“Kind of the same thing.”
“It’s just sounds. It’s not like you saw me.”
He was quiet and the air left my lungs with each second that ticked by. The heat seemed to start at my feet and enflame my whole body in an instant.
I swallowed hard. “D-did you see me?”
I felt his breath on my neck. “Yes.”
“Oh my God,” I heaved breathlessly.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to lie to you,” he whispered, holding my hand tighter. “As soon as I saw what was happening, I got the hell out of sight.”
I didn’t know if I should let go of his hand, get out of the bed, run out of the apartment or just die in the exact spot I was in.
Oh. My. God. I can never look him in the eyes again.
My mouth was agape. “That’s so fucking embarrassing.”
“It’s not.” His grip on my hand tightened. “I barely saw anything.”
I immediately remembered how I was splayed out on the very bed we were in. I stared at the window and contemplated jumping out of it. There was no way he didn’t see anything.
I started cursing under my breath before saying to myself, “I’m going to have to move out.”
“Stop it. You don’t have to go anywhere. It is what it is. It happened. It’s not a big deal.”
“Yeah, right. That’s why you wouldn’t even look at me when we were having dinner,” I groaned.
“No. That’s not it. Stop.”
I squeezed my eyes shut as if that would help me disappear. “This is so embarrassing.”
“It’s not that bad. Chill—”
My eyes flew open and my lip curled in disgust. “It didn’t happen to you! You have no idea how embarrassing this is.”
He exhaled roughly. “You know why I couldn’t look at you?” He stopped holding my hand. Removing his arm from around me, he rolled onto his back. “I couldn’t look at you because I only saw you for a second and my dick was rock hard.” He hesitated. “I couldn’t look at you because I had to go to the bathroom to calm the fuck down.”
We were both silent as that news tucked itself into bed with us.
Swallowing hard, I ignored the throbbing between my legs.
“So, there you go,” he grumbled.
I opened my mouth to say something, but I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to make him feel better like he tried to make me feel better. But I was distracted by the way my body reacted to the information.
“Okay,” I managed to whisper in response.
“Now can you stop with the moving out and embarrassment talk?”
“Okay,” I repeated, breathily.
“Goodnight.”
“Night.” My voice was faint as I squeezed my legs together.
…
Chapter Eight
My phone rang loudly, waking me up early Saturday morning. I opened my eyes but didn’t make a move to reach for the phone. When it stopped, I closed my eyes again and hoped to drift back to sleep. A second round of ringing forced my eyes open again.
“Answer that shit or turn it off,” Jay complained from the other side of the bed.
I groaned and reached for it. I squinted at the number that flashed across the screen. I didn’t recognize it, but I did see that it was barely eight o’clock. I turned the ringer off.
“Sorry,” I murmured, just as his phone suddenly went off. “Answer that shit or turn it off.”
He laughed and I felt the bed dip as he rolled over. “Sorry,” he apologized in the same tone as I did.
I snickered as I burrowed under the covers.
He playfully pushed me in my back. “Shut up,” he groaned. “Your laugh is keeping me up.”
I reached behind me and swatted at him. “You’re keeping me up!”
He poked me in my side to tickle me. “You don’t want to start this fight, Brook.” His deep voice was raspy. “You don’t want it.”
I struggled to keep still. “If I wasn’t so tired, I’d kick your ass right now.”
He wiggled his fingers against my side. “Go to sleep!”
“I’m trying!” He’d stopped tickling me, but my squirming had moved me closer to him. I suddenly felt his body heat along my back, and I realized how close we were. Something within me shifted and I paused, my entire body stiffening briefly.
I didn’t think it was noticeable but then he asked, “Are you okay?”
Damnit!
I closed my eyes. “Yeah. Uh—it’s just been a rough week.”
He put his arm around me and held me like he had every day since I showed up on his door. Exhaling slowly, I put my hand over his and squeezed. He was closer than he was the night before, so I knew we were past the awkwardness.
“Have you thought about telling your mom about the financial aid situation?” he wondered.
I sighed. “Yeah. I’m going to tell her when she gets here. Unless something changes.” I held onto his wrist tighter. “I pray something changes so I can graduate.”
“We’ll figure something out,” he promised, moving closer and resting his head near mine. “You’re graduating on time.”
His words were comforting, and my body relaxed into his. “Thank you,” I murmured, wiggling my toes off the side of the bed.
He held me tighter, and it wasn’t long before I fell asleep.
A sexy moan woke me up, but it was the hard dick against my ass that forced my eyes open. My nipples were straining against my satin top and I felt the dampness between my legs. I was being spooned by James and from the position of my body and where my feet were, I knew that I had unconsciously backed into him while I was sleeping.
