Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Andrew
We’ve been lying in Grace’s bed. My hands have been roaming over her naked body in leisurely strokes.
Touching her where I want and as much as I want.
After our first intense round, I took my time with her.
Just like I promised. I kissed her in places I hadn’t yet.
Places where I wondered how she felt. The dip in her hips, the hollow behind her knees, the arch of her feet.
I tasted her, drawing her orgasm out of her in every which way I could.
She turned into a sex-starved seductress as she took me in her mouth, bobbing up and down as I fell at her mercy. She wanted it all as much as I did.
The minutes ticked away on her clock, and we watched the night grow quiet with the occasional siren passing by on the streets or a shout or a holler echoes against the tall buildings.
With how late it is, I know we’re probably going to watch the night grow lighter.
The sun will probably peek over the horizon, letting us know our time together is measured, and we’ll have to soon step back out into the real world.
But for now, we remain in our own private bubble.
We didn’t have to think about all the things outside of Grace’s bedroom.
We didn’t have to think about my sister and what she would say if she were to find out Grace and I are becoming something more than just a rash one-night stand.
We even set aside my work and the angry email I was sure to come back to on Monday considering I left without so much as a warning thrown over my shoulder to Olive to track down Grace.
We glazed over all the little details we’ve kept from each other over the past few weeks.
How I was doing my best to respect her space and her wishes.
How I almost gave it all up when I saw her in her green bikini at Teeny’s house.
How every minute I spent with her under the guise of a friend hanging out with a friend only made me want her more.
I told her everything, wanting it out in the open so she knew this wasn’t some empty tryst I was going to walk away from unscathed.
In fact, no part of me would walk away from this unscathed. I was all in.
“We were really stupid, weren’t we?”
I nuzzle my cheek into her temple, listening to her speak her playful words against my chest. “So fucking stupid.”
“I really thought we could be friends,” she continues.
“I didn’t.”
She looks up at me. “You didn’t?”
“Nope.”
“Then why did you agree to it?”
I shrug, making her head bob against me. “Because it’s what you wanted.”
She rolls her eyes, shoving her hands against my stomach. She starts pulling away, but I wrap my arm around her, bringing her flush against me. “Come on,” I argue. “What was I supposed to say?”
“I don’t know. Tell the truth?”
“And then what would’ve happened?”
“I probably would’ve told you…”
“That you and I could never happen?” I ask, stating what seems to be the obvious.
Her silence proves my point. “Still,” she weakly claims.
“It’s fine,” I assure her. “I did what I had to do to keep seeing you.”
She pinches my side. A reproval for my little white lie and something she’s obviously willing to overlook as she wraps her arm around my midsection and nudges her knee between my legs.
“There’s nothing going on with me and Olive,” I tell her, speaking the honest truth into the crown of her head. I know it’s a little out of left field, but I want to clear the air. There’s no one else but her. No Olive or some other random girl filling my thoughts. Just her.
She nods. “I know.”
“Okay,” I whisper. “I just want to make sure you know.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No,” I protest with a fleeting shake of my head. “Don’t be. I should’ve said something or done something. I just didn’t think…I didn’t think.”
She lifts herself up, straddling my lap. “No, you didn’t,” she says with hooded eyes and a coy smirk. I feel her rocking herself against me, and I’m already growing hard again. We’ve already done it twice, and a third time seems to be on the horizon.
I sit up, wanting her closer to me. “I’m a little offended.”
Her head rears back in confusion. “Why?”
“It’s like you just want me for my body.”
“Ah,” she responds, a smile teasing her lips. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel…used.”
“You’re just going to have to make it up to me,” I respond, “so I don’t feel so cheap.”
She kisses me, her rolling hips driving me crazy. My dick twitches, and she hums as it brushes against her. “I just thought…you know, we should be making up for lost time.”
I give her ass a firm squeeze. “You are so right.”
“To think we’ve been depriving ourselves of this. All this time.”
“I told you,” I respond, my voice weak. “So. Fucking. Stupid. And for what?”
Her movements stop. As if my off-handed question caused a sudden realization to dawn on her. She grips my head, cupping my jaw and tilting my face to force my eyes to hers.
“What?” I ask, watching her eyes search mine.
She sucks in a deep breath, letting out a regretful sigh. “Should we talk about this?”
“About what?”
“Like…where do we go from here?”
I don’t know the answer to that question. As much as I wish I knew and hope our hearts are in the same place, I don’t know what’s okay. I don’t know what’s allowed between us. So, with the uncertainty weighing heavy on my chest, I ask, “Where do you want us to go from here?”
“I don’t know.”
I respond with silence, a small twinge of disappointment twisting in my gut.
“But I know I want to keep seeing you,” she adds. “I want to keep spending my nights with you, and maybe my mornings with you.”
“I want that too,” I say honestly. But I know that’s not all. There’s a clause. A stipulation stapled to the back of it, and I need to flip the page and read the fine print before celebrating.
“I just don’t know if I’m ready for everyone else to know about us.”
“So, we keep things a secret.” It’s not what I want, but it’s what I’ll take.
Grace isn’t ready for the world to know about us.
She’s worried they won’t accept us for what we are.
Two adults who have fallen for each other.
Two people who were never meant to fall for each other.
So, until she is ready for that, she can keep me as her little secret.
And when she is ready, I’ll be the first person to shout to the world what she means to me.