I melted against him as his other hand worked between us, hissing as the heel of his palm pressed against me through my underwear. Simon made a happy sound into my mouth, shifting his hand to stroke me.
My hips jerked into his touch, bursts of pleasure going off at the back of my skull and cascading down my spine.
“That’s it,” he murmured against my lips. “Come for me.”
I buried my face in his neck, rocked into his touch two, three times, and muffled a sob against his skin as my orgasm hit, a jolt of pleasure that made stars dance behind my eyelids again as it coursed through me. I screwed my eyes shut against it, overwhelmed, wriggling closer to Simon, needing him more than I ever had as I ground into his hand, coming in sharp spurts so intense they hovered on the edge of painful.
My bones turned to jello as I finally finished, panting for breath against Simon’s neck. He pressed a kiss to my hairline, nuzzling gently, murmuring something I was too out of it to catch.
Whatever it was, it was in Simon’s soothing, familiar voice, so I knew it was something good.
“Hmm?” I asked when I thought I could trust my voice again. It came out mostly intelligible.
Simon chuckled. “I said, I’ve got clean underwear you can borrow.”
I laughed. Of course that was the thing he’d thought of. My comfort.
“If that’s not… weird,” he added.
I hummed again, wriggling closer to him. I’d want to clean up and take advantage of that offer in a few minutes, but I didn’t want to move any sooner than I had to right now.
“Probably is,” I murmured, settling against Simon’s skin. “Don’t care.”
“Me neither,” Simon said, kissing my forehead. “Hey, Theo?”
“Mm?”
“I love you.”
I smiled so hard it hurt. As long as I had that, I didn’t need anything else in the world.
Except maybe that clean underwear.
“Love you, too.”
31
SIMON
The blurry numberson my alarm clock read 3:07am when the mattress dipped under a second body. I smiled, raising my arm under the covers for Theo to curl up against me.
Him showing up at my parents’ house had been probably the most romantic gesture of my or anyone else’s life, but if I was being completely honest, it didn’t feelrealuntil we’d gone to bed together earlier tonight. Last night? I wasn’t sure of the grammar of the situation. Theo would know.
“Okay?” I asked as he snuggled close, resting his head against my shoulder. There was a hollow there that seemed to be exactly the right shape for it.
“Had to pee,” he murmured. “Becausesomeonemade me drink a glass of water before I went to bed.”
I snorted. “Sorry for taking care of you. It will happen again.”
Theo hummed, shifting to get comfy. His fingers curled around a handful of the t-shirt I’d thrown on before sleep, clinging like a toddler to a safety blanket.
I liked the idea of being his safety blanket.
Silence reigned for maybe thirty seconds in which the only sound I could hear was his breathing, slow and steady but not asleep.
“Well, now I’m awake,” he complained, shifting again as though plastering himself more firmly against me would fix that, shoving one icy foot between my calves.
I chuckled. How could I do anything else? Theo was here. With me. Not because his heart was broken and he needed the comfort. Because he wanted to be here and he didn’t need an excuse anymore.
