“More than anything.”
My chest aches so hard I almost have to clutch the front of my shirt when she turns her head enough to give me a weak smile. All I did was tell her I don’t think she’s stupid, and she’s accepting it like it’s one of the sweetest compliments in the world.
I wouldn’t call myself a fighter, but as I watch her get up from the couch, I want to rip whoever or whatever did this to her to pieces with my bare hands.
“You are a very good guy, Zach,” she says with her back to me. “The best guy. Thank you.”
I stay silent for a moment as I gather the control to speak.
“Don’t mention it. Please. That’s, um,”—I swallow and force the last words out—“that’s what friends are for.”
“Right.” She nods and looks back at me. “Merci tellement.”
Then she strides over to the closest bedroom door.
“Um, DeeDee.”
She stops with the handle in her grasp. “Ouais?”
“That’s my room.”
“Whoops. Silly me.”
I feel my face getting hot. I’mblushing. I’m literally blushing like a teenage girl because she almost set foot in my damn bedroom.
“Paige’s is over there.” I gesture vaguely behind me.
She moves past me, and I hear her footsteps pause in Paige’s doorway. I pull myself together enough to face her.
“Goodnight, Zach.” She reaches for the handle and steps into the dark room. “Sweet dreams.”
“Uh, yeah, um, goodnight.”
I fall back onto the couch as soon as the door closes.
This is going to be a long, long night.
Six
Zach
APERITIF:an alcoholic beverage meant to be consumed before a meal, with the purpose of stimulating hunger
I wake up with a hard-on.
Of course I do.
I resisted the urge to jerk off like a pervert last night, even when I heard the shower turn on just after I got into bed. The knowledge that DeeDee was naked in the same apartment as me made it next to impossible to get any sleep for the rest of the night.
I must have dozed off at some point, because here I am facing the reward of being polite and not creepy: a near-painfully hard case of morning wood.
I feel like a guilty teenager.
I also feel like I’m going to start smashing furniture if my dick doesn’t get some kind of release soon. I haven’t heard any movement in the apartment. It’s only 9AM, and considering we went to bed past four, it’s safe to say DeeDee is probably asleep.
I shift in bed, and even the weight of the sheets is enough to have me holding back a groan.
This is bad.
