Fireworks and Resolutions (2 page)

Distance, distance was good. Gave him some room to breathe and think straight.

“What’s the deal, Jo? I know you’re not always this quiet. I’ve seen you around the office with other people. As a matter of fact, you’re quite a chatterbox. So what’s the deal with murmuring and mumbling the words? You can’t even get a sentence out,” Carter sighed.

“You make me fucking nervous,” Joseph blurted out.

Carter conquered the distance with a few swift steps, and Joseph had to retreat back, only to find the railing pressing against the small of his back while Carter stood in front of him. A hand was set on each side of Joseph’s body, caging him in. He tried not to turn into a flustered mess. Shit, he
did
try.

“You fucking drive me crazy,” Carter pressed in.

“No….”

“It’s not up to you to decide.”

“I don’t remember kissing you,” Joseph dazedly repeated his words from before, eyes already dropping right to the lips. It was hard to talk about kissing and not let your attention roam right to the matter at hand.

“I do.”

That sounded bad. He couldn’t even take a single breath without his lungs flaming up and his chest brushing against Carter’s. His gaze flickered between his lips and his eyes, and he had trouble holding on to reason.

“It turns me on,” Carter leaned in, the tip of his nose lightly grazing Joseph’s cheek.

“What does?”

Did that raspy breathless voice belong to Joseph?

“How you’re perfectly composed whenever you’re talking to Mike or other people we work with or even your boss. But then I walk into the office, and you’re spilling coffee everywhere, stuttering, and falling off the chair.”

“That happened once.”

Carter chuckled and raised his hand to Joseph’s face. He did it to hold him still before he had the chance to dart away or somehow bump his head right into Carter’s, causing severe nosebleeds all over the place. His lips parted in anticipation of the kiss. Damn, he’d have a memory of it at last.

“Is it okay with you?” Carter murmured, and every syllable brought his lips closer. They were almost brushing Joseph’s. Almost. Not quite yet, but soon. Soon.

“Is what okay?”

“This.”

His breath warmed Joseph’s lips and had him clinging onto the railing with all he had. The air of confidence that happened to cling to him in similar situations was demolished.

Nervousness was tingling through every cell of his body, and his hands cupped the other man’s face as if preventing a possible escape. But with the way Carter was calmly set in front of him, there wasn’t a chance in hell he’d be making a retreat. Joseph nodded, answering the question. It was beyond okay. Kissing was beyond a simple okay. And this kiss he would remember. This kiss needed to happen. So close.

At the outset, Carter’s lips pressed tentatively against Joseph’s. But they’d both been anticipating this far too eagerly to keep it graceful and steady. Joseph ran his fingers through Carter’s dark hair and along his scruff. The locks felt soft under his touch. He found himself enfolded closer, making Carter draw his steps back away from the railing and to the steadier surface of the outside wall.

Frantic and unstoppable, the kiss.

He latched on to Carter’s lips with no finesse at all. It wasn’t the wine he’d had earlier, and it wasn’t the nerves. It was the need to feel the other man’s lips on his own and have an irrevocable memory of kissing Carter Jensen.

Carter kissed him back, gathering him closer in his arms now. The distance between them became nonexistent, and Joseph was drinking him up. Felt himself melting into a puddle. Carter tasted like sweet and sour sparkly wine, and his tongue followed Joseph’s in perfect sync.

He was trying to get even closer. There was no such thing as closer. Chest pressed against chest, his hips rolled just the slightest bit at the feel of the hardness pressing against his thigh. A smile broke out on his lips when Carter groaned. His mouth swallowed up the sound, but then Carter returned the teasing heave of the hips and had Joseph gasping for air. A never-ending cheeky game.

They parted, and Joseph bit by bit released his fingers after they’d mauled the collar of Carter’s shirt. Another step back, struggling to breathe.

His lips tingled.

T
HE
SIGHT
in front of him was his undoing. His fingers thoroughly ruffled Carter’s hair and each lock was now sticking out in its own direction. The shirt was no longer wrinkle-free, and now the collar was crumpled. His lips were puffed and parted. Joseph could hear each strained breath that came through that mouth.

“Was that good enough to remember?” Carter spoke first.

A part of Joseph felt all gooey inside because he knew Carter’s voice sounded hoarse and rough because of him.
He
had done that! He managed to take back control and press him against the wall, dictating the moves.

He nodded. That was all he had the strength to do at this point.

He nearly jumped up when the doors of the balcony burst open and people rushed out, interrupting the intimate moment. But Carter didn’t budge a bit. He was still leaning there against the wall, his eyes locked onto Joseph’s and oblivious to the rest.

“Just a few more minutes!” someone yelped, and the majority of guests spread out onto the balcony, leaning against the railing.

He searched for Carter’s hand with his own as he leaned closer and squeezed himself next to him. Carter’s arm curled around his waist and kept him in place. The warmth of his body and the cold of the wall seemed so contradictory.

People were already cheering. They had brought their cups along, and a few had bottles of champagne. A guy stepped toward them and started explaining that one of the bathrooms couldn’t be opened, but the light was on, so maybe there was someone inside. Carter waved him off and then pointed over to the sky. The guy drifted away along with the others who were awaiting the fireworks. Joseph kept holding Carter’s hand.

He didn’t want to let go.

Someone else handed each of them a glass of champagne and others started counting down. The drunken fools started with sixty. Who knew if they even had the right time? The Boston skyline was perfectly still in front of them, and Joseph realized he was holding his breath.

New Year. When was the last time he had celebrated it with a bunch of unknown people? He knew merely four or five guests.

Ten
.

His shirt was still stained from wine, but everyone else was too preoccupied with the fireworks to pay attention to him and play the fashion police.

Eight
.

Carter was looking at him and not at the skyline.

Six
.

He hadn’t felt butterflies since the sixth grade, but they were certainly doing jumping jacks and backward flips inside his stomach right now.

Five
.

He wanted to gulp down the champagne because Carter was still making him nervous.

Four
.

What did that make-out session even mean?

Three
.

Carter was tugging him closer.

Two
.

Should he look at the fireworks or at Carter?

One
.

Nothing happened at first. Wrong countdown, a few seconds of delay. His eyes weren’t focused on the sky, though. They rested on the man next to him, and Carter was looking right back at him with that twinkle in his eyes. Joseph started to lean in, careful not to spill the champagne as well.

It would be too cheesy for the fireworks to start right when their lips touched. So no, that did not happen. Carter kissed him softly on the lips, the faintest brush.

He was starting to pull back when the sky exploded. Neither of them looked over. The surroundings were illuminated with the colors of the falling lights, their reflections visible in the glass balcony doors next to them. Still, neither looked. Those were just fireworks, and something much more paramount was happening between the two of them.

He liked him. A whole lot.

Carter liked him back.

There could be thousands of thrumming, colorful fireworks rearranging the sky and a crowd of drunken people cheering the New Year around them, but it didn’t matter. He had bolted to the bathroom, and Carter had followed. Carter had escaped through the window, and Joseph went after him. He squeezed his hand again and then snuggled by his side, taking in the rainbow-like skyline of Boston.

A
FTERWARD
THE
party shifted back inside, and Carter had to rush back to playing the host, which left Joseph lingering on the edges of the living room with his empty glass. Carter told him to stay put, to not just leave. People were wishing one another a happy New Year, and a few had already left. He went to sit by the dining table that was full of snacks and let himself absently snack on some chips and Red Vines.

His eyes followed Carter around the room, and he realized he probably looked like a lovesick puppy. Oh god, that’s
exactly
what he was. But the thought didn’t manage to erase the ridiculous, beaming smile off his face. Mike kept on asking him questions—where had he disappeared and what had happened—before giving up and going back home with his girlfriend.

So…. Carter felt something for him? It all seemed a bit on the high school level, this giant months-long crush of his. It was a bit disconcerting to be twenty-eight years old and go to work all giddy every single day—all in the hopes that the hot guy with a beard and a wrinkleless suit would show up at your office that day. And whenever Carter did show up, Joseph would make sure to provide comic relief by stumbling around the room and bumping into the furniture.

M
UCH
LATER
,
the last few guests left; the whole apartment seemed completely abandoned and looked as if struck by a natural disaster. The only four people left were Joseph, Carter, Carter’s roommate Jonathan, and his girlfriend Karlie. Standing in the middle of all those empty wrappers, bottles, bowls, and cups, they looked like the four horsemen of the apocalypse. An agreement was reached that the mess would be taken care of in the morning; then Jonathan and Karlie retired to their bedroom.

And then there were two.

“There is something I want to do with you,” Carter spoke up, making Joseph’s eyebrows shoot skyscraper high at the possible innuendo.

“Ah shit, no. I mean, yes. Sure, that too. Fuck, of course that too! But this… this might be cheesy and you might hate it….” Carter’s voice trailed off as he pulled Joseph’s hand and started tugging him toward his own room. The light switch was flicked on, but Joseph didn’t have the time to start looking around Carter’s personal space, taking in the little details that normally revealed so much about a person.

Carter sat him on the bed before sitting next to him, pulling a notebook and a pen out of the nightstand’s drawer.

“I do this every New Year. I write down a list of New Year’s resolutions,” he explained.

“You were right, that is cheesy,” Joseph said, but was smiling. He thought it was cute. It certainly didn’t fit the bearded persona he saw in Carter—always in control, demanding, slightly bossy, incredibly hot, and always smirking.

But the man wasn’t smirking now; instead, he seemed to appear particularly serious.

“Are you giving me a chance? No more running away and keeping things in until you’re drunk enough to blurt them out?”

Perhaps it was a bit foolish, but Joseph hadn’t seen that one coming. He gave out a small sigh, placing his hand on Carter’s thigh.

“Put down the first:
Joseph will always tell Carter how he truly feels.
”

L
IST
OF
Joseph and Carter’s New Year’s Resolutions

1. Joseph will always tell Carter how he truly feels.
   
2. Carter won’t shave his beard (never freaking ever).
   
3. They will join a gym together. Intense ogling of each other is allowed.
   
4. They will be casual at work. Won’t drag unnecessary attention of their gossipy coworkers.
   
5. Joseph will bring over his mom’s quesadillas once a week.
   
6. Carter will be the one to pick the movies, because Joseph would rather just watch Indiana Jones all the time.
   
7. Zelda the Turtle will be introduced to Carter within a week.
   
8. They will visit all the museums in Boston. All.
   
9. Carter will buy a Francis Scott the Turtle for Zelda.
   
10. Carter will fix the bathroom doors.
    
11. Joseph will read the Harry Potter books.
    
12. They will have a Harry Potter movie marathon.
    
13. Also an Indiana Jones movie marathon.
    
14. They’ll visit a beer brewery together.
    
15. Resolutions may be added throughout January.
    

F
IRST
DAY
back to work was all funsies. Joseph was sort of excited to see how the newly formed relationship would play out. Their boss had nothing against office romances. Their coworkers would probably be over the roof about it because they were craving the latest gossip on events of the holiday break and something to talk about. Several of them had patted Joseph on the back and asked him how the hangover was after that shameful Christmas party. Yes, he’d prefer to forget all about alcohol acting as a truth serum back then. And also everything from taking over the dancing floor to very shamelessly flirting with and coming on to Carter. But all was good in the end, because all that eggnog he had drunk… had brought him right where he was supposed to be and where he wanted to be.

He smiled along and answered the questions about the holidays, where he had been (home, mostly), how was his New Year’s Eve spent (it had been superb), and who he had been with (Carter, spoken with a sheepish smile). He settled himself in his office, feeling proud of himself for spilling it out as if it were no big deal. Carter and he had agreed they would be casual about it at work, so that problem had been solved.