14. Chris
Chapter 14
Chris
Now
July 11 th
A nnie is tucked under my arm when I wake, her head on my shoulder, her phone propped on my chest as she looks at the latest low-level lapse rates and storm relative helicity and compares both to the HRRR. She’s still in bed, still in my arms.
“Good morning,” I whisper.
She lifts her head and smiles before dropping her phone on the bedside table next to mine. That smile grows as she turns back and climbs on top of me, straddling my hips. “Good morning.”
The weight of her feels so good on my already hard cock that the only reply I can make is something of an “mhmm.” It makes her laugh, and she kisses me. Between soft kisses and suddenly shy smiles, a tiny seed of hope takes root in my chest that this is real. That we can figure out a life together.
I’m too busy soaking up every kiss to notice how our clothes come off, but they do.
“Can I?” she asks, pulling a condom from under the pillow, the wrapper crinkling in her fingers.
“Yes,” I say, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Did you hide those throughout the room?”
Her cheeks go rosy, and she hums, sitting back to roll the condom down my length. She takes me inside her with a slow, lazy slide as I run my hands up her thighs to her hips, and it’s so good. Maybe better than last night because she didn’t slip out of bed this morning. She’s not putting distance between us. For now, at least, she’s embracing this.
When she’s fully seated, she turns her gaze back to me, a little huh of a laugh escaping as she smiles down at me.
If now is all I have, I want every second branded on every part of me.
Annie rests one hand over my heart, and I cover it with mine. She leans down to kiss me as she moves on top of me, slow and soft like her kiss. When she pulls back a few inches and looks down at me, searching my face, I brush her hair back and whisper her name.
“I like hearing you say my name like that,” she says with the sweetest smile. “Like it’s everything.”
I squeeze her hand, still over my pounding heart. “It is.”
Her eyes flutter shut, and she moves a little faster. When she kisses me next, it’s desperate and needy. I don’t worry if she’s able to read all the things I’m not saying. Those things are hers. I’m hers.
When she comes, she comes gasping into my mouth, trying to kiss me, and I follow, every pulsing beat an I love you, I love you, I love you .
We don’t move after. Annie lies on top of me as our ragged breathing evens out. I play with her hair while she traces circles on my chest. We need to get up, get breakfast, and get on the road if we’re going to make it to South Dakota in time to chase.
My phone rings, and she slips off me when I reach for it. I accidentally accept the call as I fumble with the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi, Chris,” Marc says warily.
Fuck. I glance at the phone. It’s Annie’s. Not mine.
She must realize it, too. Her eyes go wide.
Marc clears his throat. An uncomfortable feeling that he knows Annie and I had sex tingles up my spine.
“Annie there?” he asks.
She’s already out of bed, slipping the undershirt back on. Her face is looking a little pale.
“Uh, yeah. Just a minute.” I wait until she pulls the boxers up to hand her the phone.
I don’t try to meet her eyes. Maybe she doesn’t try to meet mine, either. Shame, hot and heavy, licks at the back of my throat as she takes the phone. As much as I love her, I know Marc does, too. She loves him back, or she did. All I’ve done is make an already complicated situation worse.
I step into the bathroom, lock the door, and start the shower to give her privacy.
They broke up. She left him. It was over.
But was it really over?
I pull the condom off and toss it into the garbage before stepping under the scalding water. As bad as I feel for Marc, it didn’t stop me from being with Annie, and it won’t, so long as she wants me.
She might not. Last night might have been Annie getting something out of her system before she settles down with Marc. Or it might have been her excuse to slam the door in his face and move on without him. Very likely without me.
God, I feel sick to my stomach.
Getting my hopes up, thinking she might feel the same…what is wrong with me? Knowing Annie, she’ll deflect and avoid and pretend nothing is wrong until the chase is over and she disappears.
Annie’s muffled conversation goes quiet, but I don’t get out. Not yet.
There’s a soft knock on the door a few minutes later. An attempt at opening it, but I’ve locked the door. “Chris?”
“I’ll be out in a minute.” Irritation with myself turns my words harsh, and I instantly regret them.
Annie’s soft “okay” is one more stab of guilt.
Water runs over my face, and I scrub my hands over my eyes. I want her to be happy and loved, wherever she is and whoever she’s with. If that’s me or not. That’s all that matters.
I force myself to turn the water off. We’ve got storms to chase. Or I’ll drive her back to Marc if they reconciled over the phone. I’ll find out which it is soon enough.
I don’t have any clothes in the bathroom, so I wrap the towel around my waist and walk back into the bedroom.
Annie’s gone.