Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
Travis
Katie’s tense mood didn’t lift. She was quiet on the drive back to the loft, and once we were inside, she turned and kissed me, tugging at my clothes.
We had done this a lot—every time we managed to occupy the same physical space while we worked in two different cities. It didn’t matter that our relationship was fake, that no one saw this part of it, that this wouldn’t get her a role with Edgar Pinsent or get me a record deal. We did it anyway. I couldn’t think of a reason not to, and apparently, neither could she.
I hadn’t had my hands on her in weeks. I kissed down the side of her neck the way she liked it, sucking gently on her skin—enough for her to feel it, not enough to leave marks. Katie gasped and unbuckled my belt, then opened the buttons on my jeans.
We were standing just inside the door—we’d barely made it a few feet into the apartment. “We should slow down,” I said, lifting my mouth from her skin.
Her reply was to slide her hand down into my jeans and cup me over my boxer briefs. Katie wasn’t a Good Girl with me anymore. She knew me too well. She went after what she wanted, and she didn’t apologize. I fucking loved it.
I pulled her T-shirt off over her head and threw it to the floor, leaving her in her bra. I pulled my shirt off, too, while her hand moved back to that amazing spot. I kissed her long and hard, then pulled away.
“Bedroom?” I asked.
Katie shook her head, her lips reddened and her skin flushed. “Too far.”
“Yes, ma’am. The sofa it is.”
We got there slowly, shedding clothes. It was the middle of a weekday, and either of us could have come up with a hundred things we should be doing, and yet there was nothing else but this, decadent and pleasurable. The world went by outside this apartment, but in here I would take the time to fuck my girlfriend until we were both spent. No questions. No demands. Just this.
I got Katie on her knees on the sofa, her hands braced on the arm. I knelt behind her and slid my hand down her belly, down where she wanted me to go. I took a moment to explore and figure out exactly what was going on down there. My body only had two modes—Off, which it had been in forever, and All the Way On. Katie’s was more complicated. There was Hot Mode and Cool Mode—but there was also Cool But I Still Want To, Hot But it Takes a Minute, Hot But Not There, Hot But Sleepy, Cool But I Want To Make Out, Cool But Willing to Make You Happy, Hot But I Just Ate, Cool and Tipsy—the list went on. Plus there was a cycle in there, and her birth control pill, and—it was a lot. I had never studied anything in my life as hard as I studied Katie. I wanted to ace the test.
Today was definitely Hot Mode, mixed with Do It Quick and Don’t Talk, and I was wildly happy to oblige. I kissed her neck and gently massaged one breast while I let my other hand do the talking. I got her close, then backed off, then did it again. She needed to get out of her head, needed to stop thinking and feel. I was good at that.
She finally unwound enough to come on my hand, letting it out with a long shudder. “Hands on the arm of the sofa,” I said in her ear as she came down. “Brace yourself.” As she did it, I dropped my hands to her hips.
We had done the health-check thing, followed by ditching condoms. We didn’t talk about why we would do that for a relationship that was fake. I wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up, because I just wanted more of her, everything I could get, for as long as she’d have me. I could convince her to be with me for real. I still had time.
It was dirty and fast and fantastic, urgent and sweet. When we were finished, I grabbed the blanket off the back of the sofa and wrapped it around us, lying down and pulling Katie close. She curled into me, snuggling as if she was worried I was going somewhere. I kissed her shoulder, and she sighed. We still had a five-hour drive tonight to the hotel I’d booked near my parents’ campground in Washington, but it could wait. My girl needed a nap.
She hugged me tighter. Where did she think I was going?
It was the last thought I had before I dropped into sleep.