Page 92 of The Idiot

“I can’t blow forever,” Murph rebuts, but there’s a hint of amusement in his tone. “Did you maybe think to put some lube between your thighs before you slid around that pole?”

That… actually sounds like a good idea. Now he tells me. Freaking Cheri. After how long we’ve been friends, she could have shared some trade secrets.

“I wasn’t thinking about the safety of my thighs. I was thinking about getting you to not leave.”

“Well, it worked.”

I can’t fight the stupid grin on my face over my victory. I didn’t know it was possible to feel this… lucky? Yeah, lucky is definitely the right word. I finally did something right. And it won me Murph.

“Do I have blisters?” I’m deflecting because one, it’s kind of embarrassing how happy I am, and two, I’m being pampered. I’m going to milk this for all it’s worth.

The pad of his index finger traces the edge of the friction burn on my inner thigh just below my boxers, exchanging the throbbing sensation there with a shiver from his touch. It’s funny how the response we feel from someone’s touch canchange over time. I’m sure we’ve touched plenty of ways over the years, but now it’s like a new array of senses that were waiting for this moment in our lives has been awakened.

“No. It’s just a little raw and swollen. You’ll probably end up with a pressure bruise. That happens unless you’ve built a tolerance to spinning on them.”

“And you know this from your vast knowledge of dancing poles?”

“You can learn a lot more over the years by sitting at the bar than you do sitting in front of the stage.”

Huh. I never thought of that.

I know he was just teasing, but the reminder of how many hours I’ve spent looking in the wrong direction at The Dew Drop is a pin pop to my happy bubble. I didn’t just almost lose him—if I hadn’t gotten on that ship, I might have never had the chance to fall in love with him.

“I’ll put moreArnica Gelon it tomorrow,” he assures me after another soft dusting of his cool breath over my skin.

“You’ve got yourself a date.”

Tugging his hand, I flash him a silent plea to come join me on my pillow. His smile, so full of adoration, tells me he understands as he makes his way up beside me. I want to kick my own ass for how many times I probably missed the message in those smiles.

Rolling toward him, I affix myself to his body like a spider monkey as he draws my comforter over us. That simple act makes me smile into his chest. This is already so easy. Day one of being an actual couple and we’re practically finishing each other’s sentences and grooming each other like gorillas. I’m so grateful I get him asmygorilla.

I feel guilty now, though. He didn’t even plan to be here this afternoon.

“You’re sure you don’t want to go see your sister?”

Please say no, I chant selfishly. Apparently, love makes me even needier than before.

“No chance. I’m not leaving you. It’s not every day a guy gets an exotic dance to an ABBA song.”

Hiding my smile in the crook of his neck, I take a gulp of air when my heart stops doing cartwheels. Good answer, Baloney. Good answer.

Trailing my fingers down his back, my palm settles at the curve of his spine. I love how my hands and body fit him everywhere, no matter how we’re touching. It’s baffling how right he feels in my arms. How do you go your entire life not knowing the other half of your soul is standing right next to you? Does he have it this bad for me, or does it just feel like an odd level of friendship?

I know what he said the other day at his house and at The Dew Drop today, but do these feelings swallow him up the way mine are right now?

“Murph?”

“Yeah?”

“Is this… strange for you at all?”

“What?”

“Us. Together. After being friends our entire lives.”

Leaning back, he draws me away from him enough that I can’t hide my face. I don’t know why, but I’m suddenly terrified any misstep will shatter where we are. If I screw something up, I don’t know what I’ll do to fix it. I only have so much thigh skin, after all.

“No. It… well, at first, when I thought it was only me feeling something, it wasn’t exactly a comfortable feeling. Why? Is it strange for you?”

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