Chapter 15 #2
“Sounds perfect,” Dex smiled widely at me, his eyes eating me up hungrily. I deliberately didn’t change out of his jersey. I knew he liked it when I wore it. Even though there were a bunch of other girls wearing his jersey all the time.
My phone chimed, breaking off my crazy spiraling thoughts of all the things that could go wrong.
“That's DoorDash. Can you grab it? I ordered your favorite burger.”
“Thanks, Thorn,” he flashed me a grin before going to grab the food. While Derek picked up the food, I gathered more blankets and mats from the storage closet and created a nest on the studio floor. I grabbed the few pillows we kept for yoga and arranged them against the wall.
“Very fancy,” Derek observed when the nest was complete.
“We work with what we have.” I plugged my laptop in and set it up on a nearby equipment box. “What are we watching?”
“Your choice.”
I pulled up Netflix and scrolled through the options. “Comedy? Action? Rom-com?”
“Not a rom-com. I've had enough drama in my real life.”
“Fair point.” I kept scrolling. “Oh! This one. I've been wanting to watch it.”
“A heist movie? Really?”
“What? They're fun. Clever plots, witty banter, everything works out in the end.”
“Unlike real life,” Derek said, settling into the blanket nest beside me.
“Exactly. That's why they're perfect.”
We settled in, the movie playing on my small laptop screen, takeout boxes open between us. It should have been uncomfortable, sitting on mats and blankets on a studio floor, but with Derek beside me, it was perfect.
“This is nice,” I said quietly, reaching for another slice.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Just us. No hiding. No fear of getting caught.”
“Well, technically, we could still get caught. If the landlord does a random check, or if Sam forgot something and comes back...”
“Derek.”
“Right. Sorry. Ruining the moment.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me against his side. “This is perfect. You're perfect. I'm shutting up now.”
I laughed, snuggling deeper into his warmth.
We ate in comfortable silence, occasionally commenting on the movie. Derek's hand played with my hair absently, twirling strands around his fingers. His touch was soothing, gentle, with no expectation of anything more.
Halfway through the movie, the food was gone, and we'd rearranged ourselves, Derek on his back, me curled against his side, my head on his chest. His arm was around me, hand resting on my hip. My hand splayed over his heart, feeling the steady thump beneath my palm.
“Can I tell you something?” Derek asked, his voice rumbling through his chest.
“Mmm?”
“I've never done this before.”
“Watched a heist movie?”
“No.” He laughed softly. “This. Just... being with someone. No expectations. No performance. Just existing in the same space.”
I lifted my head to look at him. “Really?”
“Really. With other girls, it was always about the end goal. The hookup. But with you...” He brushed hair from my face. “With you, this is enough. Just holding you. Watching a movie. Sharing food. I don't need anything else.”
“I don't either,” I said softly. “This is perfect.”
“Although,” Derek's eyes glinted mischievously, “I wouldn't say no to more of this.”
He leaned down, capturing my lips in a slow, deep kiss. His hand cupped the back of my head, angling me closer, while my fingers curled into his hoodie. The kiss was unhurried, exploratory, full of promise but without demand.
When we broke apart, both breathless, Derek's pupils were dilated, his lips slightly swollen.
“More of that is definitely allowed,” I managed.
“Good to know.”
He kissed me again, this time his hand sliding under the hem of my jersey, just barely, his palm warm against the skin of my lower back. Not pushing, not demanding, just touching. Connecting.
I sighed into the kiss, my body molding against his. We were fully clothed, on a studio floor, with a movie playing in the background, but I'd never felt more intimate with anyone.
Derek's lips left mine, trailing kisses along my jaw, down to my neck. His stubble scraped lightly against my skin, sending shivers down my spine.
“Is this okay?” he murmured against my throat.
“Yes. Very okay.”
His lips found that sensitive spot where my neck met my shoulder, and I gasped, my fingers tightening in his hair.
“Found it,” he said with satisfaction.
“Found what?”
“The spot that makes you make that sound.”
I could feel my face burning. “What sound?”
“That little gasp. I want to hear it again.”
He kissed the spot again, this time with teeth, and I couldn't help the moan that escaped.
“Better,” Derek grinned against my skin.
“You're enjoying this too much.”
“I'm enjoying you.” He pulled back to look at me, his eyes dark but tender. “But if you want me to stop...”
“I don't want you to stop. I just...” I bit my lip, suddenly shy. “I've never done any of this before. I don't know what I'm doing, but I want to do it all with you.”
“Hey.” Derek's hand came up to cup my face. “Neither do I. Not really. I mean, I've done stuff, but not like this. Not with someone I...” He stopped, searching for words. “Not with someone I care about this much. Someone I want to get it right with.”
“So we're both figuring it out?”
“Together. Like everything else.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.” He kissed me softly. “And Rosie? We don't have to do anything. We can just kiss. We can just hold each other. We can go back to watching the movie. There's no pressure.”
“I know. That's why I trust you.”
We kissed again, slower this time, learning each other. Derek's hands stayed respectful, one in my hair, one on my back, never straying too far. My hands explored his chest, his shoulders, his arms, memorizing the feel of him.
Growing braver, I kissed him deeper, rolling my hips against his, making him groan. I felt his erection over his jeans, and excitement and curiosity overpowered my shyness.
Derek's hand stilled as he felt me rub myself on him. “Does this feel good?” he groaned in my ear as I pushed into him. “You like it there?”
“Yeah,” I muttered, enjoying the pressure building from the friction. I've touched myself many times, I knew what I liked, but it felt different with all the clothes between us. “I want more.”
“Rosalie...” he rolled his hips carefully. “I don't think you're ready.”
“I thought there was a step between sex and kissing,” I grinned at him wickedly. “I want you to touch me.”
“Are you...”
“Yes,” I nodded, consenting quickly. “I'm a thousand percent sure, touch me, Derek.”
I didn't have to encourage him. His hand dipped under my t-shirt, grabbing a handful of my boobs with a groan and taking my perky nipples between his fingers, rolling them.
A loud moan escaped me as he chuckled.
“Love that you don't wear a bra, and you see, your boobs are the perfect size for my hand. They are not too small at all,” he kissed me as he worked my nipple, getting rid of all my insecurities.
“Oh gosh,” I moaned, sounding out of breath as my center pulsed.
His other hand moved south, touching my center and pulling my knees up. My legs fell open for him as I pushed my hips up. “Please... touch me.”
“You want to show me how you like it, Thorn?” he asked in a raspy voice. “You touched yourself before, right?”
I nodded, feeling my cheeks flush. The challenge in his eyes lit fire inside me, and sliding from under him, I kicked off my leggings and left only his jersey on, being completely naked in front of him.
Derek swallowed hard, his eyes eating up every inch of my body. I wasn't shy about my body. I didn’t like the tiny rolls forming on my stomach when I slouched or on my scar, but overall, I worked very hard to stay fit despite not dancing, and I was proud of how I looked.
Opening my legs wide, I showed him my bare pussy, thankful for the dim lights, and placed my index finger on my clit, teasing myself in slow circles.
Derek's eyes burned my exposed skin as he came closer, like a predator watching my finger move.
“Show me how wet you are,” he asked, his voice so much deeper than before.
I bit into my lip, stopping the grin from forming, and pushed my finger inside me with a loud moan. I moved it a couple of times before I pulled it out and showed him the glistering finger.
All my shyness evaporated when I saw the power I had over him. He looked hungry, stunned, and clueless all at once. Like he didn't know how to proceed with me.
“Happy? Are you going to take over? I thought having a boyfriend meant I didn't have to do this myself anymore...”
Derek sucked my finger into his mouth before he grinned at me. “I think it's time for my dessert.”
He grabbed me by my hips and pulled me to himself, positioning his lips over my center.
“Derek, you...” I tried to wiggle out, but his thundering blue eyes stopped me.
“If you thought I’d be happy to just finger you, you were mistaken. I need to taste you, Thorn.” And with that, he placed his mouth on my center, and I saw stars.
Yeah, he definitely knew what he was doing. The way he held my hips in place; firmly but gently. The way his tongue circled my clit, driving me crazy, and how his fingers moved in and out of me, all in perfect unison.
It didn't take long until I was a wiggling, heaving mess, and I was begging him. “Oh my God, I'm going to come...”
“That's it, Thorn. I want you to come for me. I want to taste all of you.”
He didn't have to ask me twice, stars exploded from behind my eyes, and I've never in my life came as hard as I did then. Derek continued to lick me well after I came down from the high, enjoying every drop of my release.
I covered my face with my hands, blush creeping onto my cheeks. “Oh my God... that was...”
“Amazing, I know,” Derek muttered as he kissed his way up my body, taking a short pit stop at my still aching nipples and sensitive spot over my neck, before kissing my lips.
I thought tasting myself on him was going to be strange, but I loved it. Wrapping my legs around him, I kissed him hard, and I loved the little chuckle escaping him.
“My greedy little baby,” he muttered over my lips.
“Should I?” I asked, blinking at her. “Take care of you?”
“No, Thorn, I'm good,” he shook his head. “This is all about you today.”
“We are supposed to celebrate you,” I reminded him.
“Trust me, I can't imagine a better way to celebrate than being buried between your thighs while you wear my jersey.”
I blushed again and cleared my throat.
“Movie?” Derek suggested, his voice rough.
“Movie,” I agreed, reaching for my panties and his hoodie.
We rearranged ourselves again, this time with me half-draped across his chest, his arm around me, a blanket pulled over both of us. The movie had progressed significantly, but neither of us cared.
Derek's hand drew lazy patterns on my back, the touch soothing and hypnotic. My eyes grew heavy, the combination of the late hour, the emotional day, and the warmth of his body lulling me toward sleep.
“Hey, Thorn?” Derek's voice was quiet.
“Hmm?”
“Thank you. For tonight. For celebrating with me. For being you.”
“Thank you for choosing me. For letting me in.”
“Every time. I'll choose you every time.”
I pressed a kiss to his chest, right over his heart. “Sweet dreams, champion.”
His hand stilled on my back for a moment, then resumed its soothing motion. “Sweet dreams, Rosebud.”
I don't remember falling asleep. One moment I was watching the movie, feeling Derek's heartbeat beneath my ear, and the next I was drifting into dreams.
DEREK
I knew the exact moment Rosalie fell asleep. Her breathing evened out, her body went heavy against mine, and her hand that had been clutching my t-shirt slowly relaxed.
I should have been exhausted. I'd just played a full ninety-minute game, scored twice, dealt with post-game interviews and team celebrations. My body should have been demanding sleep.
But I was wide awake, hyperaware of the girl in my arms.
Carefully, so as not to wake her, I reached for my phone. I pulled up our new playlist “You, Officially” and added one more song. An acoustic cover of “Everything” by Lifehouse.
The lyrics were perfect: You're all I want, you're all I need, you're everything.
She was everything.
I set my phone aside and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in her vanilla scent.
On the laptop screen, the heist crew was celebrating their victory, everything tied up in a neat bow. Unlike real life, where things were messy and complicated and scary.
But as I lay there on a studio floor, holding the girl I loved, I realized that messy and complicated and scary didn't mean bad.
It just meant real.
And this, us, was the most real thing I'd ever had.
My eyes grew heavy. The exhaustion I'd been holding at bay finally caught up with me. I adjusted the blanket over us, made sure Rosalie was comfortable, and let myself drift.
Tomorrow we'd wake up tangled together, probably with sore backs and stiff necks from sleeping on the floor.
Tomorrow, we'd have to face the reality of keeping this secret for a little while longer.
Tomorrow, the world will still be complicated.
But tonight? Tonight was perfect.