Chapter 29 #2
Just let me.
Do I have the energy to fight this battle? Do I have the ability to resist the one person in the world who wants me around?
No. I don’t.
I text him my address with the warning: Keep your expectations low. Text me when you get here.
I take a shower, which I’d usually save for this evening, but if I don’t do something, I’ll crash and sleep through his text.
Staying awake one more hour is worth it, though, because when I go down to get him, he’s the best thing I’ve ever seen on this side of town.
Dressed way, way down in sweats and his puffy coat, he catches me up in a kiss right there in broad daylight in the middle of the sidewalk. And while I’m still bone-tired, his hands on my face and his mouth on mine wake up enough parts of me that sleep moves to the back of my mind.
I grab him by the shoulders and pull away to look at him. His blue eyes are lighter in the bright sunshine, flecks of black and gray standing out. “You smell great.”
“You too.”
I take his hand. “Come on up.”
We live on the second floor, and I appreciate that Olivier doesn’t comment on the state of the old building, which probably takes some effort on his part.
I open the door to the apartment and usher him in.
He takes a cursory glance around. “It’s bigger than I pictured,” he says. “You made it sound like a coffin.”
I chuckle. “It’s small for four people.”
“Yeah, I guess. So where is everyone?”
“That’s a long story, and as of this morning a sensitive subject. The important part is I have a room to myself today, and you’re welcome in it.”
“That’s very sweet, Drew.” He gives me a sly smile. With one door closed and the other open, he correctly proceeds toward the one where I’m sleeping today.
It’s sparse compared to his luxury digs, with blackout curtains and a single lamp on the lone nightstand. The bed is queen-sized, and a large Ikea dresser takes up most of the rest of the space along with a standing clothes rack.
“There’s something unbelievably sexy about this,” he says.
I huff. “You think?”
“Yeah.”
I lie down on the bed, not wasting any more time getting horizontal. He flips through the clothes rack, and I ask, “How’d it go last night?”
“We’re on Page Six with a very nice write-up,” he replies casually.
“Picture?” I ask.
“Down on a knee and everything.”
“I’ll have to check that out later.”
“I told Elodie about us,” he says.
My head jerks. “You did?”
“She asked how I knew I could trust you.”
Scowling, I ask, “What did you tell her?”
“I didn’t know what to say, actually.” He turns away from the clothes rack and slides onto the bed, lying on his stomach with his head on an arm to face me.
“Do you not trust me?” I ask.
“I do. I just didn’t know how to explain why I do.”
I touch his face, palming his cheek and jaw. “If I wanted to blackmail you, I would have done it already.”
“I don’t know. What if I piss you off?”
“You constantly piss me off.”
“What if I do something really horrid, then?”
“Like what?”
“Like…” He appears to consider this a moment while the furrow in his brow deepens. I smooth the lines with slow, firm strokes of my thumb. “I don’t know,” he finally says.
“You must like me, then,” I say with a small smile. It’s a smile that I hope he knows means I’m grateful he’s here—that he came all the way to the Village, and he’s lying beside me in the middle of the day when he could be doing so many other, more glamorous things.
“Is it that obvious?” he asks with probably the shyest smile he’s capable of. It’s so cute I have to touch it, too. He nips at my thumb as I drag it over his lips. “Anyway,” he goes on, “I won’t be having sex with her again. I don’t know if you actually care, but I’m happy about it.”
“I do care. I was pretty sure I made my thoughts on it really clear.”
“She’s growing on me though. Like a tumor. But a non-invasive one.”
“What if your parents demand you produce another heir?”
“There are so many ways to impregnate someone without actually going anywhere near them. The miracle of modern medicine. You’re looking at one.”
I scowl. “You’re a test-tube baby?”
He rolls his eyes. “Jesus, how old are you?”
“It’s what my parents call people like you,” I say.
“It’s true, Drew. I was not conceived the old-fashioned way.”
“No wonder you’re so pretty. They probably tinkered with your DNA a little, huh?”
He smiles again, and it’s precious. “Shut up.”
“Since you came all the way down here, I have some shitty news.”
“I didn’t come all this way for shitty news,” he says “I came to make out and fuck you to sleep. I stayed up all night to be able to sleep with you today.”
“You stayed up all night with Elodie?”
“No, she got smashed at The Lounge and passed out as soon as I steered her to bed.”
“And you did what?”
“Push-ups. Crunches. Worked on my cartwheels.”
A pure and genuine smile breaks across my face. Not sarcastic. Not grudging. Just…charmed.
I drag our faces closer and kiss him, hard. “Mmph,” is the sound he makes on impact.
“About my news…”
He shakes his head, eyes half-lidded, and shuts me up with another, deeper, longer kiss, during which, he crawls on top of me and pulls out all the stops to keep my mouth occupied with his tongue.
Giving in, I push down his sweats and grope his bare ass. He moves to kiss my neck, works my t-shirt up, and makes his way down my chest and abs. While he’s down there, I strip my shirt off the rest of the way and let him do his thing.