Then, slowly, reality starts to creep back in.
The music. The candles. The cooling bathwater.
The cell phone.
My eyes flutter open, and I stare up at the ceiling, my chest still heaving. My skin is flushed pink, slick with water and steam, and I feel… God, I feelalive.Electric. Like every nerve ending in my body just woke up for the first time.
But underneath that, there’s something else. Something uncomfortable and insistent, pressing at the edges of my post-orgasm haze.
Guilt?
Confusion?
I don't know.
I take a shaky breath and reach for my phone, my fingers still trembling slightly. The screen lights up, and I squint at it through the fog of my mind.
And then I see it.
The name at the top of the conversation.
Matt.
Not Logan.
Matt!
The realization hits me like ice water, dousing the lingering warmth in my veins. My stomach drops, my breath catches, and for a second, I can’t move. I can’t think. I can’t do anything except stare at his name and feel the full weight of what just happened settle over me like a heavy blanket.
I just came thinking about Matt.
While texting Matt.
“Oh my God.” I drop the phone like it burned me, and it clatters against the porcelain edge before settling on the window ledge. My hands fly to my face, covering my eyes, and I let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan.
What the hell did I just do?
I reach down and pull the plug, letting the water flow down the drain along with the stress of what just happened. I hop out of the bath and reach for the towel, drying myself off, then make my way back out into the main room and over to my bed, where my pajamas await. I get dressed quickly and pull my hair out of the bun it’s been in all day, letting my colorful hair cascade around my face. Small strands of wet hair stick to my cheeks as I crawl into bed.
I think of Matt and our conversation and realize in my lustful haze, I didn’t write back. I figure I probably should, so I type out a quick message, suddenly feeling completely shy as I fall into my pillows and sink into the softness of my bed.
Me:I’m heading to bed. Had a huge day. Hope you have a good night. Sweet dreams…
I hit send and place my cell on my pillow.
My eyes close, but somehow I don’t think I am going to be getting much sleep tonight. I just text-flirted with Matt. But I had no idea it was him. Then I climaxed thinking of him.
I am officially screwed!
Chapter Nine
MATT
One Week Later
It’s been a week since the night we sent those texts. The ones that crossed a line.
She’s invited me over again tonight for another one of our so-called catch-up dinners, supposedly to check in on our online dating progress. We haven’t talked much since. Not like before. No nightly recaps, no rapid-fire banter about bad bios or ball jokes. Just… surface-level check-ins.
