All day and all night my desire for you unwinds like a poisonous snake.

Flynn Jacus is number 32 on the football team, he's one of two quarterbacks we have and when he's not throwing me the ball, he's backing me up as an offensive tackle.

I met Flynn- -or Fly as he likes to call himself, he thinks it makes him sound cool but I told him it makes him sound like an annoying, flying, pest- -in fifth grade.

Before I got into football I was a hockey-jock and though I still love playing on ice, the field has my love for now.

That's where I met him.

He's a 6'2" wall of muscle that has thrown a ball hard enough to bruise me under my gear and knock me off my feet, and we've always played football together.

Fly's adopted and I've helped him through a lot.

I can actually stand him and got used to his presence and touch at this point, he knows I have Tourette's and helps me calm down between games. A bonus is that he knows I'm gay and is completely fine with it, even going as far to defend me to homophobic team mates in the past.

But I think we both know this year, even defending it could get us into trouble with these ugly homophobic fuckers.

He's one of the most annoyingly chill people I've ever met.

His girlfriend- -who he's had since Senior year in high school- -finds our relationship pretty funny. He calls me hubby since apparently, he's my game wife. Her name is Scarlett Riddle.

And, after all, she has two gay dads.

Of which, he has punched someone for making fun of her for.

Fly is bouncing between majors at the moment but personally, I think he's going to play professionally once he gets his shit together.

When that happens, he better put that stupid nickname to good use.

The reason this is all coming up is because as we're walking to the club- -Vivianna proudly leading the way with Ahmik stumbling after her, Noelle and Circe already dancing as they walk behind the weirdo- -I see Flynn across the street waving his arm like an idiot in my direction.

"Oi, Cassie!" He shouts loudly, cutting across traffic just to reach me. "You're in party gear? Can I come?"

I glance up at him as he throws an arm around me, seeing that he actually looks half-presentable. "We're going to a club, I can't stop you even if I wanted to but hey, at least this will be the first party in-" I growl. "-three years where you actually look good. By good I mean not wearing grass stained sweatpants, crocs and no shirt."

Fly just shrugs, ruffling my hair. "If I look good by your standards I must be doing something right."

"Fly," Rolling my eyes, I reach over to smack his gut. "You're living up to your name."

"Thanks!"

"I've told you already, it's not a compliment."

"Awh," Flynn pouts, sending me a small pleading and playful look. "But you said when I get to the big leads it's gonna mean something good."

Scoffing, I look him up and down before pretending to gag. "I said if-" I growl. "-not when. Either way, you're not there yet."

The football player sighs, shaking his head. "You're so mean Cassie, no wonder -hey! Is that Cece and Nerdy?"

At the sound of one of her more insulting, yet accurate, nicknames, Noelle does a full one-eighty before gasping and pointing at Flynn.

"Fly!"

He pauses, gets in the same surprised stance and points back at her.

"Nerdy!"

Circe laughs, pulling her girlfriend back to her side, "Hey Flynn. Still protecting Cas on the field?"

"Yeah," Fly laughs. "When I'm not throwing him around."

Accurate.

Jasper's hand suddenly grips my shoulder, pulling me smack! into his chest where he wraps an arm around my middle. "Who is he?"

"Oh, sorry." I forgot he gets nervous around new people sometimes. "He's Flynn Jacus-"

"My name!" The stupid lug interrupts, gasping as he whips around to face us. "That's right, I'm Flynn Jacus, protector of the running back and ball, therefore Cassie, during our games. I'm his game wife. I take our vows seriously. And when I can't be there to tackle for him, I watch over him like a mother hawk, allowing him to score points by my excellent throws."

"Man," Noelle grins, shaking her head at Flynn's antics. "You haven't changed a bit since middle school."

They start to bicker, the nerd and the jock have always had a funny rivalry because while she's my best friend, he's maintained he's my game wife no matter what sport we play.

It's kinda funny.

"He's my teammate, has been since fifth grade. He's my friend, I guess, on the field. We never really hang out otherwise," I tell Jasper while keeping my eyes on the two fighting idiots to make sure they don't get out of hand. "But we're pretty chill with each other. I don't hate him, unlike most fucking people I meet."

"Oh." Jasper says, arm tightening.

I glance at him about to apologize for how loud he is but my attention is caught as Fly gives Noelle a noogie, laughing loudly.

"Hey, Fly!" I scold him, stepping away from the musician to pull him off her, at which point the football player just throws his head back and puts an arm around my shoulders. "Do you ever calm the fuck down?"

Flynn shakes his head, hand pushing my head down slightly. "If I calmed down around you, your ass would get beat so much. No offensive tackle is ever calm. We're wild beasts, raging and sure, I might be annoying-" At least he knows it. "-but shit, I got your fine ass covered."

"Fine ass?" I snort, laughter in my voice. "Dude, you're like, the gayest straight person I know. Do you have something to tell me?"

"I don't know." Fly, who actually is straight but comfortable enough with himself to be able to joke about it, winks at me. "You tell me."

Noelle jabs him in the stomach and shouts "Straighty!" before running down the street.

One thing terrifying about that girl is her ability to run in six inch heels, which she only started wearing because she's four inches shorter than Circe and wanted to be taller for a change.

That didn't work out well, because a simple two inch wedge gave Cece enough momentum to be the same height as her tiny girlfriend yet again.

Poor little nerd, got her mom's height.

Turning back to Jasper, seeing the oblivious dork spaced out, I make the mistake of waiting for him to walk in front of me so he doesn't trip and then end up realizing who actually has the fine ass here.

"Don't objectify him," Vivianna tells me playfully, pretending to sound indignant. "It doesn't suit you."

"Yeah, but shit," I motion to his clearly muscular back. "It suits him."

Scoffing, the weirdo bounces around me to knock her best friend out of his daze.

It's not long before we're in the club, in the quieter VIP section at the top that Jasper got us into. I'm sitting next to Jasper, who's been strangely quiet but I'm pretty sure that's because all the colors are a bit overwhelming right now.

Noelle herself is sticking around me and Fly, she won't admit it but she missed him, while Circe and Vivianna dance -Ahmik acting as their body guard at the moment.

Stupid Max Mitch disappeared the second we got in the door.

"Hey, Hubby." Fly nudges me.

"Hi." I say back, eyebrows raised.

"Hi..." He trails off, clearly asking for something.

Knowing what it is, I sigh and shake my head at him, "Hi, Wifey."

Flynn claps excitedly, "Thank you. Anywhore, wanna go dance? Nerdy already agreed, Circe might join too."

I look over to Jasper, even if he doesn't want to dance, he's not the jealous type- -not that I'd mind- -and I definitely wouldn't mind dancing with him too.

"Wanna join?"

"Nah," He grins but there's something strained about it. "Go have fun."

Frowning, I wrinkle my nose and turn fully to him. "Are you sure? If it's too overwhelming for you, I'm okay with leaving. I'd-" I squeak. "-rather have fun with you at home than make you uncomfortable."

Jasper just smiles again and shakes his head, motioning me away to go dance with a slightly wider but no more believable smile.

Sometimes when he's hurt or uncomfortable, especially when it's because of his synesthesia, he doesn't like to tell people.

That's probably it.

So I spin Noelle in a circle and dance like an idiot with her and Fly, lucky for my experience at parties so I can actually dance without tripping myself or someone else.

Plus club lights tend to make everyone look good, especially considering it's darker in here than a normal room.

And the music is pretty good too.

I just know if I didn't take extra anxiety medicine today, I'd be a ticing ball on the floor right now, so I'm pretty thankful for that, even if later I'll probably crash really hard and Fly will give me a hard time at practice.

Still, is it weird over a fun night with my friends curling up with Jasper on the couch watching movies and eating dinner still sounds better, even though that's what we do almost every night?

Because I do.

But still, I keep dancing, nudging Fly playfully with my hip to make him stumble, but it backfires completely as he hits Noelle, who shoves him back into me and we have to grapple with each other not to fall.

And I'm sure that he, just like me, resists the urge to tackle the other.

When athletes who only play football together go around each other off the field it usually doesn't end well.

Last time he saw me somewhere he actually did tackle me.

And when I saw him in a Denny's parking lot, I did the same thing.

So I laugh, making him shove my head down again but we're all so close together that it's almost suffocating until he laughs too.

Stupid Fly.

Noelle leaves me and Fly for Circe, making the idiot spin me in a circle, drop me on the floor and attempt to race me back to the seats.

I win, but only because he ran into someone.

Once we get to the table everyone orders a drink, save for me, I'll be damned if you get me to drink any amount of alcohol but I do know that I have to keep an eye on Fly's intake -he drinks a lot in a short time because he doesn't feel the effect right away, then get's shit-faced and passes out.

He's literally an idiot.

But I'm comfortable with him, I actually enjoy his presence.

Besides Noelle, who's my sister, not best friend at this point, Fly is my only friend. That's not something I ignore.

So as I sit next to Jasper, far enough away that he doesn't have to touch me when I'm all sweaty, I also am close enough to Fly that the football player can throw an arm over my shoulder casually.

If I didn't get it tackled into me, I wouldn't be okay with his touch.

"Oh! I'll have a Rum and Coke!" The football player pounds his fist on the table, shouting excitedly. Rolling my eyes, I ask for a virgin lemon martini, making Fly 'boo' me and poke my face. "Live a little, Cassie."

Everyone else takes turns ordering, and everyone except me, even Jasper, get's something with alcohol in it. Great.

The waitress nods to Jasper, and only Jasper before saying, "Right away, sir."

"Okay, I have to fucking ask, what was all that, with the Ozias shit?" Ahmik asks the musician.

Anything about him makes me curious so I perk up, tuning into the conversation. It's about how the staff here, every single one, treat him like royalty basically, and only call him by his middle name.

Jasper tells him this but then adds, "I kinda own the whole place."

Which makes all of us quite...surprised.

I know he's rich, I just didn't really comprehend what that meant.

"Any Astoria business o-or, or um, any of the corporations and estates or whatever is under my name and my name alone, even i-if other family members have control over different domains-- but other businesses and employees know me as Ozias Astoria. It's my, it's my m-middle name. Basically I'm, I'm the boss' boss' boss."

Fly nudges me sharply in the side, arm angling my head closer to his. "You'd like him to boss you around, eh?"

Flushing, I scoff loudly, unable to deny it as the idiot just starts to snicker.

"Shut up!" I hiss, kicking him under the table.

He kicks me back, "Admit it!"

"Vivianna," Whispering the weirdo's full name gets her to glance at me, eyes narrowed before she breaks out into a giant grin. "Flynn thinks a llama would wear a jacket around it's chest and neck, not back and arms."

Her jaw drops, hand flying to her heart. "My word, how fucking dare you. Now you listen here, you little fucker, that is not how that would happen."

Flynn, playing along, crossing his arms. "I think is it how that would happen. Fuck you."

"No good sir," Vivianna bangs her hand on the table. "Fuck you!"

Scooting closer to Jasper now that I've cooled off slightly- -the guy's a living furnace- -I lightly nudge his jaw up, my touch not harsh at all, just barely there. But it's enough to snap him out of his frowning daze.

"Love?" I ask, grateful in the moment my go-to isn't 'babe' or 'sweetheart' like Mama. "Are you okay?"

Did my cheerful, drowsy, tired ass miss something important?

"I, um-" The giant cuts himself off.

And he does so by half turning, grabbing onto my hips and pulling me onto his lap in a position that's quite dangerous for both my sanity and self control. Now straddling him, face to face, the oblivious musician presses his cheek against mine, cheeks warm with a flush as he pulls away for a fraction of a second to peck my nose.

Blinking at me owlishly, Jasper murmurs, "I'm really jealous r-right now, but I want you to have fun, too."

I pause, frowning as the musician continues to rub his cheek against mine, acting strangely like a cat for being such a puppy.

"What's there to be jealous about?" Turning my head, I don't kiss him- -I haven't asked- -but I do catch myself staring at his lips. "I don't want anyone else besides you. And I was just with Noelle, who's a lesbian and Fly, who's straight."

He pouts, "Fly is...doing things?"

Instantly at hearing this, I go to scold the stupid football play and kick him under the table but Jasper's large hands are tightening on my hips, face nuzzling into my neck as whines softly under his breath.

Oh my god, he is the jealous type.

That's so cute.

"Jitterbug," I'm sure my amusement shows but everything right now seems very okay, every person isn't annoying and nothing's wrong. That must be the medicine. For some reason it makes me very unwilling to ask for a kiss even if I desperately want one. "He's not even flirting with me. Not like anything Axel will do. If anything, he insults me."

"But he touches you." He says this like it's the most offensive thing on earth. "You don't let anyone t-touch you."

I raise an eyebrow, glancing between our bodies then back up to his lips. "You touch me."

Jasper's pout deepens, "So does h-he. That's the problem."

"We've known each other for almost ten years, Jitterbug, we've played on the same team. He's an offensive tackle. I'm a-" I growl. "-running back. He's had my back physically for years, if I wasn't comfortable with him I couldn't play the game right." Leaning into him I nudge his nose with mine, but still don't kiss him. "Trust me it's out of need, not want."

I want to kiss him.

I want a kiss.

But my mind won't even let me ask.

Leaning even closer into me, pressing our waists together, Jasper pouts while asking, "Kiss?" like he won't get one.

Finally is all I can think as I get to wrap my arms around him, warmth flooding my body as our mouths move gently together -his hands tightening on my sides, pressing us closer together.

Feeling his love, no matter how small that love may be, may be one of the only good things I feel like I deserve because right now, Jasper has two hearts.

And one of them is mine.

As if he could get me any closer, the musician presses his chest more into mine, tugging me daringly higher on his lap.

Then the feeling of his lips are gone as I gasp out, jerking away as the sharp smack! of the drink menu registers on the back of my head.

It wasn't even a tic this time...

Goddammit.

"What the fuck?" I snarl, turning to catch Fly with his arm still raised. "Fly."

"The drinks, dipshit," Flynn only snickers in reply, motioning down to the table. "But I don't think that's what you want to be tasting right now, so..."

I know he's just teasing me, because the idiot knows I don't drink so I snap, "Fucking idiot. I was enjoying myself without a drink."

Fly snorts, "I could tell."

"Oh?" I sarcastically reply, glaring. "Could you now?"

A noise between a growl and a squeak sounds out from the back of Jasper's throat, his face nuzzling right under my jaw as his warm, exasperated sigh hits the side of my neck.

He wants attention again.

Focusing back onto him with an amused scoff, I ask, "Is there anything I can do to help with your jealousy?"

Jasper pulls away, flushed red as he tilts his head at me, shrugging a bit. "Um... I-I don't know? I'm yours. Not him." Something I previously thought we both knew. "And I know that but, urm, I don't. Can y-you wear my jacket?"

Fucking yes please.

"Silly," Moving my hands down to cup his face, I kiss him gently for a few moments, feeling as his face gets warmer from that alone. "I know you're mine," My world. "And sure, even though I'll look even smaller in it."

As soon as he shrugged the jacket off, letting me get on the seat in order to do so, and holds it out to me I knew I was right.

I'm an average guy, I'm not small.

But he's massive.

It's how both a hill and a mountain are high in the air, but the mountain is the only one hard to climb.

If you know, you know.

Scowling at the way the jacket- -that smells just like Jasper and honestly makes my head a little fuzzy- -covers my frame, the sleeves almost to my knees and the shoulders hanging off mine, I glare at the floor.

He might not even notice he does it, but the musician's hands motion out in a 'gimme' way that toddlers do when they want to be picked up, looking all too adorable as he does it.

Climbing back onto his lap is easy, as Jasper greedily takes in my presence and tugs me close to his chest again.

"Fucking giant." I grumble, crossing my arms.

Jasper grins, leaning in to kiss me again. Suddenly, just like that, my frustration melts away.

My world is a good place to be.