My body tingled at the mere thought of seeing her naked body. I was bound to collapse soon after the starting horn, but I couldn’t deny myself the pleasure of watching her mouth part in a barely audible gasp and her petite body tremble with the effects of a powerful orgasm.
Watching her come was the best part of sex. Knowing I brought her to the state of ecstasy, that it was me who induced the feeling of weightlessness and made her lose the grip on reality for a few intense seconds was empowering.
I held my hand on her thigh the whole ride back to my house, changing gears and steering with one hand. Nadia’s apartment was closer, but my bed was bigger.
Besides, Nadia wearing my t-shirt in the morning was a sight to see. Me wearing hers… not so much.
Silence dripped with lust for the better part of the ride, but the atmosphere changed to heavy halfway there. Nadia tensed under my touch, turning her head to the side so I couldn’t see her face.
“Are… are you,” she swallowed hard, “are you and Chrissy over?”
The insecurity in her voice gripped my throat.
“We never began. She wasn’t more than a distraction.”
Nadia wrinkled her nose, probably imagining the kind of distraction I favoured before we met, but she contained the disgust quickly. I was both ecstatic to see her jealous and annoyed that she was scared to speak her mind and afraid to push me away. I stopped the car at the traffic light, and turned her way, placing my finger under her chin.
“The last girl I slept with was you.”
Two vertical wrinkles marked her forehead. “You don’t have to lie. Four months is a long time…”
“Yes, it was,” I smirked, leaning over to kiss her. “But it wasn’t enough to resurrect the asshole side of me you so kindly tamed.”
Her mood lifted, and the four months’ worth of pent up sexual tension were suddenly worth it. I put the car in gear and crossed the junction, my hand back on her thigh, covered with Nadia’s small palm, our fingers interlocked.
See? Mine to hold.
“I think you should speak to her. The way she looks at you… I don’t think she understands that she’s just a distraction.”
“If it’ll make you feel better… Fine.”
I pressed a couple of buttons on the steering wheel but stopped short of dialling Chrissy’s number when Nadia scowled.
“I meant in person, Thomas. You don’t dump a girl over the phone. That’s low. Call her tomorrow, take her out for lunch and begentle.”
I shook my head, amused. “You’re extraordinary, you know that? Why do you care if I hurt her feelings?”
“Why not? Chrissy did nothing wrong. She got caught in the middle, and she deserves to be treated with respect. Speaking of which, I should call Chase. I left my bag at home. Can I use your phone?”
“No need. I told him that I’m taking you home.”
The moment I stopped deluding myself that I could lock my feelings in a black box and toss the sucker to the bottom of the ocean, I went back to Nadia’s apartment, but she was already gone.
Impatient and unable to wait until the morning, I called Charles to check if he knew where Chase planned to take Nadia. Of course, he did, and half an hour later, I leaned over the balcony railing, scanning the dance floor to find my girl.
No need to rewind.
Barely a few weeks with her, four months without her, a week of pretending I no longer loved her, and finally, as if at a touch of a magic wand, everything fell back in place when I spotted her dancing with Chase. The smile on her face was so genuine that it made my chest hurt for two different reasons. I was happy to see her smile, but furious it wasn’t me who brought that smile to her face.
I focused back on the road. The anticipation was killing me. My foot pressed down on the pedal while I took shortcuts that I usually avoided due to potholes. Tonight, the possibility of damaging the alloy wheels was the last thing on my mind.
We arrived at my house minutes later. I jumped out of the car, rounded the hood, and pressed another desperate kiss to Nadia’s lips the moment she stepped onto the concrete drive.
“You’re trembling,” I said, putting the key in the lock.
Click. The door stood open. Nadia walked inside, bending down to unzip the long boots. She shrank three inches when her bare feet rested on the marble floor. I lifted her off the ground, enjoying the way her legs wrapped around my middle. It felt right. It felt like she belonged in my arms all along.
“Are you sure that I’m what you want?” she asked, her voice small. “I’m trying to sort myself out, but it’ll take time.”