Page 85 of False Start

I tossed a bathmat on the floor and turned the shower on as hot as it would allow. The barely scalding water did nothing for my half-hard cock and rather than risk waking up with a boner, I fisted it, annoyed when my mind immediately replayed Kit in my arms on the bus and the tantalizingly brief glimpse of her legs and what might have been under that oversized shirt.

I came hard, with more than a little disgust that Kit slept on the other side of the wall, completely oblivious that I had used a half-second glance at her pajamas as jack off material. Not cool. Certainly not something a friend would do, though whether Kit and I were friends, I still didn’t know. I wanted to be friends. And based on my overactive imagination, I also wanted things that fell beyond the bounds of friendship.

At least sexually spent, I finished my shower and brushed my teeth before leaving the bathroom. I walked into a wall of cold.

Had I known she’d turned down the air conditioning down to a freezer-adjacent temperature, I wouldn’t have worried about a boner. From the parking lot lights, I could make out the outline of Kit under the sheets. A sweep of the bedside table, and I found my charger, plugging in my phone for a bit of light.

“What are you wearing?” Alright, Kit wasn’t asleep.

“You can turn around and look,” I teased. Her shoulders tightened, pulling the covers tight. “Shorts. I can throw on a t-shirt if you want, but I only have one clean shirt left.”

“It’s fine.”

I slid under the covers. “I didn’t exactly pack with a roommate in mind. Why’s it so cold?”

Kit’s shivering body vibrated the bed. “I always sleep like this when I’m in a hotel.”

“Like you want hypothermia?”

“You can turn the air conditioner off if you want.”

I shook my head. “Nope. But if you decide you want to cuddle up for some body heat later, I’m right here.”

I grimaced at my awful attempt to lighten Kit’s mood. Obviously being trapped in a bed with me wasn’t her idea of a good time and, in this situation, teasing her wasn’t helping.

“Maybe I should sleep on the floor,” she groaned, her voice muffled by blankets.

I reached a hand out under the covers, grasping her hip in the dark. “Don’t do that. I’ll shut up.”

She stilled as my thumb brushed over the swell of her hip. Shorts. Or at least briefs. The hem of the T-shirt curled under my fingertips and beneath it was slick fabric.

“What are you doing?” Her voice wavered.

“I’m not sure.” My thumb brushed the silky fabric, fingers clenching around the bottom of her shirt, my grip weak enough that she could easily pull away.

She didn’t. Instead, the sheets rustled as she moved. The hairs on my arm stood up as she danced her fingertips up my wrist, past my forearm, and across my shoulder.

She pressed her palm against my bare chest. I sucked in a breath, holding it.

I slipped my hand over her hip, palming the small of her back and pulling her closer. Her knees relaxed, drawing away from her body on her slow slide across the bed. She slotted into my arms as if she was made to be there. None of the jumble of arms and legs and hands when I normally fell into bed with a woman. No awkward arm or elbow to the ribs. My arms wrapped around her as if we’d held each other a million times before. Familiar and new all at once.

Her palms seared the skin of my chest, her bottom hand tucking into my ribs as the other made its way up my neck, her thumb glancing against my jawline.

“I can’t stop thinking about that kiss,” I admitted in hopes of a confession of her own.

She chuckled, arching her body closer to mine. My dick went hard, even after the shower. “Is that a fact?”

I nodded, dipping my head into the crevice of her neck and brushing my lips over her soft skin. She shivered.

“Tell me the truth. What’d you think of the kiss?”

“Average,” she whispered.

I let out a laugh, wrapping my arms firmer around her body, my palm cupping her ass. “Average? Seriously?”

“I’ve had better. You can improve.”

“Improve?” I nipped her earlobe, and she yipped. My body pulsed at the unexpected sound. “That’s heartless.”

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