Pole Position

by Rebecca J. Caffery

The half-naked guy chooses this moment to roll over, still fast asleep and … well, well, well. I definitely don’t feel great, but it’s hard to feel like shit when you’ve got Kian Walker in your bed.

Men like this have never been my type. I usually go for the prototypical twink – lanky and scrawny, someone who wants to be dominated; guys with soft features and a praise kink. Kian doesn’t fit into any of those categories.

smile to myself as I admire him now. And then those same lashes start to flutter, and I am plunged into the most awkward moment of my life as we lock eyes. Busted!

‘Define your way?’ I roll my eyes. He makes it sound like a boring business deal. ‘Relax a bit, come out for drinks to celebrate, maybe even go to a club.’ There’s a look of utter terror in his eyes and I almost laugh, but it gets trapped in my completely wrecked throat and turns into a cough.

It was almost too much – the cold washcloths, the tidying, the looking after.

Shit. Maybe the only solution is a naked rematch. Maybe that’s the only way to get him out of my system.

I feel my heart deep inside my chest, booming and thundering – this is where I belong!

Kian pulls away to look at me. Excitement creases the outer corners of his eyes and he’s properly smiling at me. Like, a true, toothy smile that you can’t contain. The moment’s brief and his smile slips, almost as if he catches himself and realises who he’s stuck with, but it has me fizzing on the inside. I’ve never seen him like this. It’s … mesmerising. Something erupts inside of me, something I’ve only ever felt about a perfect lap or a podium finish. Butterflies. Fluttering in my stomach right now, causing it to churn. Kian Walker’s given me bloody butterflies.

It makes me wonder what he’s like in the off-season. When he allows himself to just be. Does he smile like that all the time? I’d like to see that.

‘He asked me –’ I pant between words, taking in any air possible whilst feeling as thought my lungs won’t re-inflate ‘– he asked me … if I see … a future … with him. Jo, I don’t … know how … to see … a future with anyone.’