Page 43 of Yours and Mine (Friends with Benefits)

After what seemed like only minutes of rest, snuggling against him, he helped me with my dress, every so often stealing a kiss. I was so in love with this man that I felt like I was flying on cloud nine. Now that we were officially a couple, I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. We only had a week before he left, and I was already missing him.

When we got home, the lights were still on. We walked through the door hand in hand. In the kitchen, my father was sitting at a table with Marge, having a tea, relaxed as ever. When they saw us holding hands, they both smiled.

“Finally,” Marge exhaled. “We were beginning to worry you two would never come out.”

“You guys knew?” Nick asked.

“For over a year now.” My father took a sip of his tea.

“And you didn’t stop us?”

“Why stop something good and something that was meant to be?” He reached for Marge’s hand across the table.

“So…”

“Don’t let us interrupt you. Go on with your evening.”

“We were just going to go up to the roof.”

“All right. We’ll see you guys in the morning, then.” My father stood up, took Marge under her arm, and they left. We watched through the window as they walked outside, turned right to Nick’s house, and went inside.

“Did they just leave the house to us?” I asked, pointing my finger toward the door.

“I think so.”

“I didn’t exactly expect that.”

Stunned, we went upstairs to the rooftop, where a blanket had already been laid out. We both changed into our pajamas before going up. Nick covered us with a second spare blanket, and I lay down beside him, his right arm underneath me, my head partially on his shoulder and chest, and looked up at the sky. We stayed like that in silence, for the first time ever, watching the stars on the east of the night sky.

“I told you the view is better from my roof.” I yawned.

He squeezed the side of my arm in agreement. “Anywhere with you will always be better for me.” He paused. “I’m sorry that I’m doing this to us, especially now, but I can’t even tell you how much it means for me to know that I have your support.”

“Always, Nick. Always.”

We didn’t say another word until the sun started coming up.

“Come on, Jo. Let’s get you to your bed.”

I followed his steps down the ladder, onto the balcony, and inside my room.

“Stay with me?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Come on, we don’t have much time.”

He was right. We only had a week left to ourselves. Nick crawled into my bed and spooned me from behind, holding me in his arms. I didn’t remember falling asleep; all I could think about was being so close to him, listening to his soft exhalations. This wasn’t just my night; it was ours.

When I opened my eyes, Nick was sitting on the bed beside me, dressed in jeans and a light sweatshirt.

“Good morning.” I smiled dreamily.

“Good morning.”

“I wanted to leave when you were asleep, but I couldn’t.”

“I think I would have found your ass and dragged it back here if you had. Wait… leave where?”

Had he been planning to go back to his room before I woke? But he must have, because he was dressed already.

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