Page 73 of Jagged

"Yes. Very much. Especially when you're naked because of how nicely your muscles suit you." Again, her very straightforward expression caught me off guard. "Your core is very strong."

"Well, you can thank my skateboarding habit for that. And for practically all of my muscles. And most of my scars."

"I don't think skateboarding naked would be a good idea." She set her pencil down then. "If you fall and scrape your nipples, that would be very painful."

I burst out laughing at the imagery her words brought me. "Very painful!"

She started, but looked up at me and joined my laughter. "It's not that funny."

"It is though. Scraping off my nipples sounds terrible, but it might look very funny."

Her tiny chuckles turned to snickers and she finally held my gaze longer. "Do you want to come to my place for dinner?"

"I would like that very much. Unless you'd like to go out for dinner. There's a lot of restaurants close by."

"No, thank you. That will be too overstimulating today." She closed her notebook and stood up suddenly. "Do you like enchiladas?"

"Yes, I do." I held my hands to her when the heat of her burned close to my knees. "You can come closer if you like."

Cautiously, she stepped toward me until her hip pressed against my leg. It took her a long moment, her eyes downcast on my leg before she placed her hand on my thigh. Once she was there, however, she squeezed me firmly and the rest of her seemed to relax as well. Her fingers explored one of the tears in my pants, until her nails gently grazed my skin. She grew quiet for a little bit while she touched me here and there. I let her do whatever she wanted until she finally glanced at me.

"Hi there."

"Hi." She smiled fully then, and her bottom lip made it between her teeth. "I would like to have sex with you tonight."

My smile morphed into a grin. "I would like to have sex with you tonight, too."

"And you'll be completely naked."

"I will if you will." I chuckled, and cautiously gave her hand a squeeze.

"Oh, I will. I don't have any problems being naked. It's very natural." She laced her fingers with mine, and I noticed right away she seemed to loosen up in general. "Would you like if I cooked enchiladas for you? I can make them vegan if you like."

"I'm very happy with your natural nudity. And yes, that would be nice. I'll eat them however you make them. I trust your skills."

Her whole face lit up with my declaration and she gave my hand a tug. "C'mon then. Let's go."

"You got it." I hopped down from the desk and waited for her to pack up her notebook into her briefcase.

It took us all of a few minutes to make it to her car and back to her apartment. Clem fell into random bouts of silence during that time, but it wasn't a vacant silence at all. She seemed more focused or concentrated than vacant. I honored it and relaxed into the moment.

She led me upstairs to her apartment as before and flicked on the lights when we entered. I hadn't toured her entire house save for the kitchen, particularly the floor, and living room. My last visit didn't even land us in the bedroom. In fact, in our brief time together, we hadn't made it to each other's bedrooms. It wasn't a new scenario for me, as most of my past relationships belonged to hookups, but in this instance, it seemed different.

Clem set her bag down on the bench by the front door then slipped out of her shoes. A smile made it to my face when she brushed a bit of dust off the black portion.

"What's funny?" she asked when she glanced at me, her brow crinkled.

"Nothing is funny. I'm smiling because I really like your shoes. Actually, I really like your whole outfit. And your style in general," I declared, like a rambling fool.

"Thank you." She nearly beamed with her statement. "I like my style too. Some people probably think it's too much, but I don't mind it. I'm comfortable this way. Do you think it's too much?" Immediately, her shoulders tensed.

"Not at all." I shook my head. "Do you think I'm too little?" I gestured down the front of me, emphasizing the torn jeans, T-shirt, and bomber jacket getup that accompanied my gear belt and Vans.

"No." She snickered as her eyes wandered over me. "But the tears in your jeans distract me."

"I noticed that you notice them."

"It's two things." She held up two fingers. "First, the dangling fabric makes me want to touch it a lot. Sometimes fabrics of certain kinds get to me." She lowered one finger. "The second thing is that I can see your skin. And I really like your skin. When I like someone, I get overwhelmed with wanting to touch them, but then I don't at all."

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