Chapter Nine
Charlotte
I shut the water off, my legs shaky, but my lady bits happily buzzing. I grabbed one of my fluffy towels and passed it to Nick before grabbing my own.
“You are not getting this towel back by the way,” Nick said as he ran it over his face and fastened it around his lean waist.
I wrapped my own around my chest and secured it. “I’m willing to share, but I might expect something in return.”
He broke out in a grin and threaded his arms around my hips. “Yeah? You want me to team up with your vibrator again?”
“Towels for dick? Might want to up your standards, Nick.”
He ran his eyes over me with a heat that I thought I’d fucked out of him. “My standards are fine.”
I fought a blush as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him, soft and slow.
This situation had every reason to be awkward, but it really wasn’t.
Since I’d had my back to him, I hadn’t had the chance to really appreciate his lips, or the scrape of his stubble.
I was enjoying running my fingers through the hair at the back of his neck, and seeing his eyes light.
We’ve both had a long day, yet going to sleep was the last thing on my mind.
I wanted to stay here, pressed against his bare chest. As soon as I opened the bathroom door and the steam from our shower evaporated, I’d have to ask myself the question of what just happened and had anything changed between us.
Finally, he pulled his lips from mine and rested his chin on my shoulder. He seemed in no hurry for this to be over either. “I should let you get some sleep,” he said, his voice low.
“We both should get some sleep.”
Again, I was struck by how not awkward the whole thing was.
We were naked, having just seen each other at our most vulnerable and rather than rushing to get away from the situation we were both reluctant to let go.
I’d never had that after a hookup before.
Of course, I’d never hooked up with someone I’d known my entire life either.
Finally, he pulled away. He started toward the door but paused before going through it. “Charlotte? This wasn’t a one time thing. Right?”
I licked my lips and looked him over from his too long hair to his toned chest but it was his face that struck me. There was a vulnerability there. His eyes held the question, and he was desperate for a certain answer. I nodded. “Definitely not.”
******
“Good morning.” I all but sang to Kim as she walked through the door of Oh, Beans!
She froze and dropped her eyebrows. “It’s four am, girl. Take it down a notch.” She moved to the back to put her things away and I continued adding ingredients to the mixer. She appeared at my elbow a moment later, like the sneaky little ninja she was. “Alright, spill.”
I looked at the ground around the mixer. “I didn’t spill.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, spill . As in spill the tea. You’re humming while you bake.” She lowered her voice. “Did you finally take my suggestion and make a batch of special brownies? You could make a killing with those.”
I laughed, but didn’t answer.
I could feel her studying me as I measured out chocolate chips. “Well, up until today you’ve spent every day telling me about your crippling debt. So, if you aren’t high then you got laid.”
I could feel my cheeks turning pink. “You are such a gossip.” It was an attempt at deflection that I knew she’d never go for.
“Oh, my God.” Kim slapped her hands on the counter. “You had sex.”
“Who had sex?” Derek asked, wandering into the kitchen.
“Stop right there. I don’t want you dragging construction debris into my pristine kitchen.”
He held his hands up and backed out but rather than heading back to work as I’d hoped, he stopped on the other side of what would become the front counter. “Fine, fine but I want a muffin when they’re ready, and you still didn’t answer my question.”
“We were talking about me,” Kim blurted out.
I shot her a grateful look. She knew about the issues between Derek and Nick and if she suspected what had happened between me and my new roommate, she knew Derek’s reaction wouldn’t be good.
Once Derek was out of earshot, Kim rounded on me and raised an eyebrow.
“Fine, yes. Nick and I, last night.”
She covered her mouth and let out a little squeal. “Must have been good from the way you’re glowing right now.”
Fuck, she had no idea. “God, yes. We are one hundred percent doing it again.”
“So, is it just for funsies or are you putting a label on it?” she asked, leaning against the counter next to me.
I flicked the mixer on for a moment to stall answering.
It was complicated because of our history, well his history with Derek, and we both had shit going on with work.
I clicked it off again and leaned against the counter next to her.
“All I know for sure, is that we are getting along and having fun together. I don’t know what it means or if it will go anywhere.
I don’t even know if either of us want it to. ”
She sighed. “I won’t bug you about it then. Just let me know if you want to talk.”
“I will, and for the love of god, don’t tell Derek.”
She rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”
I got a few more answers about where Nick was at, when I arrived home after work that day. He came through the door just after five as he’d been doing for the last week. I wasn’t sure what the protocol was here. Should I greet him with a kiss or just stick to our usual roommate routine?
He made the decision for me. “Hi, how was your day?” He leaned over my shoulder to see what I was cooking and kissed me on the cheek.
“It was fine. How was yours?”
“Long.” He put a stack of mail on the counter and started setting the table.
We continued to chat away about our day through dinner and cleaning up afterwards.
All those years I’d missed his friendship because of the boys stupid feud had me angry all over again.
Nick was a really good guy. He was funny, he was thoughtful and because we’d grown up together, we had a lifetime of shared experience.
The fact that he wasn’t intimidated by my vibrator didn’t hurt either.
As he closed the dishwasher and hit the start button, I crowded behind him wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head between his shoulder blades.
He leaned back into me and we stood like that for a moment.
Sometimes I didn’t realize how much weight I had put on my own shoulders until someone else helped me carry it.
A simple hug from Nick made it all feel more manageable.
He turned in my arms and brought his big hands to the sides of my face and kissed me long and slow. He explored my lips with his, nibbling first the bottom and then the top, like we had all the time in the world.
His lips moved lazily along my jaw and down the side of my neck leaving big open mouth kisses in their wake.
I buried my face into his neck taking in the smell of his skin and fresh cut lumber. I was about to suggest that we take things to the bedroom, when my eyes caught on the envelope at the top of the stack of mail. I pulled back. “Sonofabitch.”