Page 82 of How Not to Date an Angel

“The air is cool against my skin, when the water isn’t touching it. I can feel the hair on my thighs, against my palms,” they admitted.

“And what’s it like saying it out loud?” Julian asked.

“Embarrassing,” Rami confessed. “I can tell my face is probably red.”

Rami heard Julian shift, and blinked their eyes open to catch him looking at them.

His lips were curled. “It’s red, alright.”

“You said you wouldn’t look.”

“Not at anything scandalous,” Julian added.

Rami rolled their eyes.

It was so… intimate, sharing these things with Julian, in the same room, only inches away.

The warmth in their cheeks was stirring lower as they met Julian’s gaze.

After a long moment filled with a tension Rami was too hesitant to name, Julian turned back around and closed his eyes. Rami mirrored him.

“How do all those books you read describe arousal?” Julian asked.

Rami exhaled sharply. Even though they knew the conversation would eventually lead to such topics, they floundered.

“They used words like, uhm—warmth,” Rami admitted. “Lots of… tension, and building waves. Sparks.”

Their voice cracked on the last word, and they realized they’d already felt that spark, and the tension and warmth.

“Does any of that sound familiar?” Julian asked, somethingknowingin his voice.

The idea that Julian knew, was going to be here, would likely be talking to them while they touched themself was…

Rami swallowed loudly, feeling a pinch in their gut, an echoing heat in their groin. “Maybe,” they whispered.

Rami heard him shuffle again, and peeked one eye open only to find him settling back down, eyes still closed, full lips parted, the longest strands of his wild hair brushing his cheeks and that sharp jaw.

Rami drew in a breath, fingers digging into their thighs before they averted their gaze. The bubbles were still chest-high, popping against their skin and yet going nowhere.

With a silent start, Rami realized the slowly growing warmth within them had settled between their legs.

Feelingverybrave, and eager to chase this delicate moment, Rami slid their hand up their thigh, closer to the thickening—

“Focus on it, that feeling,” Julian murmured.

Rami flinched, water splashing as they jerked their hand away.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” Julian said.

Rami glanced at him and found his lips curling.

“Don’t laugh at me,” Rami warned, stomach flipping at the thought.

Julian’s lips turned down at that, and then he was looking at Rami. “I would never laugh at you. Not like this, at least.”

His tone, his words, and the heavy stare they were delivered under were so serious. Rami knew he meant it.

“Do you wanna stop?” Julian asked.

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