Legend (MxM)

Chapter XXIV

"I'm afraid of fucking this up." Maverick was leaning forward, almost over the front desk. He was idly twirling his finger over the back of my hand. "This is kind of still new to me." I was also leaning in close. I could almost feel his breath on my cheek.

"You mean you've never been in a relationship before?" I really, really want to kiss him. I wanted it to be brief but loving. My body felt like it was buzzing with his close proximity. Even without him being this close, ever since he dropped me back off at my place, my mind felt all hazy-like. Which is why I couldn't think straight and invite him up to stay the night.

Maverick shook his head lightly. "A few, but none of them felt all that meaningful to me." He seemed to think about it. "Well, once actually. Or I think it was close."

"What were you like in high school?"

"Believe it or not, I was kind of a jock."

"Kind of a jock." I said this mostly to myself, but I was also imagining him dressed up as a football player. Which wasn't a bad image to have in mind. Take away the fact of him being a teenager and have him as he is now, a grown man. I guess you could say it was roleplay I wouldn't dare take off the table.

The corner of the left side of his mouth turned up a little. Maverick was looking at me as if he could read my intent. Which he probably could. Maybe that idea wasn't quite off the table for him either.

"Sorry to ruin your little fantasy," he said and I probably looked mortified, "but it was basketball."

That still didn't change anything for me. I was just too shy to say that out loud.

"But what about you? What were you like in high school?"

I had to sort of look away for a moment. My fingers started to tap the countertop gently. I wasn't even sure why I suddenly got so nervous but made myself look at him. "Band. I might've also been a boy scout once upon a time."

I watched his eyes darken. Maybe he had an array of fantasies for himself. Should I invest in something fit for a grown man to wear? There was no way either of those uniforms would fit, and I was sure my mom had donated those items to a clothing drive a while back.

"What did you play?" He asked instead.

This was embarrassing. "The flute."

"Well then, look at us. I grew up playing with balls and you blew on sticks."

I had just about died laughing.

His lunch break had just ended, and so we met up again at his place. It was almost at my place but once I learned that he had a 7 in the morning start, I didn't want him to miss out on any sleep. Traffic was too unpredictable and even though he protested, I won in the end.

It was like we were discovering each other for the first time all over again. Our conversation ended up carrying us over until 4 in the morning. We both had a rough start for work that day. Oddly enough, it felt like I was floating around. Any time I remotely thought of Maverick, my heart would start to hammer in my chest. My brain felt foggy, sort of like I was swimming through a haze too.

I found myself daydreaming a few times and forgot that I was still working. Sometimes I would check my phone, only to see it was just a weather notification. I ended up playing some of Duran Duran on my phone during my lunch break. I also wondered a little if he was checking his phone too. As much as I wanted to say something, I just didn't know what to say.

When work ended, I was amazed I wasn't ready to crash. To add to my surprise, Maverick showed up just as I was heading out. Without so much as a greeting, I let him throw an arm over my shoulders and let him lead the way. Which led us to my place.