“Don’t have to look to know that.”
“I call bullshit.”
He opens his eyes at that and frowns at her. “Don’t tell me what I’m about.”
“Okay, the goddess of sleep?” she asks, softening, just a little bit.
He hums his agreement and just lets his mouth run away with him. “Cozy and soft and tempting as all hell. Could spend the whole day right here with you wrapped around me.”
The wall that came crumbling down between them the night before didn’t rebuild itself when the sun came up again. It might have been better if it had.
“I don’t want to get up yet,” she confesses. “It’s still early. Too early.”
“Come on, then,” he says, lifting his arm in invitation, and she doesn’t hesitate, just curls herself right back into his side. He secures his arm around her, unconcerned with the feeling he’s about to lose in it again, his thumb taking up a slow rhythm back and forth on her shoulder.
The seconds tick by and turn into minutes, his touch hypnotizing them both into a half slumber. He can feel her breathing slow, her body relax into his and himself drifting off.
“This is nice,” she whispers after he doesn’t even know how long.
“Yeah, it is.”
“I guess this is why people do relationships.”
“Cuddling?”
“You ever cuddle after a random hookup?”
“Fair point.”
“So people do relationships to get cuddling rights.”
“Feels like our data supports it.”
He can’t help it, he turns his head and presses his lips into her hair, half hoping she’ll tilt her face up toward his and maybe brush her mouth against the edge of his jawline and he could drop his hand to her cheek and lean down and kiss her and maybe start something that would absolutely lead to a place where they’ve agreed not to go again.
He’ll never know though because water starts banging around in the pipes in the wall behind the bed, a sure sign that Chloe is up and showering. A good sign, as far as he’s concerned. She looked pretty destroyed last night, and getting up just to get clean is probably a good first step for whatever’s next.
“I’ll make some breakfast,” he offers, “if you wanna check on her?”
“Yeah,” Bianca agrees and with a heavy sigh, pulls out of his arms and slides out from under the covers, off the bed, padding toward the en-suite bathroom. He watches her go, biting down the groan he wants to let out as her wicked curves disappear behind the door.
Breakfast, he promised her breakfast and he’ll go do that as soon as he calms down enough to look like he’s not pitching a damn tent in his sweatpants.
There’s . . . almost nothing in her kitchen, which doesn’t exactly shock him. The last time he was in it, he’d basically emptied out her fridge to scramble up some eggs and make some toast. But there’s coffee and oatmeal and he’s just stirring some to life on the stove while the coffee brews when she comes outin jean shorts and a t-shirt and her hair clipped precariously on top of her head, still wet from her shower. She sends him a tight smile before heading into the other bedroom. He assumes Chloe’s shower is done, he heard that water go off a little bit ago, and he’s proven right when they both come back out less than a minute later.
They’re about halfway through silently eating, just the clank of spoons against the ceramic of the bowls and the occasional slight slurp of the coffee, when Chloe clears her throat.
“I think I want to go home.”
Bianca’s eyes fly to his and then back to her friend. “Are you sure? You can stay here as long as you need.”
“He texted me last night. He’s going to stay with his parents in Mission Viejo for a little while. I need to get my stuff together, get organized, and I can do that best at home.”
“Okay, I’ll take you, then,” Bianca insists and Xavier nods. “But you can always come back.”
“I know and thank you, seriously, I was such a mess last night and I just needed to get away.”
“Of course,” Bianca says for them both.
