41. The Art of Touch

"And that's why The Princess And The Frog is the best Disney princess movie," Tyler concluded as we walked down the block and approached my apartment. We'd been walking back from Mickey's for about fifteen minutes, and we would likely already be in the warm sanctuary my room offered and out of the freezing cold if it weren't for the slow pace I was walking in. I loved hearing Tyler go on his Disney rants, and this was no exception. "I mean, not only is the representation great, but the music? Amazing. The storyline? Top-notch. It also helps that Naven was sexy as hell. If he were real and into it, I'd definitely smash. No offense, though."

I put my hands up in surrender. "None taken. In fact, I'd be more offended if you didn't. Make him your sugar daddy, and by proxy, mine too. Besides, his accent is sexy too. He could talk me to sleep every single night for the rest of my life."

He chuckled as he used his elbow to slightly nudge me. "Yeah, but I'd take your Italian over his accent any day." A slight gein tugged at the edges of my lips as I gently nudged him back. Throughout our time at Mickey's, Tyler had continued to become more talkative and playful. I could almost physically see the shield that he'd built around himself crumbling away like fractured eggshells. The slow transformation back into the boy I knew before his mother came and wrecked everything caused butterflies to fill my stomach and excitement to fester in my veins.

I was pulled from my thoughts when my phone vibrated in my pocket. When I pulled it out, Ian's name flashed across the screen telling me that he was requesting a FaceTime. I'd been so wrapped up in Tyler's laugh and beautifully terrible jokes that I'd completely forgotten that Ian was asking Lelani out tonight. "It's Ian," I announced before I held my phone out so that we were both in the frame. "Ready?"

He nodded. "Yeah. How do I look?"

"Perfect," I instantly said before I clicked "accept". "Hello–"

"She said yes!" Ian screamed so loud that we got looks from people who were walking bye us.

I quickly turned my volume down as a huge smile spread across my face. "She said yes, she said yes! She! Said! Yes!" Ian cheered as he started doing a cringey victory dance and in the background, I could see Lelani laughing. In her arms she was holding the panda Ian had gotten her.

"Congrats man. I'm so happy for you two," Tyler gushed.

"Yeah, you two are super cute. Congratulations!" I agreed.

"Thank you," Lelani said with a chuckle as Ian continued dancing.

"Ooh, ooh, and look at this!" Ian said before he showed his own blue stuffed triceratops with the word "yes!!" messily written on it in Sharpie. I couldn't help the "awe" that slid past my lips.

"Ok you two are officially super cute together," I announced as Ian wrapped his arm around Lelani and pulled her closer.

"I'm just glad I can officially call her mine," he said as he looked her in the eyes.

"Yeah, he was complaining about other guys looking at you."

Ian's attention snapped back to me. "Addi!"

Lelani raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, so he's the jealous type, huh?"

"Super jealous," Tyler added just to add fuel to the fire.

"Guys, I–"

"Don't worry, Ian," Lelani said with a chuckle as she slung her arms over his shoulders. "I think it's kind of cute."

Ian smiled at her before he leaned down and kissed her. I cringed and made overly dramatic gagging noises, but if they seemed to notice they didn't show it. Tyler chuckled before he joined in.

"Oh, the hetero, I can't take it!" He dramatically dragged out as he covered his eyes.

"Me neither. Bye!" I rushed out before I hung up on them. Tyler and I looked at each other before we burst into laughter. And not just shallow laughs, but deep belly laughs that caused us to stop walking, a big no-no in New York. The people around us looked at us and shot us dirty looks as they walked around us, but we didn't care.

As we slowly sobered up, Tyler rested his head on my shoulder. "Please promise me we'll never be like that."

I looked at him. "Like what?"

"All mushy gushy and stuff." Seemingly completely unaware of how hypocritical he was being, Tyler took his head off of my shoulder and started walking again.

I raised a brow as I fell into step with him, my shoulder warm from where his head had been. "Tyler, I know you didn't just talk about being mushy-gushy when you literally asked me out in Italian, kissed me on the football field in front of hundreds of people, and you give me that look that Ian fan-girls over."

Tyler chuckled as he buried his face into my shoulder to hide his embarrassment. "But it's not that mushy gushy."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, Ty. You're a hopeless romantic, but that's ok because I love that about you. Now come on, it's cold and I could really go for a warm shower right now."

We picked up our pace and practically flew into the apartment complex. As expected, the warm embrace of the heated air in the building was a sweet, welcomed change from the cold air outside. "As long as I've lived here, you'd think I'd be used to the weather by now," I said with a soft chuckle as I rubbed my hands together in the elevator.

Tyler chuckled. "You'd think," he quipped before he causally engulfed my hands with his, sandwiching my cold hands between his enormous warm ones. "Is this better?"

My heart was hammering in my chest and I was convinced that Tyler could definitely hear it over the soft elevator music that fluttered in the air between us. A plethora of emotions overtook my body at once, but I swallowed them down. Despite how badly I wanted to pin him against the wall and kiss him until someone had to physically pull me off of him, I simply nodded. "Yeah, it's perfect. Th-Thanks."

He offered me a soft grin as if he was oblivious to the conflict he brewed within me. After a few minutes passed by, we were walking into my apartment. "Papa! Padre! We're home!" I called as I kicked off my shoes. However, I didn't get a tongue-in-cheek response about how late we were coming home or any response in general. My eyebrows furrowed. "Papa? Padre? Dove sei? (Where are you?)"

"They're not here!" Azalea called from deeper in the house, seemingly the living room or kitchen. "Come here!"

I looked at Tyler who merely shrugged his shoulders before he kicked off his own shoes. We made our way to the living room to see Azalea sitting at the breakfast bar munching on an apple as she typed something out on her phone. "Hey Azalea," I greeted as I gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Where's Papa and Padre and the little devils?"

Azalea scoffed before she turned to Tyler. "Hey, Tyler."

"Hey," he said with a wave before he looked at me. "I'm going to get ready for bed, okay? I'm pretty tired and we have a long day ahead of us,"

I nodded. "Okay."

He gave Azalea another quick wave. "Goodnight, Azalea."

"Night," she said before she turned back to me. "As for our parents, they went to drop the devils off at the school-wide lock-in, remember? Then they're going out on a little date night or whatever."

I raised a brow as I looked her up and down. She was wearing an off-shoulder black sweater that was slightly cropped in addition to a pair of high-waisted skinny jeans and wedges. "And where are you going?"

"Josh is picking me up. We're going to see this movie by his favorite director or something. I don't know nor do I really care." I chuckled, causing her to look at me. "What?"

"Azalea, you hate going to the movies."

She shrugged as she bashfully looked away. "I know, but Josh doesn't. And he's a film kid too, so I have to get used to it."

I scoffed.

"Seriously, Addi, what?"

"You're totally whipped."

She pitched a brow. "Yeah, I'm the one in here that's whipped."

"What? It's cute!" I quickly added, afraid she'd throw her apple at me if I didn't– I wouldn't put it past her, especially because she'd done it before.

"Whatever," she said, though I could see the apples of her cheeks ting a bit red. "How's Tyler holding up? He seemed better when he came in just now."

I looked back to the spot he'd been standing in mere moments ago. "He's doing better I think. He's loosening up, he's letting me touch him without feeling uncomfortable. He's even touching me: you know, holding hands and hugging me. It feels nice, but I...I don't know, I don't want to rush him or make him feel like he needs to readjust before he's ready, you know?"

Azalea shook her head. "Honestly, no I don't. I've never been in a situation remotely similar to yours and, no offense, I never want to be. But, what I do know is that you're doing an amazing job of listening to him and caring for him. I know I've said this a lot, but you really are a great boyfriend, Addison. Even when things aren't going right, you stay...good. That goodness is what makes you great."

Despite the fact that Azalea was younger than me by two years, she always came in with sage advice when I really needed it. That was one of the many aspects of her that I loved and appreciated so much. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in. Her curls tickled my chin as I rested it on her head. "Thanks, Azzy. I'm really hangin' in there."

She tightly wrapped her arms around me. "Well, you're not in it alone, remember. You've got Papa and Padre and me. It's ok to ask for help and stop being so hardheaded."

The last part of her sentence made me chuckle. "I'm working on it, sis."

Just then, her phone buzzed on the table. I unwrapped my arms from her before she looked at her phone. Her lips instantly tugged up into a small smile. "Let me guess, it's Josh." A light joking tone saturated my voice.

"Yeah, he's coming up." A look of pure excitement painted her features as she put her phone into her purse and slid it over her shoulder. As cliche as it sounded, it felt so...weird to see my little sister growing up. Sure she'd had "boyfriends" before, but none of them had made her as excited and genuinely happy as Josh has. She had something special with him. Something that someone as amazing as my sister deserved.

My lips pulled up into a grin. "Perfect."

Azalea groaned. "Addi, please don't do anything. We don't have time for a full interrogation."

I put my hands up in surrender. "Relax, Azzy, I won't. I just want to see him pick you up so I can make sure nothing happens to you. We do live in New York after all. Besides, I have my boyfriend waiting for me upstairs so I don't have time to spend any more time with you and your little boyfriend than necessary." Was the statement I made kind of a bluff? Yeah, but I'd never let my sister know how much her growing up affected me, so I did what any sensible older brother would do: I hid it.

Azalea rolled her eyes though a smile tugged at the edge of her lips. "Ok, Addison, whatever."

I slung my arm over her shoulder as I took her apple from the breakfast bar and started eating it. "Thanks, little sis."

"You're so annoying," she grumbled with a shove just as there was a knock at the door. She practically ran to get away from me, but I was right on her heels. "Addi, behave."

"Azalea, make me," I mocked, causing her to land a hard smack to the back of my head.

"Azalea, what the fu–"

"Hey, Josh!" She greeted as she opened the door, her voice dipped in a faux facade of sweetness as an innocent look hid her devilish ways. Sensing that something was off, he looked between us.

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" He joked with a raised brow.

"No–"

"Your girlfriend is a violent lunatic. Runaway while you can!"

Azalea and I said at the same time. Azalea narrowed her eyes at me, causing Josh to laugh. "It's ok. I think it's kind of cute." Those words caused the annoyed look to melt from Azalea's face and I had to fight my big brother instincts of making fun of her because I knew I was no better around Tyler.

I sighed as a feeling of envy washed over me. Despite how cute they were, I needed to get away from them before I either punched them both for being so cute or started crying like a baby. "Well, you kids have fun. Be safe and all that. Text me if you need anything."

"Will do," Josh said as Azalea mutely nodded. "I'll have her back by eleven. I'm driving so there's no need to worry about us being on the subway or anything."

I nodded, slightly impressed by the maturity that Josh was showing.

"Ok, sounds good. Thanks."

Josh gave me one more quick nod before they headed back down the hall toward the elevators. I closed the front door and practically flew up to my room where Tyler was laying in my bed on top of the covers in nothing but his briefs. His eyes were glued to the ceiling and his attention didn't move when I came into the room.

"Was that Josh I heard?" he asked.

"Yeah. He and Azalea are going on a date." I sat down on the edge of my bed before I decided to follow Tyler's example and began to strip.

"Ah," Tyler said as he propped himself on his elbows, his eyes following my every move as I reduced myself down to nothing but my boxers.

"Do you mind if I turn off the lights?" I asked, looking back at him.

"Knock yourself out. It is your room after all. Your room, your rules."

I chuckled as I got up and walked toward the light switch. "My rules, huh? I think I like the sound of that."

I could practically hear Tyler roll his eyes. "Shut up and come to bed."

Not needing to be told twice, I quickly flipped off the light before I climbed into bed. But instead of climbing under the sheets like I usually did, I opted to lay on top of the sheets as well before I turned on my side so that I was face to face with Tyler.

"Hi il mio re," I softly said. "How are you feeling?"

I half expected Tyler to shut down the question or turn it back on me, but to my surprise, he responded without missing a beat. "Honestly, I'm doing better than I thought I would be. Even from this morning to now I feel better. Way better, actually. It's like a breath of fresh air or something. I don't really know how to describe it, but I'm glad I'm feeling it."

I smiled. "That's great, Ty. I'm happy for you." God, I really wanted to reach out and gently stroke his cheek.

He hummed in agreement as he shifted, causing his feet to brush with mine, but instead of pulling away, he kept them there, causing heat to pulsate through my body. "Yeah. I mean, I'm still really...yeah, but I'm getting through it. But who knows, I could be right back where I was tomorrow."

"And I'll be here for you either way."

Tyler shot me an adorable smile before he tried hiding it by shifting once again so that he was now on his back, though our feet were still gently touching. My God, he was so cute.

"Are you ready to head out in a couple of days?" He asked, the light that poured into the window created a halo around his godly face as his focus went back to the ceiling.

"I mean yeah. Kinda bittersweet that it'll be our last all-state, but I'm also pumped to go out and kick some ass. We have a good line up ahead of us and if we keep tightening up the formations, then we'll definitely–"

My words died on my lips when Tyler slowly laced his fingers with mine. I turned to him, slightly confused by his sudden action. "Is this okay?" He softly asked and I nodded.

"Of course."

Tyler's eyes fell to our interlocked hands as he gently started running his thumb over the back of my hand. "Addi, can I ask you to do something?"

"Yeah, anything," I instantly said as worrying thoughts filled my head and I tried to figure out what was wrong.

He remained quiet for a few moments, just softly running his thumb over the back of my hand until he abruptly stopped. "I want you to kiss me."

Though those had been the words I'd been waiting to hear from him for a while, I found myself hesitating. "Babe, are you sure? I can wait if you need me to, I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you or–"

"No, Addison, I want it. I promise. I...I want you to kiss me. Like really kiss me. I need it. Please."

I nodded. "Okay. I'll be gentle, I promise."

"It's okay. I trust you."

I raised my hand that was still interlocked with his and gently kissed the back of his hand. My heart raced in my chest as I placed another kiss on his wrist, then his forearm. A veil of intimacy draped itself over us as I did my best to slowly ease him back into the delicate art of touch.

I continued going up his arm, leaving a trail of gentle kisses across his collar and up the side of his neck. I felt him relax beneath my lips and his warm skin felt familiar. I used my free hand to gently direct his head where I wanted it so I could get the access I needed.

His free hand wrapped itself around my waist and held me tightly. I kissed across his jaw, leaving nothing more than light kisses until I reached his lips. I looked him in his deep brown eyes trying to find any signs of panic or discomfort in case I needed to stop. However, there were no such signs. Instead, there was only pure love and longing in his eyes. He was right: he needed this. I could feel it. We both did.

So without wasting another second, I pressed my lips to his. At that moment, it felt like something that I'd been deprived of was suddenly returning to me. Electricity buzzed through me as warmth filled every vein in my body. The feeling of his lips on mine felt like the puzzle piece I'd been searching for: perfect and precise.

It all felt so right.

He gently kissed me back as he used his free hand to lightly grip the back of my neck and slightly deepened the kiss. We quickly fell into our familiar rhythm: a game of tug of war. The little control that existed within the kiss lightly bounced between us, though it in no way negated the purity and intimacy that existed within the moment we were sharing.

After a few moments, I pulled away, but his lips chased mine until they were pressed against each other once more. I smiled against his lips before I gave into him and allowed him to take full control. I parted my lips as his tongue slid into my mouth. A light groan escaped my lips as his grip on me tightened. Within a moment, I was straddling his hips and holding his face between my hands as the kiss deepened once more. Our bodies gently moved together as the kiss progressed, causing soft sounds to escape from both of our lips. He was pulling so many emotions out of me at once that I was afraid that if I didn't pull away at that moment, I'd lose myself and potentially put us in an uncomfortable situation. So, despite how good it felt, I pulled away once more and turned my head so that Tyler couldn't pull me back in.

We were both breathing heavily as we looked at each other. "How do you feel?" I asked as I gently ran my thumb over his cheek.

His single dimple rose to the surface as he took my hand and kissed my palm. "It feels like I've come home after years of being away."

I playfully rolled my eyes. "Ian's right, you're a hopeless romantic."

Tyler's smile grew. "But I'm your hopeless romantic. Now kiss me again, but this time, kiss me like you mean it."

I rolled my eyes again before I leaned down and kissed him once more but this time, per his request, I kissed him "like I meant it". There was a whole lot more aggression from my side and within moments, the control had been stolen from Tyler by me. A series of groans escaped his lips as I kissed him just the way he liked: a mixture of aggressive control and gentle passion. I moved my body with his just the way he liked it, a delicate balance of seduction and control. But, before long, a rush of horniness and arousal rushed through me and went straight to my crotch, threatening to disrupt the precise balance. I knew that if I didn't stop in the next few moments, I'd likely start something that didn't need to happen mere days before our big game, especially not after the damage that'd been done to me last time.

But luckily for me, Tyler pulled away first, likely feeling what I was feeling. "How was that for meaning it?" I lightly jabbed as I climbed off of him.

"Not too bad, Romeo, but I might need a bit more convincing."

I scoffed. "Nice try, but you're not getting anymore tonight. We need rest for tomorrow and if we kept going, I'd be in no position to resist you."

"I am pretty seductive, so it's probably for the best," Tyler agreed, causing me to lightly hit his chest.

"Hey, don't get too full of yourself now."

"I won't. Besides, that's your job."

My mouth fell open as a blush stained my cheeks to the mention of such a sacred intimate moment between us. "Tyler!"

"I'm sorry, but you walked right into that one. I'm sorry," he said as he cuddled up into my chest and kissed it.

"Oh, you will be next time."

"Oh, will I?" I sarcastically asked. "I'm so scared."

"You should be," I said before I landed a firm slap on his ass.

He yelped before he laughed. "Addi!"

I chuckled before I kissed his forehead. After a few moments, we both sobered up. I fell into a pattern of rubbing his back as we laid side by side in the dark. "Thank you, Addi," he gently said. "You're just so patient with me. You listen to me. You see me. You make me feel so loved. The way you are around me is the exact opposite of how those sickos in that damned place made me feel. You actually care and you're gentle and... thank you. I know I'm a lot sometimes."

I continued rubbing his back. "Any time for you, my prince." I placed another kiss on his forehead. "Goodnight, Tyler. I love you."

"I love you too, Addison. With all of my heart."

***

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH! No matter what part of the alphabet mafia you identify as nor if you're out or not, you're loved and worth it. And, to kick off this month, I'll be posting another chapter in about 30 minutes or so. I love you guys and see you in 30!

Love y'all– Jordan