Her eyes were sleepy, so I reached for a shower nozzle and cleaned both of us, rinsing the suds from our skin. I wrapped us in two towels, and then I carried her back to the bed.
After pulling the sheets up to cover both of us, I wrapped my arms around her towel-clad body.
“Sweet dreams, beautiful,” I murmured to her.
Her only response was to sigh softly. I knew that she was already halfway asleep.
I closed my eyes.
Even though I didn’t generally allow women to sleep with me, I loved sharing a pillow with her.
Guidebook
Naelle
When I woke up properly an hour later, the light was a little brighter.
The bed was empty.
I felt the sheets next to me. They were cold, meaning that I’d been left alone here.
“Hello?” I called out.
Nobody answered.
I got out of bed and looked at the sheets. There was just the smallest spot of blood, sort of like what happened sometimes during my periods.
I went to the bathroom and got a little bit of soap, then climbed on the bed and targeted the spot so I could put a little soap on it, hoping that it wouldn’t stain. The sheets felt very smooth and soft. I hoped that I hadn’t ruined them.
Early this morning had been incredible. I never imagined that my first time would be so sweet.
I thought that I’d be married to Brayden when I did it for the first time. I hadn’t really looked forward to it.
He’d slept with so many women during the first three years of college that I’d thought about asking him for a little medical paperwork showing that he was clean.
And now, thinking about it, he must’ve kept on sleeping with women during the last year of college, too.
I felt very cold, alone in this bed. I didn’t know if I regretted what had happened.
No, I decided, even though I felt like I was freezing now. I was glad that my first time had been like that. It wasn’t what I’d expected, but it was much nicer than what Brayden would’ve done with me.
And it felt like there was a knife stuck in my windpipe when I thought about Jenny with him.
I didn’t want to go back to DC for a while.
I looked around for my hastily discarded clothing. I should go back to the hostel. This morning had been very pleasant, and I was grateful that he’d taken care of me, but I was in a strange man’s house.
What had I been thinking last night?
Sober Naelle couldn’t understand Drunk and Hurt Naelle’s logic. I could have gone to a hospital, gotten checked out, and only thought of Emilio in my dreams.
Here I was, the morning after, all on my own. Had I really expected it to go differently? He had been kind enough to feed me breakfast, which was definitely a nice touch. I needed to go now. In the light of day, all I felt was profound embarrassment.
I dressed quickly before I went downstairs and headed for the door.
Before I got there, though, there was a soft, “Excuse me?” in Spanish behind me.
I whirled around. There was a short lady who had closely cropped black hair.