After making a mental note to call her in the morning, I opened the drawer Rowan had indicated to. Inside were various pairs of boxers and socks, surprisingly disorganised – several socks had been shoved in without their partner and I felt a small smirk tugging at the corners of my mouth. I’d always assumed Rowan was naturally neat. Apparently not.
I dug through the drawer, a shock of red lettering standing out amongst the sea of black, grey and blue. I pulled out a pair of plain black boxer shorts – the tight, elasticated kind. Around the band, the words ‘Georgio Armani’ were typed in stylish red letters. I couldn’t help but compare them to Rowan himself. Classy, expensive and undeniably sexy. I dropped my towel and stepped into the briefs. Hearing Rowan approaching, I pushed the drawer shut and crawled to sit on the bed.
Rowan shot me a smile when he reappeared into the room, holding a glass of water in each hand. He stopped to kick the door closed with his foot before setting one glass down and handing me the other.
“Thanks.” I nodded and took the glass from him, sipping eagerly at it. I watch Rowan remove his towel and get a fresh pair of boxers for himself. Whilst he busied himself kicking our towels to the corner of the room, I raked my eyes down his torso. It was criminal that someone could look that good without clothes on. Rowan glanced up at me with a grin when he realised I was watching him, and I felt my face flush.
“Is it alright if I stay here tonight?” I asked.
“Of course. I already figured you would.”
“Just thought I’d ask,” I muttered.
Rowan leant forwards and pulled on the duvet in an attempt to straighten it, having rumpled it into a ball in the heat of the moment. I shifted my weight over to the far side of the bed so he could shake it out and stretched to put my glass down on the bedside cabinet. Eventually, Rowan sat down heavily next to me and swung his legs up onto the bed, so he was lying down. He fussed with the pillows, pushing them into a comfortable position before sitting up and grabbing his own drink.
After drinking greedily, he rolled over onto his back and pulled the duvet up. I shuffled to get myself more comfortable and let my head fall onto the pillows opposite him before he tugged the duvet, so it covered me too. We both wriggled a little to get comfortable.
“Are you tired?” Rowan asked, looking across at me.
“Yeah, but—” I began before my sentence was cut off by a wide yawn. He laughed softly and sat up to turn the lamp off. Immersed in the darkness, the silence was broken with the odd rustle of the sheets as we both settled down to sleep.
When Rowan first reached for me, I flinched. I felt him shift his weight, the mattress bouncing a little before he pressed his body against mine. I rolled instinctively onto my side, with my back to him so he could slot into place behind me. Rowan wrapped an arm around me and pressed a kiss into my neck.
“Mm, you smell nice and clean,” he murmured, not quite whispering. I shivered, though I was certain we were both too tired for any more fooling around, the tone of his voice made me think twice.
“Makes a change, hm?” I laughed and felt Rowan chuckle before he squeezed me tighter. I sighed as his hand pressed flat against my chest and stroked up and down. He continued to kiss my neck, though the kisses were slow and lazy. I felt my eyes growing heavy and let them slide shut.
“Thank you for tonight,” Rowan said, pulling me back from the brink of sleep. I rubbed my face.
“Don’t, I should be the one thanking you,” I replied groggily.
“Sorry, were you asleep?” Rowan asked, nuzzling me.
“I’m not sure. Maybe.” My thoughts started to crowd together, I wondered how much time had passed between Rowan turning off the light and this conversation. “But seriously, don’t thank me. I can’t believe any of this is happening.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Rowan laughed, his breath tickled against my skin, and I pushed myself even tighter against him. “Go to sleep.” He kissed me gently and I finally felt my body succumb to exhaustion. I mumbled something incoherent in reply and felt Rowan hug me tight and then tumbled into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Chapter Ten
The next morning, I woke confused and hungover. I cracked an eye open, bemused as to where I was for a moment. There was a heavy sigh from behind me and both eyes flew open. I glanced over my shoulder, pleased to see Rowan was still in bed beside me. Gingerly, I rolled onto my back to get a better look at him.
He was on his stomach, face turned towards me, splayed in an unusual position. His breathing was slow and deep, indicating that he was still fast asleep. I sat forward, leaning on my elbows to glance across at his bedside clock and nearly choked with surprise and amusement.
It was quarter to twelve. I looked at Rowan incredulously. How wrong could you be about a person? I thought he was neat, organised and an early bird. Not even close, apparently. I grinned to myself, and I reached for my drink, my mouth dry. The room was dark, darker than it should have been and there was a faint patter of rain against the windowpanes.
I studied Rowan’s relaxed, sleeping face. I could see the faint shade of stubble on his chin which made me smile. He hadalwaysbeen clean-shaven every time I’d ever seen him. I shifted my body in closer to Rowan. His bare skin felt scorching pressed against mine as I kissed his neck gently. After a few moments, Rowan’s chest rose and fell in a long sigh as he began to stir. I kissed harder, switching between light pecks and small nibbles. He groaned as I parted my lips to lick briefly along his jugular.
I knew he was fully awake and aware of his surroundings when I felt his hands on me. After briefly caressing my chest, they dropped, skimming gently over my skin and eventually coming to rest firmly on my ass. I smiled against his neck and felt him laugh softly.
“Good morning to you, too,” he teased, his voice low and rough from sleep.
“It’s hardly morning,” I replied and felt Rowan move underneath me, craning to look at the clock.
“No, I suppose not.” He laughed and relaxed back into the pillows.
After a few moments of letting me kiss at his neck, Rowan rolled me over, so I was lying fully on top of him. He nosed my chin in an attempt to coax me into a kiss.
“I haven’t brushed my teeth yet,” I muttered, barely holding back a smile.
