Page 155 of The Snowball Effect

Still confused, but slightly less tangled up in knots, Regan glanced down at herself as if needing to double-check before she answered, “I’m wearing clothing.”

Her door opened, then, and Emma stood in the doorway. She had a glass of water in her hand, and she had those stupidly sexy glasses on her face, as she hesitated after taking a single step.

“I, um, thought you might want this,” she murmured, holding up the water. “Based on Monday… and the cries and moans you just let out, now.”

If Regan were a betting woman, she’d bet her life that Emma’s cheeks were blushing. She couldn’t really tell, given that the only light filtering in came from the moonlight filtering in from her window, and the nightlight in the hallway behind Emma.

“You hung up the phone.” She’d meant to sound either joking or accusatory – unsure which – but mostly, she could hear her own insecurity filter through.

Emma shifted from foot to foot, coughing slightly, before she answered, “I listened, first. To every single sound you made.” There was that breathy pitch in her tone, again. Something that, along with her words, soothed Regan’s worries. “I only hung up when your breathing started to even out, and I–”

Regan could see the way Emma bit her lip, and she tilted her head in curiosity. “You…?” She prompted.

“I just… I’ve never had sex with someone and not beenwiththem,” Emma admitted, sounding embarrassed. “It felt really impersonal, and weird, and wrong to not be with you, after. So, I just thought that I’d get you some water and come in here to seeyou. Which, ah, now that I’m doing it and seeing the way you’re staring at me, I’m wondering if maybe I shouldn’t have?”

Any of those cold, ugly feelings that had started to worm their way in were completely washed away, and Regan quickly shook her head. “You absolutely should have. Come in,” she urged, waving Emma over to her. “Please.”

She could hardly stop herself from bouncing on the mattress, feeling herself completely come alive all over again in Emma’s physical presence. Especially as Emma walked, tentatively, closer.

She reached out for the water as soon as Emma was close enough, very deliberately sliding her fingers over Emma’s, and relishing that feeling that buzzed through her at the connection.

As she brought the glass to her lips, she stared up at Emma in her dark room, and she could see how unsure Emma was, right now. She’d been able to hear it, when Emma had explained herself. And something about that made Regan feel so… endeared. Like she wanted to pull Emma down against her and hold her closely.

Because Emma was always such a commanding presence. Like she never doubted herself or how she felt or how she approached the world. But right now, in the middle of the night in Regan’s room, after they’d essentially come as close to having sex with one another as they could without actually touching each other, she seemed off-kilter.

And because she knew Emma, she reached out with her other hand and grasped Emma’s before she could walk away and gruffly excuse herself back to her own room.

“Do you want to sleep with me?” She asked as soon as she finished drinking her water. “Just sleep. I swear. No funny business… mostly because I’m all funny-businessed out,” she added with a teasing smile.

She could both see and feel Emma’s hesitation, even as she squeezed Regan’s hand.

“I really liked sleeping with you the other night,” Regan confessed in a whisper, and it was the utter truth. “I’d love to do it in my bed instead of on the couch.” Internally, she forced herself to pump on the brakes. “But I get if you don’t want to. We did go a little further than either of us had anticipated, already, tonight.”

Still, though, Regan caught and held her breath. Wanting with every fiber of her being for Emma to take her up on her offer.

She’d never slept with another person in her bed. Never. Whenever she’d been sleeping with guys or dating, she’d stayed at their place, respecting this apartment as her and Sutton’s sanctuary. But her entire body tingled with eager anticipation at the idea of sharing her bed with Emma. Especially after what they’d just done.

“Yeah. I’d like that,” Emma agreed, her voice so, so soft.

Thrilled, Regan quickly placed her glass on her bedside table – so quickly, it rocked back and forth and nearly fell over – before she lifted herself up to scramble under the blanket, and then held the blanket up for Emma to scoot in.

Which, she did.

She sat, and then slowly reclined against one of Regan’s pillows – the one Regan had pushed her face into a few minutes ago, actually, andthatwas a whole other rush for her.

Even as Emma laid back, Regan stayed sitting up for another minute, looking down at her.

“You’re in my bed,” she whispered, excitedly.

“I really liked sleeping with you the other night, too,” Emma murmured, rolling her lips after, as she looked up at Regan. Slowly, she arched an eyebrow at her, and with it, she started tolook far more like her typical self. “Are you going to lay down, or just keep looking at me like that?”

Regan shrugged, even as she shifted to snuggle down into her bed. “I just want to memorize it. You. Here.”

She scooched in close to Emma, pressing their legs together. Emma was wearing shorts, too, and Regan shivered at the sensation of their skin-on-skin contact. She didn’t stop, though, until she was pressed right into Emma’s side, and she paused before she draped her arm over Emma’s waist.

“Is this okay? It’s how we woke up the other day, but–”

Emma’s intent stare remained locked on Regan’s face as she slowly nodded. “Yeah. I… I really like the way you feel, like this.”

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