Everly
“Chocolate will always beatout TwizzlersandRed Vines.” Jack laughs at the seriousness of my tone. “There are far too many ways to enjoy chocolate for it to be eclipsed by any form of red licorice. Now, if you’re going to tell me you like black licorice too, then I might just throw you out of this place.” He just looks at me in the reflection of the mirror and smiles without responding. “What?” I start brushing my teeth as he finishes with his, spitting into the sink and cupping a handful of water to swish. I keep staring at him, wondering if he’s going to tell me what he’s thinking right now.
“You’re beautiful, you know that, right?” I start laughing, considering I have foaming white toothpaste escaping the corners of my mouth. When I look at his reflection again, Jack’s smiling at me, and then leans in to briefly kiss my neck. People commenting on my looks isn’t something I focus on, but with him, and the way he says it, has me feeling them rather than just hearing them. I feel beautiful with his attention on me. A few words, that from anyone else I’d probably brush past, but Jack saying them, makes my stomach flutter. I spit into the sink and then take a sip of water from the tap, giving him a big, toothy smile in the mirror.
“And no, black licorice has no place on my candy roster.” We walk back into the studio, and he pulls me back into the bed piled with blankets and pillows that have been haphazardly arranged. Changing the conversation, he says, “You’re different from what I thought you’d be like.” I shift my head and stare up at the ceiling, our limbs draped over each other. My nerves start to run haywire as I think about how easy it is to be with him. Too easy. And then, to add to that, I remember one glaring detail. I’m not supposed to be catching feelings for this man. I’m supposed to be chasing fire, figuring out what’s been missing in my bed.The answer was never supposed to be him, but it feels like him. His big, warm, beautiful body has been missing.
I push the thoughts away and ask, “What did you think I was like?”
“I knew the moment I saw you that we’d be good in bed together.”
I adjust to prop up on my elbows, facing him, eager to hear more. “This has been fucking spectacular, so you were right about that.”
“You’re just more than that, though. I’m pulled to you. I crave being around you. And now that I’ve had you like this…” Drifting away from that sentence, he says, “Does that sound insane?” He looks at me, still confident with such a vulnerable question hanging. It makes me uncomfortable. I do feel it. This energy we have when we’re around each other. It’s almost visible. A mix of desire and need. And now perhaps even more. Outside of the overbearing electricity between us, there’s this feeling of support and comfort.
I whisper back, “I feel it too.” After a beat, he shifts forward and kisses me. I feel instantly anxious. Jack must sense it because he pulls back and looks at me, waiting for an explanation.
I steady my breathing. “How do I say this without being an asshole?” We’ve been talking and snuggling for the past two hours. It's probably the most fun I’ve had getting to know someone. I can’t sleep with him again this morning. If his admission about his life did anything, it reminded me that we can’t get to know one another so personally and be intimate. It’ll completely fuck up the no-strings policy I was very eager to employ.
“Any sentence that starts that way will likely make you sound like an asshole regardless, so how about I do it for you, beautiful?” He raises his brow at me and untangles himself from my arms. Leaning back on his elbows, he tilts his head and says, “This has been incredible, but it isn’t what either of us signed up for?”
“I don’t want to be that cliche, Jack. I want to spend time with you. I like being around you.” He just smiles at me again.Gosh, those dimples are heartbreak warfare.“I’m also incredibly attracted to you, but I don’t want to get involved in something that has an already predetermined shelf life. I want more, but I know you’re here for a short while and I’m not naive to think that’s not our reality.”
This can only end badly. He isn’t here permanently and while G’s “carpe diem” sex assignment has been vividly executed, I’m starting to care for this man. I like him. Like,reallylike him. I smelled him when I woke up and then proceeded to watch him sleep. Who does that? Not crazy people. Nope. People who fall too fast for the guy who’s too good to be true, that’s who. He’s exactly the kind of man that will give me everything I physically want, but he’s exactly what I don’t need. Temporary. And this is the flaw with my big master plan of falling into bed with men that spark a bit of fire in me. This is the part I hadn’t planned for. What would happen when I couldn’t see the forest for the trees and instead had the best sex and most intimate experience of my life to then just say,“Great time, see ya later.”
He doesn’t get annoyed or pissed off at what I just said. He just looks at me, trying to read my body language, and see if I’m full of shit. Instead of getting up and leaving or working to put me in the booty call column, he surprises me and says, “You know you’re damn near perfect?” I can only smile at that.
Thank goodness he can’t hear all the other chaos in my mind.
“Oh, I already know that.”
“Everly, if you need to cool off after last night and freak out about it this morning, then I’ll give you the space to do that.” He sits up and gives my lips a quick kiss before standing. I stare at his perfectly tight ass and the broadness of his back. Tattoos in patterns that travel down one side of his chest and flow onto one of his strong arms.Those arms feel good wrapped around me.
He walks around to my side of the bed stark naked with all of the confidence in the world, and for good reason. His cock is hard and pointing right at me, and my body perks up, thrumming with excitement all over again, yelling,“Pick me, pick me,”like the traitorous hoe she is. I’m trying to distance myself and his damn cock is practically summoning me to open wide.
“Eyes up here, beautiful.” I drag my eyes upward to meet his. He pulls on sweatpants and starts layering on a t-shirt and sweatshirt. “I’ll be whatever you think you need. Friend. Colleague with Benefits. Live vibrator. But I’m starting to understand who you are, Everly Riggs. And you and I both know you’re not going to fuck anybody other than me while I’m here.” I stare blankly, trying to register what he just said. “Got that, beautiful?”
While my insides are screaming,“Yes, sir,”I can only glare at him. My inner feminist is shouting,“Who does he think he is?”Just because we’ve slept together once doesn't give him any right to tell me who I can and cannot be with. But before I can articulate a response, he’s out the door, and I’m left naked in bed, aroused all over again.
What the hell did I just get myself into?