Page 58 of Something to Someone

Her bag thudded to the floor as I slanted my mouth over hers. Automatically she opened for me, sweeping her tongue against mine, I moaned in approval. Her hands ran up my chest, and her arms wrapped around my neck. My hands were everywhere else, running up her sides and over her stomach. I braced them just below the curve of her breasts and felt her heart beating wildly in her chest.

She nipped at my bottom lip, and I growled into her mouth as I lifted her into my arms. Her legs tightened around my hips, and I walked us the few feet into the kitchen. Our kiss was the culmination of three long weeks without much. I sat her on the counter and yanked her to the edge where I could feel the heat from between her thighs against my raging boner. The same one I’d had since she’d responded to my earlier invite.

Schedules that aligned made me hard.

Between kisses, Caroline laughed. “Hi to you, too.”

My hands ran down her thighs, and the last thing I wanted to do was step away. But if I got started, we would never eat dinner, and I’d promised her a meal. I also hoped that she’d brought extra clothes and toiletries so she could stay the night.

I’d considered buying her a few essentials I knew she used, but that didn’t send the signal that I was okay with keeping things casual. Although I didn’t think it made much of a difference, I knew how Caroline thought, and I was doing my damnedest not to spook her.

Even when it required swallowing and hiding all my desires and suppressing my instincts.

“Hi, pretty girl,” I managed to say as I pulled away. God, she was fucking gorgeous. But even more so with her hair disheveled and her lips swollen and wet from our kiss. I’d shavedso she wouldn’t have any beard burn around her mouth, but I liked that, too. When her skin was slightly red, it was more proof that she’d enjoyed our kiss.

I planned to kiss her so many times while she was here, and I didn’t want it to hurt the next day.

“What do you think of the place?” I said, giving her one final kiss.

She giggled against my mouth, and the sound landed directly against my heart. “I haven’t seen much of it yet. But your mouth feels just like I remember.”

“Fucking hell,” I said, dropping my head and pressing our foreheads together. “I’ve missed you.” The words were out of my mouth before I could think about them, and as expected, Caroline stiffened under my palms. Her hands, wrapped around my biceps, loosened and dropped on top of mine where I held her thighs.

I had missed her. I missed her so much every time we went too long without seeing one another. But my plan to keep my cool was harder when I was just happy to be in her presence again. I was out of practice holding my tongue. It was easier over text and on the phone, I had time to contemplate my answers.

I wasn’t sure why her urge was to automatically deflect every time the conversation strayed inches deeper than surface level, but it did. And figuring it out required a more substantial conversation that she was dying to prevent.

“Did you miss me, or did your cock miss me?” she purred, letting her fingers trail up my hand and linger over the outline of my dick through my jeans.

Momentarily, my thoughts took a turn. I could think about little else when she was touching me.

“Why can’t it be both?” I asked. My eyes fell shut, and she tightened her grip. But only for a moment before her hand disappeared, and she pushed me backward.

“Give me the grand tour,” she said, and I helped her off the counter. I took her hand and stepped out of the kitchen.

Waving my hand in front of me, I motioned to the room we’d just been in. “Here’s the kitchen.”

She shook her head but examined the room, nonetheless. She ran her free hand over the edge of the granite island. “I like it. It’s really open,” she said.

The kitchen opened directly to the living room which extended out into a patio with double French doors. To the right was my bedroom, which was slightly larger than my previous room, and the bathroom that opened into my room and out into the living room. One day I’d be able to afford something more than a one-bedroom, but I was only one person. I didn’t need much more.

It didn’t take long to guide her through my little space. But she ooo’ed and ahh’ed, pointing out the upgrades and improvements from my old place.

She didn’t point out the picture of us I’d printed from graduation. It was the one where I’d asked her to kiss me, and she’d explicitly said no while her eyes said something different. I knew she saw it, she paused long enough that I was able to follow her gaze, but she didn’t say anything.

Knowing she was coming over, I’d moved it from my bedside table to the dresser across the room.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have anywhere to sit,” I said as we walked back into the kitchen. “Maybe barstools should be the first thing we try to find.”

“That and curtains if you want to sleep past seven.” I grabbed a pot from a cabinet next to the stove and began filling it with water. Caroline toed off her shoes and hopped up on the counter next to me, in the same spot I’d set her down earlier. Reaching behind her, she pulled her laptop out of her bag and opened it on her lap.

While I started the pasta and made sure the sauce wasn’t burning or sticking, Caroline explained her ideas.

“I already bookmarked a few things I think you’d like. These barstools that have a gray cushion and lighter brown wood. They’re kind of midcentury modern, but I think they’re the vibe you’re going for. And I think cream curtains would look best. You also need lamps. Using the overhead lights are horrible and should be avoided at all costs—what?”

She abruptly stopped talking and looked up from her computer. I hadn’t realized I’d ceased stirring the sauce in favor of staring at her and watching her animatedly talk about furniture for my apartment.

“Just listening,” I said, shaking my head. “So, I need lamps?”

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