Chapter Sixteen #5
In the ten minutes between me waking up and Adriana doing the same, my mind had already come up with a dozen ways I’d messed up this relationship last night—been too pushy, been too insecure, been too rough, or maybe she’d faked it to get it over with—and now we’d never be able to go back to being friends.
We could have laughed off making out on the sleeper sofa, but now she’d be done with me.
Except, when Addie yawned, she stretched and writhed against me, and she ran her fingers up my neck and pulled my face to hers with her eyes still small and dazed.
“Morning,” she croaked against my lips, voice so goddamn husky it should have been illegal. The throaty sound alone revived last night’s buzz in my veins. Not to mention the feeling of her mouth against mine, hot and slow and doubtless.
“Hi,” I whispered between kisses.
“Don’t make me sing for it again.” Addie sank her teeth into my bottom lip as she shifted, drowsy limbs tangling with mine until she comfortably slotted on top of me, knees tugged on either side of my hips.
I moaned into her open mouth as her bare pussy slid over my length, hot and wet and begging to be filled.
The reverberating strumming in my blood shot to my hips, mounting fast.
“Condom. Now,” I huffed.
“Hmm.” She just hummed and buried her face in the curve of my neck again, but she gave her hips just the slightest tilt. That bit of friction was enough for my pulse to drum louder in my ears.
“Don’t move, Addie baby.” I stretched for the bedside table, fishing for a condom with my fingertips.
“Hurry up already,” she grumbled against my collarbone and wriggled her hips again.
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Not only because for someone who had barely opened her eyes, she was incredibly impatient. But because this was Addie and just when I’d started to doubt this step in our relationship, she came through and let me know how much she wanted to take the step with me.
“Give me one second.” I grabbed her soft thigh and maneuvered her just enough to reach between us and roll the condom on.
I barely got the time to pull my hand back before she lifted her hips the bare minimum to nudge me into position.
She slid onto me with a sigh so content, every single one of her muscles melted against me.
Her pussy was a perfect fit, snug and warm and so fucking soft. “God, you feel amazing.”
She giggled, her chest trembling against mine, and lifted her head just enough to rejoin my mouth with hers.
We barely moved. We lay in bed, only our mouths tangling.
I watched the sun kiss her hair with a few strawberry-red highlights, and I traced the vertebrae down her back, and I moaned against her lips every time she rocked over me ever so slightly or gave me a small squeeze with her inner muscles, making sure to keep me hard.
Technically, on paper, the best word to describe this was probably sex.
But with every minute, without a single thrust, just sitting with our bodies joined together, Addie was reclaiming parts of herself.
She was choosing not to have sex in the way people thought of it.
She was choosing physical intimacy without ecstasy.
She chose to trust me with her body, trust that I wouldn’t take my pleasure from her if given the opportunity.
After a while, when she shuddered and tiny goosebumps rose on her skin, I lifted her off the bed and carried her to the bathroom. I got rid of the condom and grabbed a fresh bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo from the cabinet while Addie braided her hair.
Under the hot shower stream, she let me wash and kiss and nibble every inch of her.
“Do you want me to wash your hair?” I asked as she leaned against me, her back against my chest.
“Probably not. What’s your shampoo?”
I handed her the bottle. She started reading the list of ingredients, then turned the bottle around and shot me a look somewhere between anger and confusion I couldn’t fully pinpoint. “Are you serious? Two-in-one shampoo and conditioner?”
“Yes? I’ve been using the same one for years.”
“Brooks, this is such a red flag.” Addie laughed and shook her head. “If I had known this about you twelve hours ago, you would not have gotten lucky.”
I was missing a connection. I usually managed to overplay confusing moments like this with an easy smile and a joke, but I didn’t want to miss any of the things Addie said to me—and she was one of the only people I trusted not to turn it into a joke when I needed context that may have seemed obvious to most. “I don’t understand what my shampoo has to do with having sex. ”
“Sorry. Here, let me wash your hair.” Addie turned to face me and gently pushed down on my shoulders.
I sank to my knees and held on to her hips while she started massaging shampoo into my scalp.
My eyes automatically fell shut. “I asked about your shampoo because wavy and curly hair is easily damaged by certain ingredients. But two-in-one shampoo and conditioner isn’t great for anyone’s hair.
It’s better to use shampoo and conditioner separately.
I laughed and called it a red flag because it’s stereotypical for men to not spend time or money on their appearance or the health of their hair because self-care makes them feel emasculated for some reason.
And I wouldn’t sleep with a man who thinks washing himself correctly is emasculating. ”
“I didn’t know that.” With her explanation, her thought process made sense.
What didn’t make sense was why anyone would think two-in-one shampoo was manly.
“I’ve used this for a long time. It says shampoo and conditioner on the bottle, so I thought that’s what it was good for. I followed the instructions.”
“I know. It’s okay. If you want to, I can check if the same brand offers separate shampoos and conditioners.”
My throat tightened and I dug my fingers deeper into her soft skin.
Fuck. Most people probably wouldn’t pick up on the importance of this very specific offer.
It was such a minuscule detail. Instead of just recommending me products, she was going to check for alternatives as close as possible to what I was already using.
She didn’t want me to change. She just wanted to give me healthier options. “I’d like that. Thank you.”
“Sure thing.” She lifted the shower head from its holder on the wall and rinsed the product from my hair with careful fingertips.
“Can you teach me about the ingredients? Skye has wavy hair…”
“Yeah, I’ll walk you through it.”