“What do you want to watch next?” I set the tray on the duvet and crawled onto my side of the bed.
I was perfectly comfortable in nothing but my boxers, but I could tell by the way she huddled under the covers, she was cold. I jumped up and went to my dresser, digging around until I found my MIT sweatshirt. A scrap of black fabric caught my eye, and I grinned.
Hooking my finger in the lace, I held the panties I’d stolen from her out like a trophy and watched her eyes go wide. I must have mixed them in with my things. If Anna wondered how women’s underwear ended up in my laundry, she hadn’t asked.
I tugged the covers off Elena’s legs and held the panties so she could slip her feet through the openings. Hurrying when I desperately wanted to take my time, I slid the lace up her legs and over her hips, tucking her back under the covers before she had a chance to shiver.
“Arms up,” I said, meeting her gaze and letting some of the heat I felt show. There was no way in hell I’d push her when she was sick, but I was never going to stop wanting Elena.
I held out the soft cotton sweatshirt, and she complied, pulling her hair free from the material settled around her. Airdrying it post-shower and then rolling around in the bed turned it into a disheveled halo of soft brown waves.Christ, she was so damn beautiful it made my chest hurt. I liked her any way she came, but this Elena, relaxed and swallowed by my college sweatshirt, might be my favorite one.
She picked up a piece of the toast and took a tentative bite, her eyes lighting when the jam hit her tongue. I picked up my own piece and finished it in just a couple of bites.
“It tastes so good,” she said, taking another, bigger bite this time.
“I’m glad you’re getting your appetite back.” I picked up my second piece. “Make sure you keep drinking. Mark said that was important.”
“Is he a real doctor? I’m fuzzy on the details, but he seemed real.” She took a sip of her ginger ale, another one, and a smile spread across her gorgeous face.
Put together with all the makeup and polish, she was stunning. This fresh-faced no makeup version stole my breath. The pale, slightly green look had been replaced by a delicate flush I hoped wasn’t a fever.
“He is. He owed me a favor.” Needing to be certain, I held my wrist to her forehead, grateful she was warm, not hot.
“You have to let me pay you back. I’ve made myself a complete imposition.” She pushed the plate with the remaining piece of toast in my direction.
“Don’t be silly. Mark’s a friend and you’re not an imposition.” I met her gaze before snagging her abandoned toast. “I’m sorry you got sick. And I still want to play with the things you brought.”
I got an image of Elena with the delicate chains clamped to her nipples, bent over, waiting for me to slide the metal plug into her ass. I’d fuck her while she wore it, tugging on the chains while I buried myself in her tight, wet heat. Yeah, I still wanted to play.
“But I like spending time with you.”
She tipped her head, looking uncharacteristically shy, and then she smiled at me. It was as if the world lit up.
“I like spending time with you too,” she said.
I polished off the toast so I could avoid doing something crazy, like asking her if she wanted to play girlfriend.
“You didn’t answer my question. What do you want to watch next?” I repeated when she looked at me, confused.
“I’ve already taken up so much of your time. Don’t you have to work?” She glanced at her phone.
I thought this was the moment she’d start to pull away, but she didn’t pick it up.
“I finished what I had to do this morning while you slept. I’m taking the rest of the day off.” I picked up the tray and set it on the floor beside the bed. Leaning back against the pillows, I opened my arms for her and waited.
It took two very long seconds for her to decide and snuggle in against me.
“I picked last time. You choose this one,” she said, resting her cheek on my chest.
“How do you feel about alternative farming practices that trap carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions? There are also baby pigs and some chickens.”
“I feel like that’s a very good idea.”
I tucked her head under my chin and hit play on the farming documentary I’d been meaning to watch since I read an article on healthy soil being able to sequester and hold carbon from the air. My kind of computing used a fuckton of energy, often from some not so clean sources. Ignoring the inherent pitfalls, AI could do some amazing things, like predict diseases before they formed and save lives. None of which would matter if we didn’t have a planet to live on.
By the time the snails laid waste to the fruit trees and the ducks laid waste to them, Elena’s soft snoring rumbled against my skin. I thought about reaching for my phone to record the sound so I’d have proof, but that would mean letting her go, and I had no intention of doing that.
When Elena woke again, the afternoon light was sliding into evening. The movie finished an hour earlier, and I’d spent the time looking up alternative farming practices on my phone. That rabbit hole led to sustainable architecture, which led to using mushrooms as building materials.
