Cherry Lips

When Landon woke up the following morning, she was surprised to find she did not have a headache. She was also surprised by the smell of bacon coming from her kitchen so she pulled on a sweatshirt to match her sweatpants and headed out of the room.

“Good morning Landy,” Jason grinned cheerfully. “Bacon?”

“Why are you in my house?”

“Because you lived closer to the bar than me. And you were more than a little tipsy and I wanted to make sure you got home okay and that no one was here waiting on you. But then I was also more than a little tipsy and I might have fallen asleep on your couch because it was closer than my couch or falling asleep in the back of a cab.”

Landon took a moment to take in his answer before shrugging. “Makes sense. What are you making with the bacon?”

“I was thinking eggs and toast but I couldn't find any bread.”

“It's in the microwave.”

“You keep bread in your microwave?”

“Doesn't everybody?”

“I've known some people to keep it in a bread box, but not the microwave.”

“Keeps my cat from getting at it,” she explained.

“Cat? I never saw a cat.”

“Really? He usually loves sleeping with people that stay over.” She walked over to a cupboard and bent down to open it, straightening with a can of food in hand. She walked over to a bowl Jason hadn't noticed before and popped the can open. A moment later, a little white fluff ball came bounding into the room and began to purr loudly, weaving in and out of Landon's legs.

“What a cute little guy,” he commented. “How old is he, a couple months?”

“Monty is three years old.”

“Three? But he's so small.”

“He's a munchkin breed. I adopted him from the shelter when he was a year old. I guess some couple was getting divorced and they both wanted the cat and they refused to share custody so he ended up in the shelter and now he's mine.”

“Well he's really cute and I think I would remember if he slept with me last night.”

“Maybe your beard frightened him.”

He frowned. “You don't like my scruff?”

“I like it just fine,” she returned with a coy smile. “I'm just saying the cat maybe not so much.”

“Monty will come to love it.”

“You think so?”

“Know so,” he replied smugly.

She laughed. “We’ll see, Demers. Let me grab the bread and I'll help you finish with breakfast.”



A week passed and Landon spoke to Jason most days, usually about something silly one of them had seen or heard and had to share with the other, or whatever they had going on. It was light and casual banter but she looked forward to it each day.

She knew that the team had an off day, on a Saturday no less, with no practice and no game that day. She and Jason had talked about some breakfast spots earlier in the week and she expected that he would text to see if she wanted to meet him at one of them but the text never came. When morning became afternoon and she didn't hear from him, Landon was surprised.

Instead she spent much of her day on the couch binge watching on Netflix, completely losing track of the day. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she was wrapped under her favorite blanket wearing leggings and a tank top underneath, the ultimate in comfort for what had become a lazy day.

She sat up to check a text from Camryn about having dinner with her at Tyler's house when there was an insistent knocking at her door. She set the phone aside unanswered and crossed the room to answer the door.

“Jason?” She said with surprise, her hand instinctively reaching to pull her hair out of it's messy updo.

Jason grinned at Landon’s reaction to him, the flush in her cheeks, the way she fixed her hair, and better yet, the way her nipples hardened against the fabric of her Dallas Stars tank top. He stepped forward, causing Landon to take a step back and closed the door behind him, flipping the lock.

“What are you doing here?” Landon asked. “We didn't have plans, did we?”

“No, we didn't. But I thought friends could just drop in and see their friends,” he replied as he moved towards her again. “I like your tank top.”

She glanced down and blushed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Seriously, Jason, what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you.”

“You could have called, or texted.”

“And miss seeing you like this?”

“I look a mess.”

“You look beautiful.” She blushed again. “You always look beautiful, Landon. And I've been wanting to tell you that since we met.”

“Oh,” she said softly.

“But what I've really wanted to do since we met is kiss you and those cherry lips. See, I know it's only been a week since you broke up with Stevie, but I can't help it. I can't stop thinking about you. I think there's something between us and I need to know if you think so too.”

“Jason, I....I don't know what to say.”

He moved towards her again and reached for her, holding her at her hip. “Don't say anything then. I have better ideas for our mouths anyway.” He closed the distance between them and slid a hand behind her head, bringing her in slowly. He could feel her pulse quicken, knew his did too as he lowered his lips to hers.

It was slow and sweet until Landon pressed against him, shifting her body so her nipples rubbed his chest and her thigh brushed against his crotch and he wished like hell to get any barrier between them off. Her mouth opened to his and the kiss became sloppier, needier as Jason lifted Landon up, walking them towards her couch.

When he felt the couch hit the back of his knees, he sat, arranging Landon across his lap. She pulled back and looked into his eyes. “You have to take me out on a date tomorrow. A real one. A good one.”

“Date, tomorrow. Got it,” he agreed easily. “And what about the rest of tonight?”

“I have Netflix, some leftover Chinese that Cam made last night, and we can make out on the couch.”

“Sounds good to me.”

She rocked her hips forward and Jason inhaled sharply. Landon smiled slyly. “By the way, I wanted to kiss you when we met too. Except I had a boyfriend.”

“Had being the operative word,” he grinned.

“True.”

“I should...I should, uh, tell you something first, before anything else happens.”

“Go ahead,” she said, squeezing his hand.

“I have a past with Stella. We knew each other a long time ago, way before she met Jordie and I ever played for the Stars...”

“Jason?” She interrupted.

“Yeah?”

“I know. Avery spilled the beans that night of Cam’s birthday and Stella told us.”

“You've known the whole time about Alex?” She nodded. “And that's okay?”

“You're trying to be a good person to him now, right?”

“Right.”

“I think that's pretty sexy.”

“You do?”

“Yeah; it means that despite your goofy personality and boyish good looks, underneath that is a man who can accept responsibility, and has a heart that is good.”

“I am boyishly handsome, aren't I?” He smirked.

Landon laughed. “Yeah, so get your boyish good lips over here and kiss me again. We can talk about everything tomorrow over dinner.”