Chapter 9 Zeke
nine
Zeke
Idon’t know what drew me to her, but I’m glad it did. I saw her when she first walked in, straggling behind two other girls who were looking for Declan. She almost seemed like a lost puppy. Like she wasn’t sure if she should even be here.
And then she disappeared into the kitchen, and I found Jere hanging in the living room with some girls I’d never seen before. Girls who, on any other night, I would’ve made a move on right then, but part of me was worried I might never see her again.
It was a weird feeling, wondering if this would be my only chance to talk to her because maybe she’d never come to another party. Then there she was. Sitting on the couch, alone.
And now she’s lying beneath me. Her olive brown skin gleaming with sweat, eyes glazed over in an orgasm haze, reaching for my belt. I grab her hand right after she undoes my belt and jeans, not giving her the chance to move her hand any lower.
“What? You worried you won’t be able to get it up twice?” There’s a note of laughter in her voice, and the sound makes me smile.
“Not worried about that at all.” I shake my head. “I just like to be cautious. If, for some reason, I can’t get hard again, I’d rather enjoy being inside of you than your hand.”
“And if it’s my mouth?”
Those words almost cause me to cum right then. Fuck, she’s got a mouth on her… and I like it.
Most girls are all moans and groans, which, don’t get me wrong, is also a total turn-on.
I was worried for about fifty percent of her first orgasm that she wasn’t actually enjoying it because she was silent.
But it was almost like she needed my okay.
She needed me to tell her that I wanted her to make noise. After that, she didn’t hold back.
But part of me likes this even more.
It’s part of what made me realize I made the right decision downstairs.
And to make things even better, she’s a no-strings kind of girl.
So, unless she’s lying, I don’t have to worry about being on campus tomorrow and hearing people talk about how I finally settled down because some girl went and told all of her friends we were in love.
That I changed my ways just for her.
Fuck that.
I’ve been this Zeke, the “I don’t do commitments” Zeke, since I was a sophomore in high school. I don’t see that changing now.
“Are we just gonna sit here?” She crosses her arms. “Or are you gonna make your mind up about what happens next?”
I open the nightstand next to my bed and rip a condom off of the rope. I hold it up, almost like I’m looking for Avalon’s approval to get inside of her. She looks at me and then eyes my jeans, which I nearly forgot I still had on.
“Usually, you’re naked for this part,” she continues. “I know you might be new at this, but—”
“Ha ha.” I roll my eyes. “You’re gonna regret saying that.”
“Oh yeah?” She watches me as I strip out of my remaining clothes; one of her hands rests near her mouth, allowing her to bite the tip of one of her nails while she watches me.
Once I’m completely naked, I look over at her. “I don’t think this is a fair trade. One of us is completely naked, and the other is—”
I point to her bra, and it doesn’t take long for her to understand what I’m saying, and then her bra is across the room. I stalk toward the bed, and she scoots back so she’s closer to the top. And right before I crawl over her, I slide the condom on.
And then we lay there.
I position myself, her hands running up and down my hips, as we stare at each other.
And then I ease inside of her, and it sends a chill down my spine, and from the way her fingers dig into my hips, I can tell it did the same thing to her.
I give her a minute to adjust, which also gives me time to regain my composure, so this lasts a pleasurable amount of time for both of us.
I ease out just enough before sinking even deeper into her, causing her head to bend back, giving me full access to her neck. Which I take advantage of. I press lingering kisses along the side until I reach the sensitive skin right under her ear, which earns me a whimper.
I pick up the tempo, allowing her hands to decide how far she wants me to go. And with each thrust, I feel like I’m going deeper than before, which doesn’t seem possible, but whatever sorcery it is, the sounds she’s making are worth it.
“Zeke.” The words are breathy as her eyes close, almost like she’s trying to focus on the sensation in her body's lower half. My lips travel back down her neck and across her collarbone until they start to travel up the other side of her neck, and then to her cheek, and—
Her eyes pop open.
“No kissing,” she says, almost as if she read my mind.
“What?” My hips stop with me deep inside of her. “I don’t know if you forgot, but we already kissed downstairs.”
She flips us over so she’s on top of me now and gets back to our old steady rhythm. My hands dig into her waist, and hers hold onto the headboard for balance.
“Kissing is fine until it’s during sex,” she replies. “That’s too intimate. I don’t do strings, remember?”
“You’re serious?”
Now she stops. “Is that a problem?”
I flip us back over so I’m in control as I start to pick up our pace. “No. I just didn’t realize we were gonna Pretty Woman this thing.”
“You know Pretty Woman?”
“I know it well enough to know kissing’s off-limits,” I respond. “Is it really just an attachment thing? Do you truthfully think that I’m more likely to get attached to you if we kiss while I’m inside of you? Are you worried you’ll get more attached?”
“I don’t know. Something about kissing during sex—”
I stop my rhythm again, and she sighs.
“Is this something we should be talking about while I’m literally inside of you?” I wonder. “I mean, I’ve had conversations during sex, but they usually have nothing to do with commitment. It’s more sensual.”
She laughs.
That’s a first. A girl laughing while I’m as deep as I can possibly be inside of her.
She flips us over again, and if I’m being honest, I enjoy seeing her more from this angle. I enjoy seeing her be the one in control. It’s refreshing.
“At least I know this will be memorable for you,” she says. “Now, do you want to keep talking about why I don’t kiss during sex? Or do you wanna give me another orgasm?”
“Definitely the orgasm.”
She wastes no time picking up her rhythm, her golden-brown hair falling into her face as she tilts her hips forward, causing me to enter her at a different angle. A more enjoyable angle, if I do say so myself.
“Fuck,” I groan, my hands gripping her thighs to help her keep up with the rhythm of our bodies.
I can tell she’s getting close, not only from the way her body pulses around me but by the way her hands fall from the headboard and meet my chest. They dig into my shoulders to help her balance.
And it only takes two more pumps for her back to arch and for her to bite her bottom lip as she releases.
Her body falls against mine, and I can feel her heart racing against my chest. I flip us back over to continue the previous pace as I reach my own climax while she comes down from hers.
My teeth sink into the skin below her ear as I hit my release, but she doesn’t seem to mind the sting. If anything, she seems to enjoy it.
“Fuck me,” she mumbles as I pull out of her to discard the condom.
I can’t remember the last time my body felt like Jello after sex. I feel like my legs could give out at any moment, but lucky for me, I make it back to my bed before that happens.
Once I lay down, I pull her into me, drawing lazy circles against her back. Fuck. That was… fuck.
“That was nice.” I can feel her words vibrate against my chest. “I needed that.”
You and me both.
“You tired?” I wonder, looking down at her, noticing her closed eyes and content smile.
“Why, you ready to go again?” She peeks up at me. “Guess you do have it in you after all.”
Before I can respond, our stomachs growl. “Really made you work up an appetite, huh?”
“I guess I could say the same for you.”
“I’ll sneak back downstairs.” I jump up from my bed, grab sweatpants from my dresser, and a hoodie from the floor. “There’s gotta be some more pizza left.”
She nods, pulling my sheets to cover her body. There’s this look in her eye, and I can’t tell if it’s the, I’ll be gone when you get back look or the, I’ll be ready to go again when you get back look.
The party’s slowly starting to die down when I get downstairs. Fletcher’s the only guy still downstairs, but Tate must’ve gone home.
I sneak into the kitchen, which is weird since this is my house, and I find the jackpot with a completely untouched pizza. So, I grab it and a couple of root beers from the fridge since I saw Avalon drinking it earlier, and I sneak back to my room.
Part of me’s surprised when I get back to my room and see her still sitting on my bed, but now she’s wearing my Rockford Hockey t-shirt that was thrown across the room at some point tonight.
“Nice shirt.” I grin as I toss the pizza box onto the bed and sit beside her.
“Sorry.” Her cheeks burn red, almost like her throwing on my shirt, which was easy for her to grab, is embarrassing. “I should’ve asked you first.”
“No.” I shake my head. “It suits you.”
She rolls her lips into her mouth like she’s trying to stop herself from smiling. I act as if I don’t notice as I flip open the pizza box.
“Oh god,” she moans. “I’m starving.”
“I think this pizza gave you a larger orgasm than I did.”
“Don’t act like you don’t think this is a beautiful pizza.” She grabs a slice. “If I could’ve slept with this pizza over you, I would’ve.”
She shoves half the slice into her mouth, taking a large bite, and unlike her, I don’t even try to hide my smile.
“I hope you keep that in mind when you realize sleeping with Zeke Harris is never a one-time experience.”
“Except it is. You even said it yourself. This is a one-time thing.”
“Oh, definitely. Once you’re out that door, we never revisit this. However, that doesn't mean you won’t be craving me for the rest of time.”
“Craving you?” She chuckles as she takes another bite. “If anyone is craving anyone, it’ll be you craving me. And while you do that, I’ll be craving this pizza.”
I pick up a slice of pizza and watch her as I take a bite.
“Can I grab something to drink?” she asks through a full mouth. “Or trouble you to—”
I pull the root beers from my sweatpants’ pocket and hand one to her. She swallows her pizza, watching me as she takes the can.
“Thank you.”
Then we sit there and eat our pizza in silence. Typically, when I sleep with someone, she falls asleep the second we’re done, and then we pick back up in the morning. So, I don’t know how to do small talk after sex.
“So, why don’t you do strings?” I know it’s a loaded question, but I don’t know what else to talk about.
“That’s a pretty loaded question.” She drops the rest of the crust from her last piece of pizza back into the box. “More like a second encounter question, and we just aren’t gonna get there.”
“Fair.”
“What’s your reason?”
“Nope.” I shut the pizza box. “You can’t avoid my question and then ask me the same thing.”
“Fair.” She smiles. “How long have you been non-committal?”
“Since high school.” That’s a little bit easier for me to answer. It’s not as awkward as saying the reason I do no-strings is because my mom’s dying.
Talking about a parent dying is definitely a mood killer.
“Were you ever a strings-attached person?” She pulls her legs up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees.
“Yeah. I was dating a girl for almost two years before I decided that getting all the benefits of a relationship, without the actual relationship, just made more sense for me.” I pick at the corner of the pizza box.
“Your turn. I’m not gonna answer all your questions and not get any answers in return. ”
“I guess I’ve never been one for commitment.” Her mouth twists. “The only person you can ever fully rely on is yourself, so why would I bring other people into the equation if I didn’t have to?”
“Do you ever wish you were the kind of person to commit?”
“No. You?”
“No.”
That’s a lie. I guess a part of me has always wished I could be that guy because I know my mom wants me to have someone when she goes. But I think that’s also part of the reason I don’t commit. Because in some fucked up way, I think it’ll keep her around.
“How long do you think it’ll be until the party clears out?”
“I don’t know,” I begin. “It was starting to die down when I grabbed the pizza, and we’ll run out of booze soon, so they’ll have no reason to stay.”
“Do you mind if I chill up here until they leave? I’d rather not have everyone downstairs watch me leave your room.” She chuckles.
“Yeah, you can hang up here. I can drive you home too if you want. It’s pretty cold, and I don’t think you should walk back to your place alone this late.”
“I’ll get an Uber or something.”
“You never know if you can trust those guys,” I continue. “And why pay for a ride when I’m offering you one.”
“How do I know I can trust you?” She raises an eyebrow.
“You’re right. I’m totally a murderer.”
“I thought so. The no-strings thing makes so much more sense now.”
“You also have a no-strings thing, so does that mean you’re also a murderer?”
“You caught me.”
“Just think about it, okay? While we wait for everyone to leave, you can decide if you want this murderer to drive you home. And I’ll think about if I want to drive you, a fellow murderer, home.”
“Okay.”
We both sink into my bed and stare at the ceiling in silence. After a few beats, my phone screen lights up, and I grab it. It’s our group chat.
Fletch: Everyone’s gone home. I’m going to bed. The house is trashed, but that’s tomorrow's problem.
“Coast is clear,” I say, turning toward Avalon, whose chest rises and falls steadily.
I grab the pizza box, place it on my desk, along with our two empty cans, and then grab one of my extra blankets from my closet and drape it over her.
I peel off my hoodie and crawl into bed beside her, pulling up my covers.
I sink uncomfortably into the mattress. It’s not the first time I’ve gone to sleep with someone else in my bed, but usually, I’m on my side of the bed when they do stay over.
But tonight, she is. And if I was a total asshole, I’d wake her up just so I could get a good night of sleep, but I don’t.
She looks like she needs a good night's sleep more than I do.
So, I stay on the right side of the bed and stare at the ceiling as I listen to her steady breathing and wonder if this is what it’s like to be committed. To have strings.
To be all in.