I squeeze my eyes shut.
I need to get my head straight.
Because last night wasn’t just sex.
It felt likeeverything.
And that terrifies me.
The space beside me is empty, the indent of his body still visible on the mattress. I hear movement in the kitchen—the clink of coffee mugs, the low hum of the radio. Domestic sounds that make my heart flutter with something dangerously close to longing.
Slipping from his bed, I tiptoe back to the guest room. My phone shows three missed calls from Brè. Of course. The woman has an uncanny ability to detect intimacy. Like she’s secretly FBI, but for orgasms and attachment issues.
I dial her number, tension coiling in my stomach as it rings.
Pressing the phone to my ear, I brace myself for the Brè storm.
“Finally!” she answers like she’s been pacing the floor since sunrise. “I was starting to think you'd been abducted by sexy cowboys.”
I rub my forehead and let out a groan. “Not abducted. Just... distracted.”
There’s a beat of silence on her end, just long enough for me to dread what’s coming.
“Holy shit. You slept with him, didn’t you.”
I flop onto the edge of the bed, the sheet twisting around my waist. “Is it that obvious?”
“Your voice goes full afterglow when you've had a good orgasm.” She says matter-of-factly. “All soft and husky like a jazz singer who’s just been railed senseless. So, spill Bonney. Exactly how good was it?”
Heat rises to my cheeks as I remember Grant on his knees before me, the intensity in his eyes as he watched me come apart. “It was... memorable.”
“I need more than that, Bonney. I need verbs, adjectives, a color-coded spreadsheet. Don’t be stingy with the smut.” I can practically hear her leaning forward, hungry for gossip.
“We were both... applying muscle cream after I pulled my calf in the river. One thing led to another and—”
“Wait, muscle cream? As in Deep Heat?” Brè interrupts, her voice rising with alarm.
“Yeah.” I say mortified.
Her laughter explodes through the phone. “Please tell me you washed your hands after application!”
“Nope.” I pop the ‘p’ and cover my face with my free hand, mortified yet unable to contain my own laughter. “It was a disaster. We both ended up in the same shower trying to rinseit off, but then there was… a lot of nakedness. And hands. And… I think I may have blacked out from sheer pleasure” I feel the blush run all the way down to my toes.
“Wow.” She sounds genuinely impressed.
I cover my eyes with my hand and let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a whimper. “It was... God, Brè. It was everything, not the fire crotch part, of course, but everything after that. Like, I’m-ruined-for-all-other-men level good.”
“Hell yes!” she whoops.
“So? Was it just a one-time yeehaw or a full rodeo?”
I smile despite myself, chewing on my lip. “It wasn’t just the sex. It was the way he looked at me. Like I mattered. Like I was… delicate. And not in a fragile way, more like he didn’t want to rush it.”
“Oh my God, you’re catching feelings.” She says sounding awfully proud.
“No,” I shoot back quickly. Too quickly. “No. I’m not. It was just a moment. A really intense, hot, brain-melting moment.”
“Uh-huh. And how’s that working out for you this morning, Princess Denial?”
