Jett by Honey Palomino

a hell of a lot more than kissing you,” I continued. “In fact, the only thing holding me back is the fact that I need to stay focused. Your safety is the most important thing to me, and I gotta be vigilant.  So don’t you go feeling rejected, or some other crazy shit, because if we were in any other situation, you’d already be naked.”
    Her laughed echoed up to the pink sky above us.  I winked at her, laughing with her.
    “That’s very presumptuous of you, Colt. Just because we kissed, you think I want to sleep with you?” she asked, teasingly.
    “That’s not what I said,” I replied. “But are you saying you wouldn’t?  I mean, we all know how selective you are regarding who you sleep with.”
    She feigned outrage, hitting me playfully in the arm.
    “I don’t even want to know how often you pick up women,” she said.  It was nice to have the mood lightened. I wanted to just have a night of relaxing with her.  I didn’t want to have to think about the past or worry what our future held, or even worry about Crazy Jack trying to barrel through the door at any moment.  
    Bringing Jesse out was a good idea.  Now, Jett and I could relax and get to know each other again.  Without cameras or an audience or other people around.
    Just us.
    After dinner, I lit a fire in the massive fireplace, and we sat on the rug in front of it, sharing the things we remembered about all the years we spent together, and filling each other in about the ones we missed.
    “Do you remember Field Day?” she asked, her eyes full of amusement.
    “How could I forget? I don’t think I’ve ever been more embarrassed in my life.”
    “You were my first kiss, Colt,” she said.
    “I don’t think that really counts as a kiss, Jett,” I replied, my eyes lingering on her lips, remembering the very real kiss we had shared earlier.
    The fire sparkled in her eyes, and watching her smile and laugh, for once completely at ease, was absolutely mesmerizing.  She was so much more beautiful than she was when she was a kid.  I had spent so many nights stealing glances at her under the moonlight, I had memorized her face.  But not this face.  Her face now was new.  She was new.  She would never be the Jett I used to know, and that was at once uncomfortable and incredibly exciting.
    She spent hours telling me about the places she had traveled to, but never got to really see much of.
    “There were occasional photo ops in tourist spots, but for the most part we just traveled into a city, went to the hotel, and then the venue, and then we were on to the next, until they turned into an endless cycle of nameless places.  Half the time I don’t even know what city I’m in.”
    “Don’t you miss having a home?”
    “No. I mean, I still fantasize about disappearing into my cabin in the woods where nobody knows who I am, but I don’t miss having a home.  I never really had one.  You can’t miss something you never had.”
    “You have a cabin in the woods?” I asked.
    “Yeah, I do. About an hour outside Portland. I bought it after visiting there once, and I’ve never been able to make it back.  It’s just sitting there rotting and waiting for me.”
    “That’s too bad,” I said.
    The fire crackled in front of us.  She sat close to me, her breathing slow and steady.  She smelled like whiskey and lavender.  I wanted to taste her again, I wanted to hold her, and tell her I understood.  I never had a home either.  What Ciara and I had was nothing more than a lousy excuse for a place to crash.  
    “Sounds like we’ve both been deprived of that feeling, of having a home to miss.”
    She nodded silently, her eyes distant and lost in the fire.  I looked over at her, the amber flames flickering in them, turning her green eyes brown. 
    “Beautiful…” I murmured, and she turned to look at me.  “You’re beautiful.  I hope you know that.”
    An easy smile played across her face.
    “Do the compliments come with your