Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ADDISON
Waking up the next morning in Riley’s room, I expect things to be a little awkward, but they’re not.
Riley rolls over and smiles at me as I turn off my alarm.
She doesn’t look like she regrets what we did last night, which was my biggest concern.
Because I know it was her first time with a woman, and I’m not sure if she intended for things to go that far when she invited me up here.
I don’t think I intended for things to go that far. I hadn’t really thought past my wanting to kiss her, honestly. But I feel like the farther I let things go, the more likely it is for this to end badly. Which is my other concern.
But when presented with the opportunity to get her naked, what did you expect me to do?
Seeing her now—just woken up, no makeup, in her pajamas looking all comfortable and satisfied—I can’t help but think about getting her naked again. I won’t, though. And not only because I need to get moving if I’m going to have time to sneak home and get ready before coming back for work.
“You need to go?” she asks, her voice adorably fuzzy from sleep.
“I’m opening the kitchen. I need to run home and shower.” A long yawn escapes me as soon as I get the words out.
“You could shower here,” she suggests. “Maybe get a few more minutes of sleep.”
The extra twenty minutes isn’t really going to do much for me, but she’s looking at me hopefully, and I don’t want to disappoint her. She’s also just too tempting to resist.
“Why not?” I say, rolling around to grab my phone and set a new alarm before I turn back to face her.
I could be mistaken, but I think she’s scooted a few inches closer. When I reach out and run my fingers through her hair, she closes her eyes, a serene smile forming on her face. I lean in and press a light kiss to the corner of her jaw, making the smile grow.
“Come here,” I tell her.
She opens her eyes and looks at me for a second, then happily snuggles into my outstretched arms, resting her head against my collarbone. We both start to doze off, my fingers trailing idly up and down her arm. Getting out of bed after this is going to be even harder now.
I jolt at the sound of the alarm going off again, having only barely fallen back asleep. Riley makes a murmuring noise that lets me know she’s at least half awake, so I don’t feel bad pulling her body in tighter against mine for a moment. Then I reluctantly let her go and reach for my phone.
When I get out of bed, she gets up too. She points me to a clean towel in the bathroom, tells me to help myself to any of her shower products, then leaves me to it.
I let the water warm up a minute before stepping in.
It’s funny that the water wasn’t working in here before, because the pressure is really amazing now.
Much better than my shower at home. But I don’t want to dwell on the fact that I’m using a guest room shower at work. It’s too weird if I think about it.
The sweet strawberry scent of Riley’s shampoo fills the small space as I wash my hair, and it makes me smile. I’m going to smell like her. And I’m not upset about it.
After I finish up, I don’t have much choice but to get dressed again in my clothes from yesterday. When I come out of the bathroom, Riley is sitting on the bed reading a book.
She sets it down beside her, giving me a warm smile. Then she stands and walks with me to the door. She’s still in her tiny, silky pajamas, and I can’t resist reaching out and pulling her in closer to me. I run my thumb back and forth over the silky camisole material at her waist.
“Will you come down for breakfast?” I mean that as an innocuous question, only checking if she plans on having breakfast here. But it comes out sounding like I’m asking her to do it. Like I want her to.
And I suppose I do.
At this point, it’s hard to deny how much I enjoy any chance to see her.
I don’t want to push too hard, though. Don’t want to make it seem like I think this thing we did is more than it is.
It wasn’t anything serious. It was only two people acting on their mutual attraction to each other.
It was letting her explore her bisexuality for the first time. It was only meant to be one time.
Okay, so maybe I’m still trying to deny the truth.
Maybe, truthfully, I’m already hoping she’ll want to do it again.
But I’m certainly not going to blurt that out to her right now, the morning after, without giving her time to think about what happened.
“Yeah,” she tells me, tilting her chin up in a way that tempts me to dip down and kiss her. “I’m going to shower, and then I’ll be down. Do you work all day again?”
I shake my head. “No, I’m only here for breakfast and lunch.”
“Maybe we could do something after?”
I grin and give in to the urge, bringing my hand to the back of her head and slotting my lips over hers. I thread my fingers through her wavy hair, and she lets out a tiny, pleased sound as she kisses me back.
Ending the kiss quicker than I’d like to, I take a step back and smile. “We can definitely do something after. Anything you’d like.”
She laughs. “I don’t know if you can promise anything.”
“Well. Probably not. But anything I can make happen in this small-ass town and on a chef’s budget.”
She laughs again, though not unkindly. Still, the reminder of the differences in our wealth and lifestyles sours the mood a little. Even if she didn’t mean it in that way.
“How about we grab a drink?” she suggests. “Maybe walk around town a bit? Unless you have a better idea.”
All the ideas that come to my mind in this moment involve her being naked, so I don’t offer them.
“Sounds good.”
I give her one more quick kiss, then tell her I really need to get downstairs. She steps around me and opens the door, peeking her head through to check that the hallway is clear before I slip out. Now I only need to make it downstairs and sneak past the lobby without someone spotting me.
“Did you just come from upstairs?” a voice calls out right as I’m hitting the bottom landing and turning in the direction of the kitchen.
Oh, fuck me.
Reluctantly, I spin around to find Brenden standing there looking annoyingly smug.
“No,” I say automatically. Then I cringe, because he obviously saw me on the stairs. “I mean, yeah. Someone from housekeeping had a question, and she couldn’t find you. I was here early and had time to help. No big deal.”
“Interesting.” He places one hand on his hip and studies me intently like he can read the lies right off my face.
“Because I’ve been here at the desk all morning, and Annabeth hasn’t seemed to have any issues.
And I also didn’t notice you come in through the front doors. I’m pretty sure I would’ve seen you.”
“You must have been busy texting sentimental love crap to your boyfriend.”
“You’re also wearing the same shirt you had on yesterday.”
Okay, fine.
He might have me there.
“I plead the fifth,” I try.
But of course he’s not going to let me get away with that.
“Addison.” His tone is less teasing now. “You don’t have to tell me if you happened to spend the night with someone. But I want to say that you look very happy this morning. And whatever has made you so happy, it must be a good thing.”
We stare at each other for a few long, drawn-out seconds. I don’t really have a rebuttal for him, since I’m standing here like a fool in a day-old T-shirt that might as well have i fucked the country star printed across my chest.
I can’t out Riley, though. Even if Brenden thinks he’s so smart and has already figured it out. I can’t confirm it. She’s trusted me, and I’m not going to betray her.
“I guess I am happy,” I finally say. “And I’d be happier if you’d let me get to the kitchen to do my job.”
“By all means.” He gestures behind me. “I’ll just pop in with you to get some coffee.”
“Don’t you bring your own coffee in the mornings?”
Shrugging, he says, “I drank it.”
“Christ, how long have you been here?”
“An hour,” he says, grinning proudly as if needing another caffeine fix already is some sort of accomplishment
I groan as I head for the kitchen with him right on my heels. It’s hard to tell if he’s only following me so he can prod into my love life some more, because this man really does seem to need a cup of coffee in his hand at all times in order to function.
After flipping all the kitchen lights, I go directly to the coffee maker and switch it on. The faster I can fuel him, the faster he leaves me alone.
He mercifully doesn’t bring up where I might have spent the night again, though. Instead, as he watches the coffee brew like a dog waiting for a treat—only less patient—he says, “Do you have the menu lined up for the summer festival?”
“Yeah,” I tell him. “We’re all set. And I can run the booth all weekend.”
“Nope.” He shakes his head vehemently. “I told you I’d take care of that so you can hang out at the festival.”
“And I told you that wasn’t necessary.”
Grabbing a mug, he starts pouring his coffee the moment the last drop hits the pot. “The schedule is already done.”
I try to restrain from throttling him as I start laying out the things I need to get ready for breakfast. “If you tell me I’m not working, then I’ll stay home. You can’t make me go to the festival. I see enough of this town’s crazy shenanigans on a daily basis.”
“Wow,” he says slowly. “You and Travis really are too much alike.”
“Well, he’s one of the only normal people around here,” I retort.
Brenden laughs. “Sure. But you both protest too much about participating in town stuff. I promise it’ll be easier for you if you stop worrying about how crazy everything is and just go with it.”
“Oh yeah? Did you teach Travis that?”
He gives me a blatantly suggestive look. “Among other things.”
“Gross.”
Laughing again, he takes his coffee and strolls toward the kitchen doors. “Anyway, Riley mentioned to me the other day how excited she is for the festival. Just an FYI.”