21. Sofia
21
SOFIA
J ordan and I go to a local pottery class. This, I’m much better at than the pole dancing or the knitting videos we tried to learn from a few weeks ago. Something about just getting my hands onto something and using my instincts to create art feels natural.
It’s close enough to my editing work that I feel somewhat confident. Not that confidence makes me produce anything someone would buy—other than maybe my mother. But it’s fun, and I get to take out some of my anxiety and burnout on the lump of clay.
Not that I don’t have other ways of working out my frustrations, but time and opportunity seem to be at play here.
Jordan knocks her shoulder into mine, and my wobbling vase falls completely on the wheel. We both laugh.
“You have to share details about the lumberjack. I know you’ve been over there a lot. Please tell me more has happened.” Her dark eyes are begging me for something juicy.
I’m glad she’s speaking in code out in public. Anyone who may have seen me with Braxton, Orion, or Cedric might catch on eventually, but stories are about the details, so I simply won’t give the telling ones here. “Something more has happened.”
I wiggle in my seat and smash my clay back into a lump to begin again.
She gasps in mock shock. “Did he throw you over his shoulder and take you to bed?”
“Not over his shoulder, but he did manage to carry me up the stairs.” My eyes widen at the implication. I’m not a delicate flower. It takes real power to carry me up those eight steps. Braxton did it without any outward strain.
Her eyes go wide and sultry. “Oh, did he…”
I bite my lip to hide my grin. He was sexy and romantic and more than eager to enjoy every part of me. So completely different, but no less intense than Cedric or Orion. God, the three of them get past my boundaries in different ways.
I’ve never been so relaxed and satisfied.
“Oh, my God, you are holding back on me.” Jordan leans in. “I know about Golden Boy, but the Task Master… I’ve seen the footage and how he looks at you.”
My friend mimes swinging a whip, providing the sound effect, too.
I can feel my face burning hot, and Jordan pumps a dirty fist in the air, splattering someone next to her.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” The easy way she disarms conflict makes me jealous. I’m usually too stern or too silly. “I’ve just learned that my new best friend is exploring all of her options, and I’m pumped. You know?”
The middle-aged woman laughs. “Do it while you’re young before life gets in the way.”
I’m ducking my head a little. I’ve only slept with two guys before I somehow stumbled into a trio. I worry the inside of my cheek over the fact that I’m not really in a relationship with any of them. No one has mentioned exclusivity, but somehow, the speed with which we’ve each fallen together makes me feel… off.
Not exactly like I’m wrong, but like I should be more honest with them.
“Oh, no, what is that face all about?”
I lift my gaze to meet Jordan’s. Most of her silliness has bled away, and I sigh. “Just had a serious thought is all. You know, about being a respectful adult.”
“Mmm.” She digs her thumb into her lump of clay and makes the wheel spin. “Respect is important, but also, don’t throw a bomb into the fun while it’s still just fun. I mean, I know for some, sex can’t just be fun. From our talks, I think you’re on the fence with that. Let it come up naturally so that everything else has room to build.”
My shoulders slump, the tension releasing. She’s right, of course. If I jump on this now—tell them about each other—I’ll just ruin everything. They all enjoy my company for sure, and vice versa, but I’m not ready to rule anyone out yet.
I build a new vase between my hands. “I think you’re right.”
Jordan grins, back in fun mode. “Of course I’m right. Besides, we have so many details to cover before you’re allowed to get sappy on me.”
Mood lightening, I lower my voice and give her every juicy, non-incriminating detail possible. It draws in the older ladies around us, and we devolve into the dirtiest and silliest and somehow most serious conversation I’ve ever had with a group of strangers.
We don’t feel so much like strangers by the time Jordan and I leave the place. Our shoulders keep bumping into each other as we walk and giggle our way back to campus. But I swear, the moment my feet hit the sidewalk at the edge of campus grounds—the one by my favorite café—an alarm must go off on Orion’s phone because he’s striding toward me with a purpose, slow and confident.
Jordan grabs my arm with a tight squeeze. “I guess I’ll see you later.”
And she’s backing away, waving her goodbyes before I can even respond.
Orion intercepts me as I turn back to send her a look for abandoning me. She just gives me the all-knowing, Go Get Him eyes.
Sighing, I really can’t complain, not when I see the earnest emotion swimming in Orion’s clear blue gaze.
“Hey.” His voice is low and soft and far, far too intimate. We haven’t found time to be alone, although he’s snuck a few minutes of hand holding here and there, one small kiss.
He’s been pretty respectful by letting me think about this whole thing.
“Hey,” I say, swaying a little as he simply looks me over.
“Did you need a ride somewhere? Or can I walk with you?”
The attention makes me blush, but I nod. “Sure. Come on.”
Thank God for Jordan. My hang-ups have all but melted away as we walk in silence. We’re on campus, so he doesn’t try to touch me. I get it. But I’m more than aware of how close he is. Of how he watches me in ways that don’t seem obvious.
“Were you out for a girls’ night or something for your project?” Orion breaks the steady silence, and his pinky brushes mine. We’re back to these games, and I can’t say I’m upset about it.
I like how easygoing he is. How he can be young with me, even if he’s more serious than I gave him credit for previously.
“Both? The project dictated the activities, and it’s a girls’ night because Jordan is fun to be around.”
“Good.” It’s almost a good-humored chuckle disguised as a word.
I grin and don’t tell him that we were talking about him, but the tension between us is clear enough that I don’t have to.
Peeking at him catches his gaze, and I lose myself for a few steps before I have to watch where I’m going.
We seem to be meandering toward where I usually park, where Orion likely has his car. But he steers me toward the building instead of the lot. I don’t ask a single question. I could, and it would derail this forward momentum, but I don’t want to.
He’s pulled his keys out and lets me into a large, shared office. It’s packed with books and notebooks, props and cubbies of equipment. It’s otherwise empty.
The moment the door snaps closed, my back meets it, and Orion is nearly pressed against me. His hands bracket my head, and he looks like he’s debating whether or not to touch me.
My bag falls from my fingertips with a soft thump, and I smooth my palms up his back. He crumples into me, the entire line of our bodies meeting before his mouth lowers to mine. His kiss is intense but slow, like he’s not in a rush. Like he has all the time in the world to enjoy this moment.
So I make myself pump the brakes a little, running my hands over the tight muscles of his back and shoulders. It keeps us pressed together, surging in shallow waves as I grow hot. Orion tugs my knee up over his hip, and fuck, I can feel how hard he is—how affected.
I sink a hand into his soft golden waves, and our mouths break apart. We both pant for air, for control, for the awareness to remember where we are.
“If I thought that walk would end this way, I’d have steered you to my apartment instead. Much comfier furniture for this kind of thing.”
I laugh. It’s so easy for him, and I like how much he can make me laugh.
“How far of a walk is it to your apartment?” I trace my nail down the back of his ear, and he shivers, pressing his hips into mine a little harder.
“Twenty minutes.” The words are huskier than before. “Three-minute drive, though.”
I glance to the side where an analog clock hangs. It’s nearly eight.
My nail makes a trail down the underside of his perfectly cut jaw, and his head tilts back as his eyes flutter closed. I want to keep kissing him. But not here.
“I have another hour before I need to be home. We’d better drive.”
Orion searches my eyes for a second before he steps back and picks up my bag. We scamper to his car, and once it’s in motion, I reach across the small barrier between us and run my hand over his knee, making a slow glide up his thigh.
He lets out a sharp breath and his knuckles turn white against the steering wheel.
I’m in my element now, watching him sweat. I don’t stop my hand as I creep toward his erection. I smooth my palm over him and squeeze.
Orion gives me a garbled moan, part shock and more pleasure. His mouth hangs partially open as I fondle and tease his length.
When I unzip him, he drops one hand from the steering wheel to give me space. Such a smart move. It gives me better access to pull him out and properly stroke him.
His hand tangles in my hair as we come to a stop sign, and he pulls me into a short but intimate kiss. I grin when he pulls back to keep driving, a wild look blooming in his features.
I want to push him even farther. Decision made, I lean down, braced over the small armrest between us, and spread my tongue across the head of his cock.
Orion’s hand tightens in my hair. “Oh, fuck.”
Mmm. He sounds reverent as I suck him fully into my mouth. I lose myself to the taste of him, the pressure of his hand in my hair, the string of swear words falling from Orion.
The car jerks to a stop, and his hips start to lift under my suction, seeking his pleasure.
We must be at his apartment, but I don’t stop, too drunk on the noises he makes—most of them quiet and stifled—until he holds me still, pulling himself free and lifting me for a devastatingly hot kiss.
Orion’s on the brink, but he’s careful as he pulls my bottom lip into his mouth.
“Come with me inside.”