Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
LUKE
I wake up the next morning with Melissa in my bed. To be specific, we’re snuggling spoon fashion, with her back to my chest and my cock nestled against her ass. Despite everything we did last night, I’m ready to go again.
But I don’t want her to wake up yet. I could happily lie here for hours, enjoying the soft scent of her hair. The little sound she sometimes makes when she exhales. The softness of her breast in my hand.
“Umm,” she murmurs, her voice husky with sleep. “Don’t stop.”
I realize I’m squeezing her breast, and as requested, I don’t stop. Her breasts are even bigger than I imagined, and somehow firm and soft at the same time. Lush. Luscious. I play with her nipple, and it hardens between my fingers.
I can’t believe she was worried I’d be disappointed by the sight of her naked.
“How are you feeling?” I ask. We went at it pretty hard last night.
“Good.” She shifts a little, causing her ass to rub against my cock, which gives a twitch of excitement.
“Not sore?”
“Mmmm. No.”
I let my hand drift lower, over the softly rounded curve of her belly, and find her clit. She shivers with pleasure, and I feel that in my cock, too.
I tease her clit for a while before slipping a finger inside her. She’s already drenched. Dripping for me.
“Think you can take me again?” I ask.
“Mmmm,” she murmurs. “Yes, please.”
I quickly roll on a condom—clearly, I’m going to have to buy more—and stretch out beside her again, her back to my front. After teasing her clit a little more, I slip into her from behind.
“Luke!” she exclaims raggedly.
“Too much?” I ask, withdrawing a little.
But she wiggles her hips to take me deeper. “No, it’s good. Right there. You hit a spot . . .” Her breathing hitches, and she jerks her hips against me again.
“Yeah?” I ask. “There?”
“Yeah,” she moans, bucking against me. “There. Yes, Luke . . .”
I’d planned to take things slowly this morning, but that’s turning out to be impossible. Melissa’s setting the pace now, jerking her hips so her clit rubs my fingers. She’s tight and slick and sweet, and it’s probably the hottest sex I’ve ever had.
Melissa cries out as she finds her release, and I rub her clit as she rides out her orgasm. I was already on the brink, and I come after a couple more thrusts.
After taking care of the condom, I stretch out beside her. “I love listening to you come.”
Her brow furrows adorably. “Was I loud?”
I fight to keep a straight face. “A little, yeah.”
“Do you think your neighbors heard?”
“Maybe,” I tease, because I can’t help myself. “They’re probably jealous.”
“Really?” she asks anxiously.
“Sure,” I deadpan. “And Janine—you know the neighbor you heard the other night, on the phone? She’s kind of nosy, so she might knock on the door, make sure I’m okay. I’ll just explain that I hit a spot that you liked a lot, and—”
“Luke,” Melissa rolls her eyes when she finally realizes I’m teasing her. “I’ll try to be quieter next time.”
“Please don’t,” I tell her. “I love the fact that you’re loud. And the walls are thick enough that the neighbors can’t hear.”
“But if they do?”
I shrug. “I’ll explain that I hit a spot you liked a lot.”
“Luke!” she chides again. Her cheeks are red, and it’s incredibly cute.
“Yeah?” I say. “Are you up for breakfast? I can do Eggo waffles or Cheerios, or there’s a great bakery a block away. I can pop out and grab muffins or something.”
“What time is it?” she asks.
I glance at my watch. “Seven-thirty.”
“I should get my kids.” She scrambles out of bed, scoops her clothes up off the floor, and starts pulling them on.
“I can make breakfast really quickly,” I tell her, as I throw on a shirt and a pair of sweatpants. I’m not ready for her to leave yet. “The Eggos will take less than two minutes, or the Cheerios are pretty much instant.”
Melissa smiles but shakes her head. “Thanks, but I should go. I need to go home and shower—”
“I have a shower,” I suggest hopefully.
“But I still need to change,” she says with a laugh. “I can’t show up at my parents’ in the same clothes I wore to dinner last night.”
“I guess not.”
“And I have to take Claire to the store to get Bristol board, she has to do this ecosystem project for school. Then this afternoon Liam has a playdate with a friend from preschool, so—”
“I get it, Melissa. You have to go.” I like that she makes her kids a priority.
“Yeah. But maybe we could do something next weekend?” she asks. “It’s Troy’s weekend with the kids, so I’m driving them to Toronto Friday night.”
“We’ll definitely do something next weekend.” I follow her to the living room and help her find her purse and her phone. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
“You don’t have to,” she protests.
“But I want to.” I shove my bare feet into running shoes and we head down to the parking lot, where I give her a very enthusiastic goodbye kiss.
When I finally release her, her cheeks are flushed an adorable shade of pink, and I can’t resist dropping a final kiss on her forehead before I wave her goodbye.
The day passes in a blur. After I shower and eat breakfast, I log in to the hospital network and spend an hour reviewing the charts of the patients booked for surgery tomorrow. Every so often, my brain wanders back to Melissa, and I get a pleasant flashback from last night’s activities.
At around lunchtime, I get a text from Austin.
Austin: How’d it go last night?
Me: Good. Really good.
I realize I owe him an apology for stealing his date. All things considered, he behaved better than I had a right to expect.
Me: Thanks, man. I owe you.
Austin: If you marry her, I get to be best man. For my speech, I’m gonna tell the story of that date.
Me: Deal.
And for the first time in a long while, the thought of getting married doesn’t seem crazy.
Now that Melissa’s been in my condo, it feels empty without her, and I’m strangely relieved when my mother texts to invite me to dinner. Melissa is rapidly becoming an obsession, and I need a distraction.
As I help set the table, Mom tells me about an argument she overheard at the dog park down the street.
My parents don’t have a dog, so I’m not entirely sure what she was doing there, but I’m only listening with half an ear.
My mind is on Melissa again; I’m planning to call her tonight, and I’m wondering what time her kids go to sleep.
“How’s Melissa Lawrence doing?” my mother asks casually, as she sets a pan of steaming lasagna on the table. “It’s nice that the two of you are back in touch.”
I look up, startled. Drop a fork. How did the conversation move from the dog park to Melissa? It’s as though my mother read my mind.
“She’s well, I think,” I answer cautiously.
“Her daughter’s doing well after the surgery?” my dad asks as he passes me the basket of garlic bread.
“Yeah, she’s fine.”
“How does Melissa like teaching?” my mother asks. “I know Carole Chan was relieved to find someone who could teach upper level math.”
“I think it’s going pretty well.”
My mother nods and sets to work serving the lasagna, and fortunately, the subject of Melissa is dropped.
But I realize I’d like to tell my parents that Melissa and I are back together, and we’re committed to giving this another shot. Unlike Melissa’s mother, my parents are rational people. They won’t start planning a wedding if I tell them Melissa and I are seeing each other.
The problem is, I haven’t really settled this with Melissa. I assumed she knew this wasn’t just a casual fling, but I should have made it clear. I lost her ten years ago because I assumed she knew how I felt, and I can’t make that mistake again.
I should have told her I want to be exclusive. Not only that, I should have asked her about her kids and her teaching job. Shown her that I want a real relationship, not just a physical one.
After dinner, I watch TV with my dad until almost nine, when I figure Melissa’s kids should be asleep.
After I say goodnight to my parents, I drive to Melissa’s house and park at the curb.
I’m about to walk up to the door when I remember it’s dark, and she’s probably alone in the house with the kids.
An unexpected knock on the door might freak her out.
So I stay in my car and send a text, asking if the kids are asleep. It feels like an eternity before she answers, but when I check the time, it’s more like five minutes.
Melissa: Yeah.
Me: Up for some company?
Melissa: I could be persuaded.
Me: I’m outside your door.
I send the last message as I’m walking up her drive, and by the time I get to the door, Melissa’s opening it. She’s dressed in exercise clothes, capri-length yoga pants and a strappy blue sports bra, and her face is a little flushed. I must have interrupted a workout.
“Pretty confident of your welcome, huh Dr. Carlton?” she asks with a laugh.
“I’m an optimist,” I say with a shrug. “And I need to talk to you.” I don’t want her to think this is a booty call, and given the way she looks in those yoga pants, my body could use the reminder too.
“Okay.” She opens the door wider and leads me through to the living room.
There’s a workout video paused on the TV and an exercise mat on the floor.
“Your timing’s good,” she tells me, as she picks up the remote and turns off the TV.
“That workout video’s impossible, there’s no way that girl can be human. Probably some sort of AI trickery.”
“Probably.”
She sits down on the couch, and I purposefully choose an armchair a safe distance away. This could easily turn into a booty call if I sit too close.
“So what did you want to talk about?” she asks.
I decide to jump right into it. “Melissa, I want us to be exclusive. I don’t want you to date anyone else.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widen in surprise. “I wasn’t planning to.”
Some of the tension leaves my chest. “Good. I won’t either.”
“I mean, there was only Austin, but I think he understood—”
“Oh, he understood.” If Austin hadn’t sensed there was something serious between Melissa and me, he wouldn’t have given her up so easily.
“Uh huh.” The corner of Melissa’s mouth quirks up. “You looked like you wanted to knock him out last night.”
“I seriously considered it,” I say, and I’m only half joking. “I was jealous, okay?”
“Okay.” Her lips quirk higher. “Is that what you wanted to talk about?”
“Mostly, yeah. And I realized that last night was—well—pretty physical, and I didn’t want you to think that’s all I want. I want a relationship, Melissa.”
There’s a beat of silence before she replies.
“I’d like that, too, Luke,” she says carefully. “But I think we should take it slow.”
“Sure.” It’s not quite the answer I was hoping for, but I try not to let my disappointment show.
“We’re not the same people we were ten years ago,” she continues. “We can’t just pick up where we left off. Even though we’re still . . .” she pauses and blushes. “Still physically compatible, it doesn’t mean the rest of it will work.”
“It doesn’t mean it won’t.” She has a point, I guess, but it’s not one I like.
“That’s true,” Melissa says slowly. “But I have to think about Claire and Liam. They’ve had to deal with the divorce and the move, so I need to give them as much stability as I can. And I think Olivia will probably move in with Troy soon, if she hasn’t already, so they’ll have to process that too.”
“Okay,” I say with a nod. Damn Troy. I doubt he worried about the impact his new relationship would have on his kids.
She takes a deep breath. “And I don’t want the kids to get used to having you around if it’s not going to be a long-term thing.”
“I see this as a long-term thing, Milly,” I tell her. “But I get it. We’ll go slow.”
She nods, relieved. “We can start with the weekends Claire and Liam are in Toronto. And maybe you could come over during the week sometimes, after they’re asleep.”
“We’ll have to soundproof your bedroom,” I say with a grin. “Or they might not stay asleep.”
“I’m not that loud,” she protests, a little indignant. “It was never an issue . . .”
Her sentence trails off, but I could see where it was going. “But remember, I’m bigger than Troy,” I tease. I loved hearing her tell me that. “So we’ll have to think about soundproofing.”
“Luke,” she protests, rolling her eyes.
“Sorry, Milly, I couldn’t resist. But I should get going.” Because I’m starting to think her sports bra looks far too tight to be comfortable, and a gentleman would offer to help her take it off . . .
But Melissa wants to take it slow, so I let her walk me to the door. I keep my goodbye kiss brief—barely more than a brush of the lips, because I know how easily I could get carried away.
So I resist the temptation to take her upstairs and kiss her all over. Because regardless of what Melissa might think, this is going to be a long-term thing.
I can be patient.