25. Annie
Annie
There’s been a sudden change in the apartment with Zayn.
He’s still his normal grumpy self in the morning, sulking around until he’s had his coffee and some sunshine.
But he’s also leaving notes on the counter when he’s gone to the gym, touching my waist every time he passes, and planting kisses on my forehead almost every time we are near each other.
His touch is addicting. I crave him in all the ways that matter.
He still hasn’t told me about what happened one year ago, but he’s let me in more and more each night.
I’m waiting, choosing not to ask, letting him tell me when he’s ready.
Our routine is my favorite: dinner, talking, movie, sex.
Sometimes it’s just sex and then we realize we forgot dinner, but it’s starting to feel normal.
As if we are a real couple doing real couple shit.
Which is why I’m having my girls over tonight.
After the event a week and a half ago, Cassie practically threatened to show up at my doorstep if I didn’t invite her and Marcy over.
I think they miss me. With everything going on, it’s been impossible to find balance.
If I’m not working, I’m here with Zayn. And since I like him and all, it makes it hard to want to do anything else.
Zayn is at the stove when I walk into the kitchen, making breakfast for us before work.
When he sees me enter, his face lights up with the kind of smile that tells me he’s grateful to see me and that he’s the luckiest man in the world.
His smiles always make me feel like a teenager falling in love for the first time.
I hardly remember what it was like to converse with grumpy Zayn.
“Morning.” I smile back and take a seat at the island. “What are you making?”
“Eggs. That okay?” He turns around, spatula in hand, and I am doing everything in my power to not picture him spanking me with it. He then slaps the spatula into his palm and I jump. Only a little bit, but enough for him to chuckle. “Picturing something, Princess?”
“Hm? Oh, um, nope, I’m not. Just, nope, never mind,” I stammer. My palm rises to my cheek and damn, it’s already hot to touch.
“Alright,” Zayn sings, turning back to the stove. He plates our eggs, prepares me a mug for my tea, and comes to sit next to me.
And in Zayn-like fashion, he throws his fork down, grabs the seat of my chair, and pulls me toward him. And I’m not talking a gentle pull, where I gradually slide over to him. No, this is a full on tug, like he’s trying his best to win at a tug the rope contest. I barrel into him. Hard.
“Zayn! I could have stabbed you by accident.” I press away from him and point my fork in his face. “I could have hurt you, you idiot.”
He just laughs, of course, throwing his head back at the notion. “Annie, you’ve already hurt me. Just by being here...” He pauses, dragging a hand down my chest, to my thigh, and up toward my hip.
My breath hitches as his fingers make small circles on my inner thigh. He lets out a groan as his fingers slip beneath the thin layer of fabric.
“Fuck, Annie. I knew it. You’ve been sitting here, wet for me, and you didn’t think to tell me.”
I grab his shoulder as he pushes two fingers into me, pulling him closer to me, forgetting all about the breakfast we were eating.
“Cancel your plans today. Hang out with me,” Zayn whispers into my ear, moving his other hand to rub small circles around my clit. Fuck, the pressure is too much. My heartbeat echoes in my ears, I can hardly hear what he says next. “Please.”
My hips move on their own accord, following the rhythm of his pumping fingers.
“Come for me, Princess. Let the neighbors hear who makes you feel this fucking good.”
That’s enough to send me over the deep edge. Shocks of pleasure wash over me like a wave crashing into the sand. He presses forehead to mine, pulling his hand out of my shorts. Our breathing syncs as mine slows.
“That was fast,” Zayn whispers with a chuckle.
“Would you believe me if I told you I was thinking of you doing that?” I whisper back.
His hand finds my chin and he brings my lips to his, kissing me once slowly. He pulls back to look me in the eye. “I’d believe anything you told me, Annie.”
“I can’t cancel though. Cassie, Marcy, and Lucy are coming over.”
“I know,” Zayn replies, pressing a kiss to my forehead. He pulls the hair from around my face and tucks it behind my ear before separating our bodies and going back to his breakfast.
“She, um, Cassie, asked if maybe you want to go over to her apartment?” I ask cautiously. It was her idea, not mine. Zayn already told me he’d go to the gym or something to give us the apartment.
Zayn looks at me with his fork still in his mouth. “Why?”
“Well, Emmett will be there and asked if you wanted to. And I think the other guys will be over, so... I mean, you don’t have to, I was just... you know never mind, it was a dumb idea.” I turn back to face my plate, picking up the fork to stuff food in my mouth before I say something I’ll regret.
“Don’t do that. Don’t belittle yourself and your opinions. I’ll go, that sounds fun,” he says, like it was an easy decision to make and not something that feels like a chore. The old Zayn would have never agreed to doing this.
“You don’t have to, seriously, I don’t want to force you to do anything.”
“You’re not forcing me to do anything, Annie.
But you could force me down on my knees in front of your pretty pussy and I wouldn’t blink twice.
You could force me to watch as you pleasure yourself, knowing that I can’t do anything but sit there and watch.
You could force me to do a lot of things, Annie, and I’d be happy to do all of them.
I don’t mind spending time with the guys, it might be nice. ”
Words. Need to say words. Also, I need to shut my mouth since my jaw has been hanging wide open since he started declaring surprisingly dirty things to me.
“What happened to Mr. Grumpy? Who are you?” My eyebrows furrow as I wait for him to answer. Wondering if he’s going to give me a truthful answer or play it off.
“Mr. Grumpy found a princess who is healing him bit by bit.” He stands from his stool, planting what feels like the tenth kiss on my forehead.
“Now, I’m going to get ready and head out so the girls can come over.
Finish your breakfast before it gets too cold.
” His eyes dart to my plate that still has most of my eggs on it before he patters down the hallway.
I like to picture him grinning the entire time.
I text Cassie to let her know Zayn will be coming over and also send him the address so he has it.
I’m excited to have the girls over. My old apartment was small and dated, so girls’ nights were always at Cassie’s since her apartment is larger and centrally located.
Sometimes we’d go to Lucy’s, since her and husband (and Emmett’s best friend) Tyler just bought a house.
Cassie and Lucy have been best friends for nearly a decade.
And now everyone is coming here. To our home, Zayn’s home. And I already know I’m going to be asked a million questions, and I don’t know what I’m going to say. I just know that Zayn will likely get hounded worse, knowing that group.
“Alright, text me if you need anything. Otherwise, I’ll be back later tonight.” Zayn hesitates by the front door. He looks down at the floor for a moment, still contemplating something.
“Everything okay?” I ask, concerned with the fact that he’s just standing there, not making a sound.
His eyes snap to meet mine. He takes five steps toward me, grasps my head with both hands and slams his lips into mine. I’m overwhelmed by the pressure of his hands, his lips, his presence. The kiss slows, lessens, until he pulls back from me and rests his forehead on mine, his eyelids closed.
“What was that for?” I ask, realizing how out of breath that one kiss put me. My heart stutters from the confusion of this and the tension of wanting him.
“I don’t know,” Zayn admits, taking one step back.
“Okay,” I say. I don’t know what it was for either, but I don’t want him to think I didn’t want it.
“I’ll, um, yeah, I’ll text you when I get there. Have a good time, Princess.” He leans back in, pressing his lips to mine one last time, then smiles at me before walking out the door.
Somehow, I finish getting ready. It’s hard to focus on the task at hand when I can’t stop replaying that kiss. A goodbye kiss. A see-you-later kiss. An I-want-to-kiss-you kiss. The line between this being just fun and being something else is blurring. I’m glad I’ll have a distraction tonight.
A half hour later, there’s a knock at the door as I’m pouring a bag of chips into a bowl. “Come in!” I holler.
Cassie, Lucy, and Marcy come barreling through the door. They stop in the entryway, all of them looking around the apartment.
“Damn, Anns, this is better than my apartment,” Marcy says.
“Seriously, this is where you’ve been, and we are just now getting an invite?” Cassie asks.
Lucy comes over and wraps me in a hug. “Nice to see you, Annie.”
“I can’t wait to hear all about the honeymoon,” I say to Lucy, smiling as she beams with excitement.
“Oh my gosh, yes, we will get to that. But we will be talking about you tonight.” Lucy squeezes my shoulder as she passes me on the way to the fridge, snagging beverages for everyone.
“I can promise you all that I am not that interesting.” I grab the snacks and walk over to set them on the coffee table, before plopping down on the couch.
“You’re dating one of the country’s most talked about actors. You’re now being talked about. That’s by far the most interesting thing,” Marcy says, pointing at me like she’s disappointed in me for even thinking that. “No offense Luce.”
Lucy playfully rolls her eyes. “No, no, I get it. I had my time to be interesting when I started dating Tyler. Now I’m just married and boring. Just like Cassie!”
“Hey! I am only one of those things.” Cassie glares at Lucy, and Lucy replies by blowing a kiss.
When Cassie first moved to Los Angeles, Lucy was her roommate. They worked together, became best friends, and then fell in love with people in the same circle. They were secretly dating in tandem, but everyone knew they would end up with the other person. It was just a matter of time.
Is that the same thing for Zayn and I? Is it just a matter of time until we get together for real? Why do I want that?
Marcy turns to me and says the one thing I was dreading tonight.
“Okay, so tell us about you and Zayn.”