As soon as he’s recovered his wits, Hollis reaches between us to ensure the condom remains in place as he pulls out and topples over beside me on the bed. My heartbeat is loud inside my skull, the only thing I hear except our heavy breathing.
“I think the storm’s over,” I say.
“Oh. Right. I...” He releases a small huff of laughter. “I forgot all about it. Thanks for... God, thanks for that.” His hand finds my hip and gives me a light pat of appreciation, then settles into a hypnotic back-and-forth rhythm over the skin there.
“Well. Now you know that there is something that helps. For next time.”
“Mm,” he says.
“Guess I’ll have to sleep with you every night for the rest of your life, just in case the weather turns.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, all of the tension Hollis helped me shed jolts back into my muscles. His hand stills on my hip. “That was a joke,” I say in a hurry. “Not a funny one, though. Don’t worry. I understand—that is, I know that you—that I—we aren’t—”
His mouth is on mine in the next instant, sweet and warm. He kisses me until my body goes languid again, forcing my mind to follow suit.
“I had fun,” he says. “Did you have fun?”
“Yes.” Actually, “fun” seems like an incredible understatement for what I had, but it’s impossible to formulate a more accurate description at the moment.
“Good.” He makes a quiet, throaty sound as he removes the condom. “Do you want the bathroom first or second?”
“First.” My toes find the rug and my feet drop the extra inch with a thud. After I locate my discarded T-shirt and underwear pretty much by feel alone since the power still isn’t back on, I move to the bathroom door, tripping over the rug on the way.
Inside the windowless bathroom, I stare into the mirror, even though it’s much too dark to see my reflection. I wonder what this version of myself looks like, the Millie who has spontaneous sexwith her gruff traveling companion. Based on what I can feel, all I can tell is that she has really disheveled hair.
I’m relieved Hollis didn’t let me keep rambling on, making everything worse. At the same time, I’m aware that the reason he knew how to keep me calm is because he’s probably been in this exact situation countless times before. He knows how to maintain his postcoital cool. Because what was earth-shattering for me was just another Friday night for him. In fact, if luck were on his side, he would have been with Yeva tonight instead of with me. I’m sure Yeva is never awkward after sex. She seems so self-possessed and sophisticated.
Shit. Yeva. Have I broken some part of the unwritten Lady Code by sleeping with Hollis when they had a sex appointment on the books? Another thing I have to run by Dani. Then again, Dani was the one telling me to go for it in the first place, so maybe this is within the bounds of acceptable. And if it wasn’t, Hollis is the one who should have known that and not started kissing me in the first place. Right?
Ugh. I thought the point of keeping things casual was that it was supposed to belesscomplicated.
“Hey,” I say, pointing to the mirror in reproach even though I can only make out a vague outline of my head. “You knew what you were getting into. This is what you wanted. Now stop freaking out and go pee so you don’t get a UTI.”
When I leave the bathroom, Hollis is a shadowy figure sitting on the edge of the bed. He grabs my wrist as I pass by and pulls me over.
“You okay?” he asks.
“Yeah, I’m... I’m great.” Especially great now that his warm skin is against mine again and the wiry hair of his thighs is tickling my bare legs.
“Are you sure? I heard you talking to yourself in there.”
“I wasn’t talking to myself,” I say.
“Who were you talking to then?”
“Uh. Someone else?”
“Someone else is in our bathroom?” His hand finds my jaw and his thumb brushes over my bottom lip. “Hmm. You’re awful calm about that.”
“You know me,” I say. “Friendly to a fault.”
He stands and kisses me softly. “Nothing’s changed between us, Millicent. You don’t need to overthink this.”
“I know. I know.”
“Good.” He plants a kiss on my palm before releasing my wrist. The sweetness of the gesture only confuses me further.
Once he’s in the bathroom, I tuck myself into the lavender-and-sex-scented sheets and reach for my phone. It’s 2:42am, which means Dani is definitely still awake. Probably just finished up her shift at the New York City hotel bar where she works.
MILLIE:I had sex with Hollis.
