Chapter Ten #2
Poor Nate. I really do feel for the guy. He loves Ria with everything he’s got. I just wish I could either fix it or help him move on. I tap out a reply.
Me: Good luck. And thanks for feeding him… you’re the real MVP. Honestly, where would either of us be without you?
Alex: You’d both be lost in a pit of despair and emotional darkness. Basically, I’m the best thing to ever happen to you, so make sure Nate knows that. Capiche?
I chuckle as I walk into the ensuite and start undressing, tapping back a reply on the way.
Me: Stripping off now. Shower time. Your pep talk will have to wait. Try not to miss me too much.
Her reply is a little delayed, but it pings through just as I’m turning the water on.
Alex: Wait… was that you trying to get me flustered by casually dropping the fact that you’re naked, Matthew?
I raise a brow at her message. Didn't expect that. But hey, friendly fire is still fire, right?
Me: Me? Never. I’m just innocently about to get hot and wet. Why, is that a problem for you, Alex?
I hesitate over the send button, but figure, fuck it, we’re just fucking around anyway.
So I hit send and laugh to myself as I place my cell on the counter, then hop into the shower.
The warmth of the water cascading over my back as I step in is superb.
The massive drops beat on my skin almost in a rhythm, and my mind skips between thoughts of Alex and Jaci, mingling the two together in a chaos of complete opposites.
The water beats down on my shoulders, hot enough to turn my skin pink, and I brace one hand against the tile wall, letting my head drop forward. Steam fills the shower, thick and heavy, and for a moment, I just stand here, allowing the heat work into my muscles.
But my mind won't settle.
It keeps circling back to Alex. To the way she looked this morning, sleep-rumpled and soft in the early light. To the way she admitted she never lets anyone stay over, never feels safe enough to fall asleep with someone else in her space—and then she fell asleep with me.
With me.
I close my eyes, water streaming down my face, and try to redirect my thoughts to Jaci. To the woman I’m supposed to be excited about. The one who just texted me about booking a hotel room for our date.
But it's Alex’s voice I hear in my head. Wait… was that you trying to get me flustered by casually dropping the fact that you're naked, Matthew?
The corner of my mouth twitches despite myself. The way she called me Matthew—playful and just a little challenging. Like she was daring me to push back.
So I did.
I know exactly what I was doing. I was thinking about the way she slapped my ass this morning like it was the most natural thing in the world.
The way she made breakfast with me, moving around her tiny kitchen like we’d done this a hundred times before.
The way she looked at me when she woke up—startled at first, then… something else. Something warmer.
The way we’d started this whole dance, the night we began flirting via text.
I shift under the spray, trying to shake off the thought, but it clings to me like the steam.
I think about her tattoo. That stunning peacock stretching across her bare back, colors so vibrant they seemed to glow in the morning light filtering through her apartment.
I’d promised not to look, but God, I looked.
Just for a second. Just long enough to see the curve of her spine, the way her shoulder blades moved as she reached back to clasp her bra, the three feathers sitting alone beneath the peacock’s tail.
Beautiful. Heartbreaking. Completely her.
My hand moves down my torso without conscious thought, water gliding over my skin.
Stop. Think about something else. Get your shit together!
Because this is Alex—my friend, my brother’s employee, someone who’s quickly becoming important to me in ways that have nothing to do with this.
But my body isn’t listening.
My fingers wrap around my cock, and I let out a slow breath, my eyes still closed, head bowed under the spray.
Just once, to get it out of my system.
Just so I can move past this and focus on Jaci, on the date, on the life I’m supposed to be building.
But as I start to pull on my cock, pleasure rolls through me, and images of Alex are the only thing invading my mind.
Not the Alex from this morning, half-asleep and vulnerable.
But Alex from last night, curled up against me on the couch, her body tucked perfectly into my side like she belonged there.
The weight of her head on my shoulder. The way her breath had evened out as she drifted off, trusting me enough to let go.
My grip tightens, my breath coming faster now, mixing with the steam, as I tug harder. “Oh fuck!” I groan.
Images race through my head of what could have happened if we had stayed awake last night. If I’d turned to her in that moment and seen those dark eyes looking up at me. If she’d lifted her head just slightly, lips parted, giving me permission I didn’t even know I wanted.
Would she have pulled away?
Or would she have leaned in?
My hand moves faster, my balls tightening with the adrenaline, the water cascading over me, and the fantasy shifts, sharpens.
I see her in my mind—not on the couch anymore but here, in this shower, pressed up against the tile with water streaming over both of us.
Her eyes locked on mine, wide and wanting.
Her hands slide up my chest, her aqua-painted nails drag lightly over my skin.
I groan, low and rough, the sound swallowed by the spray. My free hand presses harder against the wall, my muscles tensing in my arm as I brace myself. The image won’t let go now—Alex beneath me, above me, wrapped around me. The way she’d taste, the sounds she’d make, the way she’d feel.
What would it be like to peel that skirt down her legs, to trace the lines of her tattoo with my tongue, to hear her gasp my name when I—
“Fuck,” I mutter, my hand moving with more urgency now, my whole body taut and trembling. The water beats down relentlessly, the heat almost unbearable, but I can’t stop. I won’t stop.
The water slaps the tiles around me, masking the ragged sound of my breathing. My other hand fists against the wall as I move faster, chasing the high, desperate to find some kind of relief from the tension that’s been building for days.
In my mind, Alex arches beneath me, her fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me closer. Her voice in my ear, breathy and wrecked, “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
The thought, the vivid, visceral image of Alex coming undone because of me, pushes me over the edge.
“Fuck… Alex.”
A tingle ripples down my spine, and my legs instantly begin to shake.
My breathing quickens as my pulse skyrockets.
I pull harder on my cock, begging for that epic release I have needed since our text exchange—hell, since I fucking met her.
My skin prickles in goose bumps, my balls pull up, that adrenaline surge ripples through me as I slam my fist into the tiles with a strangled groan, my muscles seizing when cum erupts from me, with such force that it knocks the wind from me.
My climax hits hard and sudden, ripping through me with an intensity that steals my breath.
I let out a guttural moan as I collapse forward, forehead pressed to the tile, trying like hell to catch my ragged breaths.
My vision whites out, my knees nearly buckle, and I have to brace both hands against the wall to keep myself upright. Wave after wave crashes over me, and all I can see, all I can feel, is her.
“Alex. Jesus Christ. Alex.” I growl.
I stay like this for a long moment, forehead pressed against the cool tile, chest heaving, water still streaming over my back. My heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my throat, my fingertips, numb.
Slowly, reality starts to seep back in. The hum of the water. The steam fogging up the glass. The slight ache in my arm from bracing myself.
And then, the guilt.
I straighten, running a hand over my face, water dripping from my hair. I stare at the drain, watching the water spiral down along with my cum, and try to make sense of what just happened.
I’m supposed to be excited about Jaci.
She’s smart, beautiful, into me. We have a date planned. A hotel room, for fuck’s sake!
But I just came thinking about Alex.
Alex who is my friend. Alex, who works for my brother. Alex, who trusts me enough to fall asleep on my shoulder but probably has no idea I’m standing here, post-orgasm and completely fucked in the head because of her.
“Shit,” I mutter, turning off the water with more force than necessary.
I grab a towel, roughly drying off, my mind still spinning. This was supposed to clear my head. Get her out of my system. Make things easier.
Instead, it made everything infinitely more complicated.
Because now I know. Now I can’t unknow it.
I want her.
Not just as a friend. Not just as someone fun to hang out with.
I want her.
And I have absolutely no idea what the hell I’m supposed to do about that.
I don’t spend much longer in the shower, just enough to clean myself and wash my hair, then I hop out, grab a towel, run it over my body, and wrap it around my waist. Hesitantly, I pick up my cell, checking for another message from Alex. It’s a GIPHY of Homer Simpson in the shower.
I laugh and type back quickly.
Matt: I feel like if you did see me in the shower, you’d be the one sending a Homer “d’oh” GIPHY… just sayin’.
Trying to keep it casual, not admitting to anything—but yeah, I want her thinking about it.
Alex: Oh really? You think you’re that hot?
I laugh and fire back a GIPHY of sexy Ned Flanders in his ski suit, shaking it like he knows.
Matt: More sexy Flanders than Homer any day, doodlebug.
She replies with a GIPHY of girls cracking up and two simple words:
Alex: Doodlebug????
I grin and type back.
Matt: Yep. It’s your new nickname.
Doodle… because you draw stuff.
Bug… because you’re small, relentless, and always in my space.
Henceforth, you shall be known as Doodlebug. It’s perfect.
Her reply is instant.
Alex: I actually love it… But please NEVER say henceforth again, Grandpa.
I drop the towel and walk into my room, still smiling.
Me: Deal. Have a great day. Make my twin laugh, yeah?
Alex: Thanks for the laughs, sexy Flanders. Catch ya later, nerd.
Doodlebug out.
I laugh at her message.
It’s such an Alex response.
I grab some pants and pull them up.
Great, now I need to figure out what I’m doing today.