“Two orders of ramen two times in a row is some kind of record for you, man.” Zac glanced over my shoulder, grinning when he saw Elena on the sofa. “Nice. Mom wondered if they were both for you.” He nodded at me conspiratorially, and I knew Mrs. Kimura would grill me the next time our paths crossed.
I shoved a twenty in his hand, thanked him, and closed the door before he could say something else that made me sound like an agoraphobic recluse.
“Do you want to eat at the counter or on the couch?” I glanced at Elena and caught her smiling at me in a way that made me wonder how much of my exchange with Zac she’d heard.
“Couch, if it’s okay with you. Dinner theater is the best. Do you need help?” Elena started to get up from her spot on the couch, and I motioned for her to stay put.
“I’ve got it. Do you want something else to drink?”
“I’m okay with wine.”
I carried the bag to the counter and grabbed the bowls I’d set by the sink earlier. Remembering the way Elena fixed her ramen the last time, I took extra care emptying the broth and noodles into the bowls and arranging the toppings. When I finished, it didn’t look like the photo on the takeout menu, but it was better than the dumped in the carton version I usually ate.
Juggling spoons, chopsticks, and the stack of napkins that came in the bag, I carried all of it, including the two bowls, to the coffee table. Elena had refilled her wine glass and wedged herself in the corner of the couch, sitting cross-legged with a pillow on her lap. A month ago, I could have never imagined this version of Elena completely at ease in my home. The smooth, polished Elena was sexy AF, and I loved every minute we spent together, but pretend girlfriend Elena was something else entirely. Something I could get used to.
I handed her the bowl, took my own, and mirrored her position on the couch. We slurped our noodles through the rest of the dinner scene, the main character punching Keanu Reeves and the couple finally getting together. I set my empty bowl and Elena’s half-empty one on the coffee table and pulled her into my arms just in time for the maître d guy to turn the main character away for showing up at a fancy work event in a T-shirt.
It was the second time the poor guy misjudged his clothes. I could empathize with that feeling. That everyone else knew some hidden rule, while I had no idea. But none of that mattered with Elena snuggled against me, soft and warm in my arms. Even without negotiated rules, I knew exactly what I wanted from our time together. I cradled her against me, her head tucked under my chin, as we watched the inevitable breakup before the real happily ever after.
“That was good.” I never would have picked the movie myself, but I had no problem admitting I enjoyed it.
“It was, wasn’t it? I love that it didn’t rely on a makeover on her part for them to get together. He was the one who had to step up this time.”
I hadn’t thought of it until she said it, but she was right. I wasn’t a huge rom-com connoisseur, but that makeover thing did seem to be a prevalent theme. Either the heroine got a makeover to become more of herself or to fit some kind of mold that made it easier for the hero to notice her. In this case, the guy was the one who needed a makeover. Literal in the case of his clothing, but his mental revamp was even more important.
I wondered if Elena chose it because that’s how she saw us. She was beautiful, accomplished, perfect. And I was the guy the ramen shop talked about when I ordered two bowls of noodles.
Before I had a chance to plunge down that sobering rabbit hole, Elena’s hand tugged at my T-shirt until she could slip her fingers under the fabric, resting her palm against my chest. Her touch felt proprietary—as if being together was a common occurrence, which it was, just not usually like this. This touch held affection and heat. Something more than the promise of sex, and it was exactly what I hadn’t known I wanted.
My muscles tensed as she stroked the skin of my abdomen, before sliding her palm over my pec. She ran her thumb over my nipple, and my already hardening cock sprang to attention. I slid my hands up her sides, maneuvering her until she straddled my lap. Cupping her face with my hands, I pulled her in for a kiss. A gentle brush of my lips over hers, soft with a tenderness I hadn’t expected. She broke the kiss, rocking back so her panty-covered sex rode the hard ridge of my cock.
“This is good, too,” she said, echoing my words from earlier.
“Yes, it is.” I gripped her hips, holding her to me.
Her answering smile catapulted to the top five of my favorite things list. When she leaned in to kiss me again, I ran one hand from her hip to palm her breast. I felt the peak of her nipple through the thin fabric of her dress, but there were still too many layers between her skin and my touch. Breaking the kiss, I held her gaze while I worked on the tiny buttons running down the front of her dress.
I gave up trying to open them one-handed and shifted to using both hands, baring inch after inch of creamy white skin until the dress hung open like a robe. Her bra and panties were a pale lavender-blue like the periwinkle she said she loved.
“You are so beautiful,” I said, watching the blush color her cheeks.
She had to have been told that a million times before. I knew she knew it. I’d never seen Elena shy, but for some reason, these words mattered more.
I stroked my hands over her shoulders, letting the dress fall in a puddle around my feet. Working the front clasp on her bra, I unfastened it and let it follow the dress, leaving her in nothing but her panties as she rocked against my aching cock. Keeping my gaze on her face, I palmed her breasts, feeling the tight points of her nipples against my hands.
Shifting my hands to the sides, I ran my thumbs back and forth over her nipples and watched her lips part in pleasure. I fucking loved that my touch did that for her, and I wanted so much more. Leaning forward, I wrapped my lips around a pebbled tip and drew her sensitive peak into my mouth. Her breath went out on a throaty sigh that made my cock twitch against her. Elena tangled her fingers in my hair in a move so possessive and needy, it ramped up my desire past what seemed reasonable considering all the things we’d already done together.
Surely there was supposed to be some kind of hedonic adaptation that made something as seemingly vanilla as playing with her nipples ordinary and not this explosive need that had me thrusting up to meet her lace-covered sex. I wanted to spend all night worshipping her gorgeous body, and I wanted to have her right now.
She decided for us, shifting to the side just enough to unfasten my shorts and reach for my cock. Her slender fingers wrapped around my length, squeezing as she stroked me. For a moment, I thought she might slide her panties to the side to take me inside her, but I didn’t want to go that fast, for this to be over that soon.
“Wait.” I covered her hand with mine, and she gave me a cocky grin that made it clear she knew exactly how close she’d gotten me to the edge. “I want you completely naked.”
“Okay, but you too.”
I didn’t need any more encouragement to strip off my shorts, boxers, and T-shirt while she shed the last scrap of lace keeping me from everything I wanted. I thought about leading her to the bedroom, but she decided for us again, pressing her palm against my chest until I sat back down on the sofa. She followed me, naked this time, and when she straddled me, she positioned herself so her hot, wet pussy rode the length of my cock. It was achingly close to everything I wanted and tantalizingly far away.
Bending to pull her nipple into my mouth, I reached between us and found her clit. I knew the way Elena liked to be touched, knew exactly the right kind of pressure and speed to get her off. I flicked my tongue back and forth over her nipple while I mirrored the movement with my thumb over her swollen clit. This time when she slid her fingers into my hair, she tightened her grip, the slight bite of pain a delicious confirmation she was close. I kept up the onslaught of my mouth on her nipples—firstone, then the other—while my thumb applied steady pressure to her clit.
