Chapter 5 #2
“Y’all have fun handing out candy,” he teases, doing air quotes around the words.
Iris stumbles over her words, but recovers quick enough, calling out, “Be safe, Alex,” with a gentle warmth in her voice.
“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbles, ducking his head as he starts down the sidewalk. I watch him go until he turns the corner, that tight knot in my chest settling in for the night.
When I turn back to Iris, she’s watching me, brows creased with concern. “He’ll be fine,” I tell her, but I’m not sure which one of us I’m trying to convince.
Together, we fill up the Halloween bowl with the best candy bars I could find. I order a pizza, cheese, ‘cause Iris is a vegetarian, and I want what Iris wants.
And when the pizza arrives, we settle in to start our movie marathon.
Iris is curled up on the couch, legs tucked under her, a blanket pooled around her waist. I drop down next to her, holding up the DVD case. “So. Halloween or Psycho first?”
She purses her lips, thinking hard about it, “Halloween,” she decides.
“Good choice.”
Truth is, I would’ve watched a documentary about paint drying if she asked. ‘Halloween’ is one of my favorites, though.
The opening scene starts, and I lean back into the couch, throwing an arm around her. The glow of the TV flickers over her face, catching on the curve of her cheek.
Don’t know how I’m supposed to pay attention to the movie when she’s right here.
We’re pulled out of a particularly scary scene by a knock on the door.
Before I can even start to get up, Iris scrambles to her feet. “I got it!”
I watch her from the couch as she grabs the candy and pulls open the door, revealing a princess, a ninja, and a toddler lion, staring up at her.
“Oh, look at you!” she gasps, holding the bowl down so they can grab what they want.
The kids say their thank yous, all beaming up at her when she tells them to take two.
My heart does something crazy, watching her like that, so sweet with the kids. She would be such a good mother. It hits me hard that I’m even thinking about that.
She closes the door, still smiling, and flops back onto the couch beside me. “They were so cute!”
“They were,” I agree, “But not as cute as you.”
She groans, but she’s still smiling, “You’re hopeless.”
The movie’s over, the candy’s mostly gone, and the only light in the room is the credits scrolling down the screen. Iris looks up at me, and she’s so damn beautiful it hurts. “You wanna watch another?”
She shrugs, still looking at me with those big, pretty eyes, like she’s got something on her mind.
“What is it?”
“Thank you for inviting me tonight.”
“Darlin’, you don’t have to thank me. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” And when she lights up at that, I just gotta kiss her.
I lean down, closing the distance between us. And I don’t intend for it to go far, but her lips taste like chocolate, and she’s sliding her hand up, gripping my t-shirt.
She lets out a quiet sound, and fuck, it does something to me.
Something hungry.
I tilt my head, kissing her deeper, my tongue tangling with hers. One of her hands wraps around the back of my neck, and suddenly there’s barely any space left between us.
My hand moves to her waist, thumb brushing warm skin where her sweater has ridden up, revealing golden brown skin I want more of.
I slip my hand under the hem, running it up the curve of her back, and she gasps, but she doesn’t pull away.
If anything, she kisses me harder, my thumb brushes the side of her breast, light, testing.
She lets out a shaky breath.
Outside, the wind rattles the porch, a reminder that the world’s still spinning, but right now, we’re the only people in it.
I pull back enough to look at her. Her mouth is kiss-swollen, her cheeks flushed, pupils wide. Neither of us says a word as I start to ease her sweater up, slowly, giving her time to stop me.
Looking down, I slide her sweater over her ribs, revealing the shallow rise of her chest, and my breath stumbles as I discover that she isn’t wearing a bra.
I look down at her small, perfect curves, at her dark nipples hardening in the cool air. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
I lick my lips.
While I’m staring down at her, mesmerized, Iris makes a small, startled sound.
I freeze.
When I look up at her, the heat in her eyes from before is gone, replaced by what I can only describe as fear.
I drop her sweater immediately, letting it fall back over her body, as my hand moves to cup her cheek. “What’s wrong? Did I- I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“No!” She responds, shaking her head. “No, Nate. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
I wait, not wanting to push her, but my heart is pounding hard, every bit of arousal draining away, dread settling in. I wouldn’t be able to stand it if I hurt her. If she didn’t want—
“I just,” she pauses, looking up at the ceiling, flustered, by what she has to say or what we did, I’m not sure.
“I’ve never done this before,” she admits, twisting her fingers together like she does when she’s anxious, biting her lip, looking anywhere but at me. “I want to, with you. Someday. But I’m not ready to do anything yet.”
Relief floods through me so fast it damn near makes me dizzy. “Hey,” I say, making sure she’s looking at me. “That’s okay. More than okay. I swear I wasn’t trying to rush you.”
“You didn’t, Nate.”
“I do want you,” she continues, her cheeks coloring more than they already were, “But it’s my first time and—”
“I know,” I murmur, brushing my thumb across her cheek, then down to her chin, tilting her face up to me. “I can wait. As long as you need.”
“You can?”
“You got no idea how much I want you,” I say, my voice going a little rough. “But more than that, I want you to be comfortable.”
She exhales shakily, then leans forward, pressing her forehead to mine. We stay like that for a long moment, breathing each other in until finally, I brush a tender kiss over her lips. “Come here.”
She curls into me, her head on my chest, my arm around her.
And honestly-
It feels just as good as sex.