Cal felt his strength fully leave him as they separated. He missed it already, being inside her, and the hunger that he’d satiated came back—if a little weaker this time. Lia left the bed to go to the bathroom as Cal cleaned himself up with wet wipes (also in the second drawer) and followed Lia to the bathroom so he could properly dispose of the wipes and the condom. They stood next to each other by the sink, nudging his hip against hers as they washed their hands, flicking each other’s faces with water.
“And we…both feel good about this, still, right?” Lia asked, uncharacteristically nervous as she chewed on her bottom lip, looking up at him in the harsh lights of the bathroom. She looked lovely. “Just winging this?”
“Yes.” Cal nodded, smiling. “I’m used to it.”
That answer didn’t seem to satisfy her, as she moved to the bed, sitting with a huff. “But is it what you want, Cal?Maybe you want something more. Something better. I’m sorry that you didn’t get to show everyone how much you loved Bomseok, and that it’s easier with me because I’m a straight cis woman and?—”
“I never needed everyone to know that I loved him. I just neededhimto know it,” Cal reminded her, sliding one leg underthe other as he sat next to her on the bed. “And yes, it isn’t fair that it would be monumentally easier for me if you and I came out publicly. But I don’t want more than this right now. I don’tknowwhat I want right now, which is the problem. But I do know that I want you, very much. For as long as we have.”
“Thank you,” she said, and Cal was about to say something about her never having to thank him, but she shook her head. “I’m trying this thing where I share my thoughts more out loud. Sometimes it takes a while for me to even figure outwhatthe emotion actually is.”
“I can wait.”
“I’m trying to work on it,” she continued. “These things take practice.”
“So practice with me.” Cal grinned, rubbing his thumb on the skin of her waist. He could get used to this. “What do you like?”
She seemed to give it a lot of serious thought, her lips slightly pouted as she racked her brain. Cute.
“I like that I can tell you what to do in bed. I really like compliments. I like it when you call me beautiful, and when you try to anticipate what I want. I like that leg thing.”
“The fanfic ordained leg thing.” Cal sighed, although it tickled him that it had amused her so much. His range of moves were limited.
“I like that you seem to listen to me. I…I like it a lot. And this, obviously. I like being here with you. Us having sex is very nice.”
“I like this too,” Cal told her, kissing her temple. “I like the way you make me feel. I like the way you devour your food. And the way you drink four cups of coffee a day.”
“Coffee in this country is weak as fu—” Lia was cut off when he heard the sound of the front door lock mechanically opening with a whir and a quick chime. Then the usually quiet Teddy entered the house, made very clear by the fact that he started to talk very loudly.
“I’M ALREADY HERE PLEASE DON’T BE NAKED.”
That made them both erupt in laughter, and for Teddy to yell a little more about how he could definitely hear them, and they also very definitely sounded naked! That he was putting on his earphones now to finish this mix that was kicking his ass, thank you!
“I should help him out.” Cal chuckled, getting up from the bed to hunt for his pants, his shirt.
“Yeah, cats start yelling when they’re tired,” Lia joked with a yawn. She peeked at the time on her phone, and her eyes grew wide. “Fuck, he’sstillworking? Wait, I’m going to kick his ass, then drag him to bed. What is he doing that can’t wait until tomorrow, I?—”
“He got into a groove.” It happensall the time. “Don’t worry, I’ll get him to bed,” Cal assured her, throwing his shirt back on, frowning at the crack in the bedframe. “I will also order chicken. I don’t think he’s eaten.”
She sighed deeply. “I appreciate you taking care of him. But don’t get him anything spicy, he won’t be able to sleep.”
“Got it.” Cal shrugged because it was absolutely no big deal. “Come out in thirty minutes if you want some too.”
She gave him a thumbs up, but he highly doubted that she was going to be up for fried chicken at—wow, it really was two in the morning.
Cal gave her temple one last kiss as she settled into her sheets, then padded out to the living room, where Teddy was still working, his shoulders slumped over his laptop and some of his equipment. His hair was sticking up in several different directions, and he looked like his back had never known a good stretch in two hundred years. The grumble that filled the space definitely didn’t come from Cal.
“I don’t know about this part.” Teddy announced, playing a snippet of “Lightning Strikes,” the song they wanted to be thelead single. The same song they wanted to get absolutely perfect. “It sounds like we replaced Soobin with an 808 drum loop.”
“What does he think?” Cal asked, crossing his arms over his chest and fetching Teddy a glass of water. To start.
“The same thing I do. Fill in some of these open parts. Meaning?—”
“Re-record? Sure.”
“Remind me again why we decided to do a live song?”
Yeah. Cal was going to have to order chicken at two in the morning.
