Alisha smiled warmly at him, idly fingering the sprinkling of hair on his chest. "I'm trying to find a word that truly describes how great that was—and I'm failing miserably," she giggled softly, moving her fingertips up to ghost along his jaw line.
Big's lips twitched and he smoothed a hand up her back. "It was pretty good, baby," he downplayed, grinning when she rolled her eyes.
"That doesn't even scratch the surface and you know it," she chided playfully, lightly nipping at his lips. She lifted her lashes and held his gaze, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she considered the words on the tip of her tongue. "You completely melted me, Jake," she finally whispered, curving her palm gently over the side of his face.
If he was into stupid, sappy, romantic shit like poetry, he might have said that his heart had just skipped a beat and that he had butterflies in his stomach. But that was a whole new level of gay. He couldn't clearly identify what it was he was feeling for the woman in his arms, all dark tousled hair and warm brown eyes and full lips, smiling softly back at him. Hell, he wasn't sure he was equipped to even do so. He kind of felt the way you always feel once you finally reach the top of that first steep hill on a rollercoaster, you know? Where it takes a few seconds to teeter slowly over the edge before it goes barreling down at insane speeds and you get that anxious, excited feeling and your stomach's in your throat and your heart kind of flops over in your chest.
It was sort of like that.
(Only better and scarier.)
Fuck.
Smoothing a hand over her hair, letting his fingers get caught, he laid his lips gently over hers and savored as she pressed her warm body closer, tangling her legs in his.
He could faintly hear the movie that was still playing in the living room and that's when it hit him.
Shit just got real.
Chapter 17
The next morning, Big moved quietly through her apartment while he got ready for work. It was fucking early, and he'd only gotten tiny stretches of sleep in between the times that he and Alisha had turned to each other (again and again) during the night. He had no desire to go in today; all he really wanted to do was crawl back into bed with her.
It was hard to not want that (especially after the night they had). She looked so inviting, so peaceful, as she slept soundly on her stomach; her hair spilled over the pillow and her naked back was peeking out at the top of the duvet.
Yeah, he really didn't want to go to work.
He leaned over her and pressed a kiss to her earlobe. "Lisha," he murmured in her ear, "wake up, baby."
"Mmm," she stirred slightly.
Big grinned and kissed her mouth, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I've gotta go," he said lowly.
She mumbled something incoherently and rolled on to her back. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she smiled softly up at him. "Mmm, stay," she whispered sleepily.
A smile tugged at his lips, turning the corners up. "Would if I could, Larrington, but I have to go to work."
"Jobs…boo," she said, her lips turning down into a pout and her eyes falling closed.
God, his woman was adorable. (Whatever, she wasn't sleeping with anyone else. Ergo his.) "Tell me about it," he chuckled. "Come on and walk me out."
"Mmm," she hummed, snuggling into the pillow. "There's a spare key hanging by the door. Help yourself."
"Lisha—"
"I'm all warm and cozy," she told him, reaching for his hand and toying with his fingers. "Just take it; I trust you." Her eyes blinked open again and she gave him a lopsided smile.
Big didn't have any other examples or life experience to draw from, but this kind of felt like a big deal. (He mentally scolded himself, because Jesus it was six in the damn morning and it was just a way for her to stay in bed.) "Alright," he smiled back, smoothing her hair behind one ear. "I'll try and call you tonight after your show."
Her smile grew a little brighter. "Okay." She pushed herself up and grabbed the front of his t-shirt, pulling him down for a kiss. Her lips warmed under his and she sank a little deeper into it. "Have a good day," she said when she finally pulled away from his mouth. "Be safe rescuing those cats. Those trees are really tall," she teased.
His lips twisted into an amused smirk. "Have fun writhing against the prison bars." (What? It was their little running joke.) Alisha's breathy laugh tickled his neck and she pressed a kiss to his jaw. "Last night was great," he murmured into her ear. She leaned back and angled her head up; he saw her eyes sparkle.
That funny feeling from the night before was in his chest and stomach again.
"It was really great," she said quietly, grabbing his face in her hands and brushing her lips against his. "Thank you."
Big growled softly in the back of his throat. He had to leave now or else he never would. "Bye, Alisha," he grinned, standing up.
"Bye, Jake," she smiled, snuggling Beneath the covers.
He turned and walked out of her room, casting one last look at her sleepy form over his shoulder.
Yep. Definitely real.
Now if he only knew what to do about that.
There was an extra bounce in her step that morning as she walked around different stores with Maggie. They were out shopping for the final touches for Maggie's annual holiday party on Wednesday night, and Alisha was having a hard time staying focused. Her thoughts kept straying to Big and their
