Chapter Ten – Wren
Coming to the next morning, I’m drowsy, my body is sore, and I feel so strange. It takes me a while to realize why that is, and when it finally hits me, I have to stop myself from immediately jerking into a sitting position and running the heck out of here.
I’m at Reese’s place. I’m in his bed. We… were together last night. A lot. He made me feel things, made me come undone, and I couldn’t get enough. It’s like he put that blindfold on me and I lost myself.
But is that really such a terrible thing? As crazy as it might be, I don’t think I regret it. I think, last semester, I went through so much with Logan, that there’s no way this can end up worse than that, even if Reese decides this was a one-time thing and it won’t ever happen again.
I yawn and roll over, and I find that Reese isn’t in bed with me. Early morning sunlight streams through the window on the other side of the room, informing me that it might be time for me to get up.
Then again, what do I have planned for the day? Nothing much. I wouldn’t mind staying in this bed a while longer yet. I don’t know where Reese is, but it doesn’t matter. I can close my eyes and smell him in his pillow.
After a little while, the smell of bacon alerts me to someone else’s presence, and I hear Reese’s voice say, “You up? If you’re still sleeping, that’s fine. I just thought I’d bring you breakfast.”
I’m slow in sitting up and yawning, and for some silly reason I make sure to keep the sheets piled around my upper body so I don’t flash him as I sit. A stupid thing, since he saw every inch of me last night.
Reese is carrying a wooden tray with a plate of bacon and eggs on it, along with a glass of orange juice. He wears nothing but sweats, and the sweats hang low on his hips. As he approaches the bed with a sloppy smile on his face, I can’t help but let my gaze travel along him.
He’s fine.
No, he’s more than fine. That body of his can do some wondrous things. His stomach has the faintest shadow of sculpted abs—he’s nowhere near as muscular as Logan, but based on how he moves, how lean he is, I can tell he still takes care of his body. I learned first-hand of his stamina last night.
He brings the tray to me, setting it on my lap, and he sits on the edge of the bed, never taking his eyes off me. I ask him, “Did you make yourself any?”
“My plate’s downstairs. It can wait.”
Only a madman would be okay with cold eggs, but I don’t say that. The only thing I do is grab the fork and start eating. After being up so late last night, or in reality, so early this morning, I’m starving. Somehow, every single part of me is sore. My legs, my arms, all of it.
Talk about a marathon of sex. I honestly wasn’t expecting it to go like that at all, but I can’t complain. This is the perfect way to follow up last night.
Reese must sense where my thoughts are, because he asks, “How are you feeling this morning?” His brown hair, as short as it is, is damp, telling me he showered.
He must have been up for a little while.
How, I don’t know. He must not need much sleep to function.
Those beautiful blue eyes of his are awake and totally alert, zeroed in on me.
“Sore,” I say, telling the truth. No point in hiding it now. I think Reese and I are beyond that, after everything we did together last night.
He chuckles softly, and the sound is like music to my ears. “I bet. I hope I didn’t… overwhelm you last night. I’m aware I can sometimes be too much.”
Too much? Even with how sore I am, I would never say it was too much. “No. Last night was—” Gosh, how do I say this without sounding like I’ve either lost my mind or I’m a girl in love? “—amazing.”
He grins at me, those dimples on full display.
When he grins like that, he really does look like the boy next door.
“Good. I know it might be too early to talk about it, but I would love to take you out again sometime.” He waits a moment before saying, “Or have a full night in with you. We can do whatever you’re up for. ”
That actually does sound fantastic, but I have a mouthful of bacon, so I can only smile at him and nod.
I would like to see him again, go out with him again…
have some more crazy sex with him again.
Not going to lie, last night was probably a highlight of my entire life.
It was easy to get out of my own head, and that’s not something I can say about every situation I find myself in.
“I’m glad it wasn’t too much,” he says, watching me as I eat. “Sometimes… sometimes I can be a little much, especially when it comes to that sort of thing.”
I swallow hard. It’s difficult for me to say it out loud, but I force myself to: “You mean the blindfold thing?”
“Yeah. The blindfold was dipping a toe into what I like to do. I didn’t know if you’d be into it. Some people just aren’t.”
With a shrug, I say, “I mean, I’ve never done anything like that before, but I can’t complain. I thought it was kind of hot.” Oh, dear. The moment I say that, my cheeks flush something furious. Who am I? I don’t say those things out loud.
Then again, I don’t hook up with people either, and look at me now.
The smile Reese wears after I say that is one that’s unlike any other I’ve seen on his face. It’s wider, deeper, the kind of smile that looks more pleased than anything else. “So you’d be okay with trying other things?”
“What other things do you have in mind?”
All he does is keep grinning and say, “Guess you’ll find out.” His tone is flirty, and it makes my heart do something funny in my chest. Still, I can’t help but wonder what else he means. If the blindfold was only a baby step into his kinks, what else is there?
I know there’s a whole world of things I’m not aware of. Tons of kinks. Bondage. Roleplay. Voyeurism. Exhibitionism. Lots of others I can’t even think of. Never thought I’d be one to partake in any of them, but sitting there with Reese, who am I to say no? If I’m with him, I’m open to try anything.
“Go get your food,” I tell him. “We can eat together.” My food is already half-gone, but still, I know he said his food is downstairs, and I honestly need a distraction after our most recent topic of conversation.
Seriously, what other kinks does this guy have? My mind is awash with possibilities.
“As you wish.” He gets up and disappears, but only for a minute or so. He returns with his own plate and a cup of coffee, and together we sit in his bed and eat.
It’s all so normal. Like it isn’t the morning after our first date.
Like we’ve done this all the time and we’ll do it again.
In the grand scheme of things, isn’t it good to feel like this?
To have everything feel so normal even though it’s technically not?
I might not be used to this kind of thing, but being with Reese makes it easy.
“So,” he asks me as we eat, “got any plans for the rest of the weekend?”
“Asking me out on another date already?”
He chuckles. “I wish. Unfortunately, today and tomorrow are pretty packed for me. The beginning and the end of semesters always are—and the middle, now that I’m thinking about it. Midterms and such.”
“Sounds like you’re always busy.”
“Yes and no. I’m used to it by now. I do want to take you out again, but I’m not sure when it’ll be.” He shoots me a sly look and a half grin that makes me bite my bottom lip in anticipation. “Guess you’ll just have to keep your schedule open for me.”
The only thing I can say to that is, “I guess so.”
“Tell me if I’m prodding, but,” he pauses and takes a sip from his mug, “are there any boys I should be worried about? Boys who might try to steal you from me? Or girls, I suppose.”
“No girls,” I say quickly, although I’m not nearly as fast about the other part of his questioning.
Obviously, my mind goes straight to Logan, who I’m desperately trying not to think about right now.
I wouldn’t say that Logan could steal me away from Reese, but…
I’d also be lying if I say I’m not affected by that jerk, even after everything he did.
Or didn’t do.
Reese nods once. “Okay, no girls to worry about. What about boys, then? You seem awfully quiet. You have a boy in mind?”
Is he a jealous sort? If he is, he’s giving off Logan vibes.
Maybe I do have a type. That said, I don’t necessarily want to bring Logan up to him right now, so I settle for shrugging and telling him, “No. There aren’t any boys.
None that really care.” I hate how depressed I sound when I say it, and I hope he doesn’t notice.
But he does, and he reaches a hand toward me and says, “Anyone who doesn’t care about you isn’t worth your time or your thoughts. However, if you want to give me a name, I can see to it that whoever it is will disappear and never bother you again.”
He says it like a joke, and that’s how I take it. I laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.”
I finish up eating, and by the time we’re both done, it’s well past ten in the morning. Time to get home. I get dressed, and Reese does the same. He drives me home, and before I get out of his car, he reaches for me and leans over the center console to kiss me.
Now that I know what his lips feel like on mine, I’m prepared, and I’m ready to kiss him back. It’s still a weird thing, to kiss someone other than my ex or Logan, but I can’t complain one bit. Kissing him helps me forget everything I’d rather not think about. It’s like a superpower.
“I had so much fun,” he says when he pulls away.
“Me too.”
“Hopefully I get some free time soon, because I don’t know if I can wait long to see you again,” he tells me in a bare whisper, still leaning close, his breath hot on my face.
Mike never said things like that to me. Is that normal for a guy to say, or is Reese just in his own league? I don’t know, but it makes me feel good, knowing he wants to see me again and that, until the day comes, he’ll be dying inside.