Warmth blooms deep inside me, and I melt in the stillness. I fall onto the bed, sated. He rolls my body over and says, “Are you okay?”
I nod as tears roll down my face.
“Are you crying?”
I wipe my cheek and shrug.
“Did I hurt you?”
I start to laugh as he pushes hair out of my eyes. “No.” My chest shakes. “I don’t know why I’m crying. That was amazing.”
“Wanna shower with me?” he asks. “Come on.”
He picks me up like I weigh nothing and walks into the bathroom. When he sets me on my feet, his come rolls down my thighs. He glances at it and then wipes another tear from my face. He kisses my cheeks, my forehead, and then my lips.
He seems like he’s about to say something, but then he starts the water and says, “I don’t know how to turn the showerhead on.”
I didn’t know how to either when I first moved in here. I pull the spout where the water rushes out, and the shower turns on. He steps inside and wraps his arms around me. I let my tears mix with the shower as Dylan lathers soap for us. He washes my hair and then my body. I feel like every inch of me is humming with every touch. When he’s on his knees, I glance down at his broad shoulders and his muscular back. I wonder if he has a heavy sex drive or if this is just athletic stamina.
“We can’t do this again,” I say as he stands. He towers over me, and my heart races at the look on his face.
“Okay,” he says, turning away.
I grab his shoulders, forcing him to face me. “I’m serious. I think we went overboard today. We can’t…”
“I know,” he says, cupping my face with his soapy hand. “I know, Ce.”
My chest tightens as I look into his eyes. Does he have the same feeling I do right now? I’m shaky. I can’t even fathom what I feel right now, but if I could try to capture this feeling, there wouldn’t be words. Because stuffed and buried underneath all this surface-level stuff is just me, begging to be loved, to be wanted, to be cherished, to be seen. I want to acknowledge the parts of me that I hide, the parts that are yearning for something this real, raw, and honest. Yet, I nod at him and step out of the shower because that feeling is far too heavy. I don’t know what to do with it, except set it down at his feet and step away. I’ve never met someone like this before. I’m so comfortable around him, like I’ve known him forever. He’s easy to talk to. I could easily spend time with him just to be near him.
When I walk into my bedroom, I see a dried spot of his come on my bed, and my stomach twists at the evidence of what I’ve done. I’ve seduced a man with the promise to remain friends. It’s almost laughable at the situations I get myself into. I cover the spots with my towel and walk to my dresser. When he enters the room a second later, I try not to cover my naked body as I search for clothes.
He walks up behind me as I search for comfortable underwear for the swelling between my legs. His fingertips trail across my shoulder. When I look up, I see him behind me in the mirror. Seeing us together makes my heart skip a beat.
“Hey,” I smile.
“Why does it feel like you’re miles away?”
My heart flutters as I stare at him in the mirror.
He stands, looking at me like no one else has ever looked at me before. I can see it in his eyes that we’re not quite friends anymore. The way his fingers tickle my skin in its wake, the wayhe’s cataloging us together side by side. My gut clenches, and I break the spell by throwing on my underwear.
“I owe you dinner,” he says against my shoulder.
My blush is very apparent in the reflection. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“Do you want me to buy you dinner, Ce?” he says, looking in the mirror. The towel hanging off his hips is very distracting, but luckily, all my sex needs have been satisfied. I think.
“I’m going to head out to buy another Morning After pill, and I could grab dinner if you’d like.”
I throw on a shirt without a bra and then shorts. “Dylan,” I huff.
He shakes his head. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll order it.”
I roll my eyes, and he wraps his arm around my body.
My brow raises in the mirror. “We had an agreement,” I warn.
He pulls his arm up and says, “I’m putting you in a chokehold like a friend would.”
