Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Henry
I ’d somehow climbed into bed with a single thin sheet pulled halfway up my now-naked body by the time Phoebe returned with a single bottle of water uncapped for me.
Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, a dull throb pulsed throughout my body, warning me that come tomorrow morning, I’d probably ache in several places.
Right then, though, with her in my orbit, I couldn’t find the energy to care.
Laid on my side and propped up by a pillow, I watched her moving with caution around my room, placing the water on the small nightstand next to my bed before she walked around to the other side of the mattress and looked down at me.
She was the reason this holiday sucked.
She was also the only thing I looked forward to seeing every day.
I wished she’d stop putting so much distance between us all the time.
I also wished she’d stay the hell away.
“What is it about you?” I asked, diving straight into it without a care in the fucking world, because that’s what happened when you were drunk as hell: you stopped caring about the little things. About other people and their wants. About the judgment you’re sure to face the next day.
“Me?” she asked meekly, standing there in her beautifully tight black dress, making me want to sink my teeth into her neck and slide those thin straps off her shoulders and down her arms. “What do you mean?”
I blinked up at her. “You annoy me.”
“I can assure you the feeling is entirely mutual.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes.”
“But is it for the same reason?” Is it because you hate the fact you want to get me into bed, too?
Her plump, pink lips parted, and I didn’t have to be sober to see there were a million and one questions hiding behind those beautifully inquisitive blue eyes of hers. “I don’t know your reason.”
“You sure about that?”
“I don’t do well with riddles and miscommunications, Henry.” God, the way she said my name. “If you’ve something to say, why don’t you just say it?”
“Because I’m not allowed to.”
Her scowl deepened, and she slowly dropped down to sit on the edge of the bed with a whole lot of space between us I didn’t want there anymore. If she looked this good on my bed, I could only imagine how amazing she’d look in it.
“Who won’t allow you to talk to me?”
“Oh, you know. Andy. Me. The universe.”
“Andy… doesn’t like me?”
“He fucking loves you.”
She sighed softly. “You’re not making any sense, and this is getting confusing.
” She looked towards the door as though seeking her escape, and the thought of her leaving made my stomach drop.
I didn’t want her to leave. Not tonight.
Not tomorrow. Not until I figured out a way to get her out of my system once and for all without it causing a shit storm everyone would suffer from.
Reaching out, so my arm was fully outstretched, I pressed my hand onto her wrist and looked up at her, waiting for her to turn my way.
She did slowly, and I didn’t miss the rush of blood to her cheeks. It made my dick stir beneath the single bedsheet that kept her from seeing me fully naked.
“I should go,” she said quietly.
“I know. But don’t.”
“You want a babysitter?”
“No. Just you,” I confessed, letting her think whatever the hell she wanted to about it.
Fuck, even I didn’t know what that meant, only that it was true.
I did want her. I wanted her so fucking badly, but I wasn’t sure if it was because she pressed all my buttons, because she was off limits, or because I was drunk as hell right now. “So, stay a while.”
I expected her to argue, to ask more questions and demand more answers, but then Phoebe did the one thing I didn’t expect her to.
She slowly pulled her arm away from me and removed her heels before she swung her legs onto the bed, fluffed a pillow behind her back, and sat up against it; her ankles crossed and her hands falling delicately into her lap.
“Like this?” she asked.
“I mean, if I’m naked, maybe you should be, too.”
“I don’t get naked for terrible drunks.”
“I’m not terrible.”
“But you are drunk.”
“Technicality.” I let my eyes drift closed, inhaling slowly, and holding the heavenly scent of her in my chest before releasing it all like the beautiful burden it was. She smelled of summer. Citrus, lotion, everything sweet and holy, topped off with fucking sprinkles and sunbeams.
“Henry?”
I opened my eyes at her angel voice.
“You’re an arsehole.” She smiled, looking down at me.
I smiled back lazily. “I know.”
“Go to sleep.”
“Will you stay?”
Her face faltered for only a fraction of a second before she quietly said, “Until it’s time for me to go.”
I had no idea what that meant, but I took what the fuck I could get given the state I was in, hoping that when I opened my eyes again, she’d still be there.
Maybe asleep.
Maybe on top of me.
Maybe beneath the sheets, pressed against my skin.
A drunken arsehole could dream.
I woke the next morning with a low, dull ache in the pit of my stomach, several sore body parts, and a painfully rock-hard cock.
The scent of Phoebe’s perfume lingered everywhere.
I could practically taste it on my tongue, and it made a low moan of appreciation fall from me as the night before came rushing back in a million fragmented memories.
When I opened my eyes, I looked around the room, wondering if everything involving her had been nothing but a dream, but I knew it hadn’t been the moment I saw a small note laid on the pillow in the empty space next to me.
My head pounded, and my stomach swirled with regret. Still, I couldn’t look away from the note, and I reached over for it, very aware of how painful everything felt even with the smallest of movements.
Why the fuck did I feel bruised everywhere?
Sighing heavily, I grabbed the note, rolled onto my back, and brought it closer to me.
Henry,
I guess we’re even now. You carried me home the other night, now I’ve done the same for you. Maybe we don’t hate each other as much as we pretend to.
Hope the hangover isn’t too painful. I left some paracetamol next to your side of the bed. Take them. Maybe it’ll help with the whole ‘bear with a sore head’ vibe you give off… although I won’t hold my breath.
Phoebe. (Absolutely not Captain) x
That kiss on the end felt like a door opening. An invitation to explore.
Despite everything hurting and the painful pressure in my dick, I read that note over and over again with a lazy smile on my face for far too long before I finally decided to slide my hand beneath the sheet and take care of myself with nothing but memories of her and those goddamn angel eyes in the forefront of my mind.
Whatever spell she’d cast on me, I couldn’t escape it now.
I didn’t even want to.