Page 22 of Heat Advisory

“Hey, bro. What was with the weird message earlier?” Morgan asked. “I thought you were meeting my bestie?”

“I don’t have a lot of time to explain, but I need you to give me Cora’s address. Please.” I added the polite word at the end because this was an emergency and I needed to pull out all the stops.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

8

“Will I regret this? Probably. Will I still do it anyway? 100%.”

—It’s science

Jay

Twelve Years Ago

I kissed Cora.

After all those times seeing her on the couch in my house, or across from me at the table in the school library, tempting me with her cute body, her sharp wit, and infectious laugh, I finally kissed her.

It wasn’t a simple kiss either. I kissed her like I was starved and was getting my first meal after days without one. It was everything I had always thought it would be with her—fiery, electric, and incredible.

The touch of her soft skin under my fingers as I slid them up her shirt felt like a dream.

She shivered at my touch, and it wasn’t because she was cold. Her skin was soft but on fire. If she shivered at my mere touch, what would she do when I put my mouth all over her?

I felt my dick getting harder by the second, aching to be closer to her and rub up against her.

Then my sister ruined it all by coming to get her from the kitchen.

I told her goodnight and then had to quickly walk away, or I was going to embarrass myself.

I walked down the hall to the small bathroom just to get my shit together. I splashed cold water on my face, but what I really needed was a cold shower.

That kiss had been incredible. My fingers tingled at the memory of what her skin had felt like. I had just made it to where my fingers brushed over her bra when Morgan had called out.

I groaned at her impeccable timing for cockblocking.

I spent the next twenty-four hours thinking about how my life was going to change. I was told by Coach Jensen and an adviser that I had a good chance of being picked in the fourth, fifth, or sixth round of the draft. More importantly, the San Francisco team wanted me, which was super close to home. I could play for their minor league team and still be close enough to try things out with Cora.

After that kiss, I knew I wanted to ask her out. I’d debated it for months but had hesitated because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen after graduation.

I told myself to wait two more days until the draft, and once everything was signed and set, I would tell her the good news and ask her out.

Granted, if things didn’t work out and I didn’t get drafted, my backup plan was to take the baseball scholarship from UCLA. That would be farther away, but still doable.

Two days later, my life changed forever.

Everything happened quickly.

My dad and I were sitting in the living room watching the draft take place live on TV. Morgan and my mom were in the kitchen cooking, but close enough in case I got a phone call.

I was nervous, so I got up to get a snack.

“Hey! I’m not finished with that.” Morgan slapped my hand away from the platter she was making.

“Hey, is Cora coming over today?” I tried to ask casually. She had been over here nearly every day this summer, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for me to assume that.

“No, her family drove down to L.A. to go to Disneyland for a few days. Which sucks because it would have been so nice to have her here with me during your boring draft thing.”