“Good.”
“Good.”
We fall into an easy silence. Jerry’s eyes drift closed, and mine start to do the same when a thought occurs to me. “So how will it work?”
“How will what work?” He opens one eye.
“Well, do I give you a sign whenever I’m feeling horny?” I smirk and waggle my eyebrows. “Like a wink and a nod at the stairs?” He opens his mouth, then closes it a couple of times, and my smirk blooms into a full-on smile. “Or maybe I’ll leave you a message on the fridge.”
Both eyes are wide open now. “I honestly hadn’t thought that far ahead.” He looks totally confused and I take pity on him.
“How about this?” I tug his hand closer and kiss the back of it. “We just ask.”
He settles down into his pillow again. “I like that idea.”
“And no hard feelings if the other isn’t in the mood.”
“Agreed.” He offers me a sleepy smile and closes his eyes.
And just like that, I seem to have negotiated regular sex with Jerry while living in his house. Something I was absolutely convinced would be a bad idea when I got here a week ago. In reality, it was the easiest thing ever.
Are we kidding ourselves that we can do this and keep our friendship? I don’t think so, but I guess time will tell. For now, though, I join Jerry and close my eyes, soaking up the warm contentment that comes from a fantastic orgasm and animal snuggles.
JERRY
“A little to the left.”I smile as Reed rolls his eyes but dutifully moves the tree like I ask. “Perfect.” I hurry over and bend down to secure the tree in the stand.
I’d maybe expected things to be awkward between us after yesterday afternoon, but I’m happy to be wrong. After napping in my bed, we made dinner and watched TV before going to bed in our respective rooms. We shared a goodnight kiss, but that was it. Neither of us suggested spending the night together, and I was okay with that. We needed some boundaries, otherwise lines could get blurred.
“Now what?” Reed lets go of the tree and joins me in front of it. “Are you one of those that has to decorate in a particular order, or do you just stick it all on there and hope for the best?”
Pretty sure I do a crap job of hiding my horror at that last statement because his eyebrows rise and he chuckles.
“Ahh. Strict order it is, then.” He takes a few paces back and points to the boxes of decorations I brought down. “I’ll let you get organised.”
“I’m not that bad.”
“M-hmm.” He walks over to the boxes and picks up two sets of lights out of the many in there. “I’ll start putting these on, then, shall I?”
I bite my lip. “Those are actually for the outside tree.” Bending down, I fetch out a couple more. “I put these on my indoor tree.”
Reed laughs. “Okay. Swap.”
We do, and despite Reed’s teasing, I’m notthatbothered about what goes on in what order. As long as we do the lights and spray the trunk with a little fake snow first. And as long as everything’s evenly spaced.
Maybe I am that bad.
We work around each other until everything’s on the tree, then turn the fairy lights on and draw the curtains to admire our handiwork.
“Looks good,” Reed says softly.
“Yeah.”
With Reed distracting me when we picked it, I’d had little input on selecting the Christmas tree now standing proudly on display in my living room. Can’t deny it’s a beauty though. And I have to admit, as much as I love this time of year regardless, it’s infinitely better having Reed here helping me.
“Frank,no.” Reed darts forward and plucks Frank off the floor before he can bat one of the low hanging baubles. “Maybe we should rearrange some of those.” Frank meows pitifully, wriggling in Reed’s arms.
I huff out a laugh, because what else can you do? Cats don’t give a shit if you’ve just spent ages getting your tree perfect. Kyla doesn’t usually bother with it, but I know that she won’t want to be left out if Frank starts playing with it. “Yeah, we probably should.”
