Page 53 of Disarm
My little brat.
He toes at the wet asphalt, glancing toward the bus. “I’d rather ride back with you,” he mutters.
I grin, shifting the cup of coffee in my hand. “Nah, go be with the team, baby. Camaraderie and all that shit. I’ll be right behind you.”
That earns me a small laugh, the kind that curls at the corners of his mouth. “Or maybe it’ll be me behind you.”
I choke on the sip cup of coffee I swiped from the lobby, half-laughing, half-coughing. “Cabrón, you’ve been spending too much time around me.”
“Guess it’s rubbing off.” He winks, and I swear the smugness could light up the entire damn lot.
A few of his teammates glance our way, not exactly subtle about it. Caleb’s standing tall, no shame, no hiding.
Fuck, I’m proud of him.
Maybe this is his way of working up to coming out to his dad?
One of the guys leans out the bus door and yells, “Hey Burton! Would ya kiss your boyfriend so we can get the fuck outta here?”
The entire team bursts out laughing.
Caleb flips him off without missing a beat, then looks back at me with that daring little smirk that always precedes trouble.
“You heard the man,” I tease, stepping closer.
“Guess I did.”
He drops his bag, grips my hoodie, and pulls me in. The kiss isn’t soft, it’s hungry, sure, a little reckless—but it’s real. A full-mouth, eyes-closed, world-falling-away kind of kiss.
The noise around us spikes. Someone whistles. Someone else shouts, “God damn!”
Caleb pulls back, cheeks flushed, chest heaving like he just sprinted a mile. “Holy shit, that was a lot,” he says, voiceshaking with adrenaline. “I can’t believe we did that in front of everyone.”
I can’t help it—I laugh and grab his wrist, tug him into a hug, tucking his face against my shoulder. “Now everyone knows you’re mine,” I whisper against his ear.
He exhales, a shaky little sound that melts into my chest. “Yeah,” he murmurs, so soft I almost don’t catch it. “And that you’re mine, too.”
I hold him longer than I should, then force myself to let go. “Go on, pretty boy.You’re gonna make me look like the clingy one.”
He grins, snatching his bag off the ground. “You are the clingy one.”
“Only with you.”
He backs away, eyes never leaving mine. The morning light hits him just right, sweatshirt hanging off one shoulder, the faintest hint of a hickey still visible on his neck and I swear I’ve never seen anything more perfect.
He’s halfway up the bus steps when he turns and mouths,Te amo.
I don’t even think before I say it back, low and certain.“Yo también, mi vida.”
The door closes. The bus pulls away, tires hissing against wet pavement, and I stand there until it’s out of sight, the ghost of his kiss still burning on my mouth.
The highway humsbeneath the tires, steady and rhythmic. I’ve got one hand on the wheel, the other wrapped around my lukewarm coffee. The sky’s still gray, the coast fogged in. Caleb’s bus is already ahead of me, and I already miss the sound of him.
My phone buzzes in the console. His text comes through the speakers.
Caleb
You looked so hot this morning.
