off my game every time.

When the race finishes, and I come up in third, I shift away so I can properly turn and face him. "Is that why you wanted to sit like this? To distract me?"

He's smirking. "One contributing reason."

"I can't believe you're willing to go to such lengths to win a race," I grumble as I move to sit beside him instead of in front of him. He flashes a toothy grin and leans over to kiss my cheek.

"All's fair in love and war. And I count Mario Kart as a friendly version of war. A nonlethal, pleasant battle of racing, where weapons come in the form of shells."

"You're ridiculous."

"I know." He leans over to kiss my cheek again, but I turn just in time to catch his lips. He doesn't seem to mind.

When we finally start the next race, I decide to try and get him back for distracting me last time. I cuddle into his side, at the very least bumping his arm. He ends up going off the track, giving me a chance to pass him.

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I innocently respond, intentionally not looking at him. He red-shells me a moment later and takes the lead again. I lean over to kiss his cheek, making him fumble a turn. Unfortunately, I take my eyes off the TV for one second too long, preventing me from passing him.

We finish neck-in-neck, with him just barely winning. He starts the next race, and this time I decide that I have to choose between distracting him or racing. I choose the first one.

He gets an early lead, while I pretty much immediately drop my remote and wrap my arms around him, snuggling closer to him and kissing his neck and cheek. He narrows his eyes a little, but refuses to take his gaze off the TV. I keep kissing along his cheek, running one hand through the hair at the nape of his neck and the other down his bicep. He butchers an easy turn. I wait a moment, then press a light kiss to his earlobe. He shivers, and I run my tongue along the shell. He's grinding his teeth as he falls to fifth. Fifth.

"You'll pay for that," he murmurs, turning a little to catch my eye. I give him a smug grin.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

And he tackles me onto the bed, taking my lips between his.

Thoughts on the chapter? What do you think of their conversation at the beginning? And their new cheating strategies for Mario Kart? Any predictions for the last two chapters? Tell me all your thoughts in the comments!

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