Page 48 of Love in Focus

But now, Celeste has no doubt that Gemma wants her,with her own legs still lightly trembling as Gemma moans loudly, her fingers pulling on Celeste’s hair. Compared to how shy and reserved she was in the past,thisGemma is a sex goddess, unabashedly expressing her pleasure as Celeste eats her out.

It’s quite possibly the hottest thing Celeste has ever seen.

“Celeste,” Gemma pants. “I’m so close. Celeste, I’m going to—”

With a loud cry, Gemma comes, her eyes rolling back as her body shakes from head to toe.

A smile threatening to overtake her lips, Celeste comes back up to lie side by side with Gemma. They kiss for a few more minutes before Gemma’s eyes slowly flutter closed.

Celeste smirks. Back in college, she used to tease Gemma for always falling asleep after she climaxed. It was one of her quirks, something thathasremained the same after all these years.

Celeste watches Gemma sleep for a moment, marveling at how much she resembles Sleeping Beauty with her gorgeous brown waves of hair spooling around her shoulders. And then, she forces herself to get out of the bed.

As she removes her makeup and contacts in front of the bathroom mirror, Celeste realizes she has no idea where things now stand between her and Gemma. They’re not exactly friends, but they’re not exactly exes or lovers, either. They’re somewhere in between, without officially being friends with benefits.

It’s all very confusing, but Celeste is admittedly gladthat Gemma passed out before they could talk about things now. It’s late, and she’s exhausted. Any conversation will have to wait until tomorrow.

It’s only the first day of the new year, and already so much has happened between her and her ex.

The next morning, I’m oddly at peace. Even with my eyes closed, I feel the pleasant warmth of sunlight pouring through the curtains. A gentle weight presses against me, making me feel safe and secure. I don’t remember pulling out my weighted blanket from my box last night, but maybe I did when I was still half-asleep.

I reach down to pull my blanket off and stifle a scream when my hands make contact withhuman skin. I open my eyes to find that it’s not a blanket on top of me, but a very naked Celeste.

That’s when it all comes back to me. Going to the office NYE party with my ex. Coming back to her place and touching Celeste in ways I’ve only dreamt of doing before.Her, touching me, pleasuring me like she did all those years ago.

I always pass out after sex, so I guess I shouldn’t havebeen surprised that I never got a chance to use the toiletries that Celeste graciously provided. Meanwhile, Celeste always makes sure to remove her makeup and shower before bed, so I’m not surprised to see that her face is bare. She also always sleeps naked—or at least, she did after we started becoming intimate with one another back in college—so that’s not a real surprise, either.

Feeling grimy and icky from last night, I’m thinking of how best to slip out from underneath Celeste to take a shower, when I catch sight of her face. Fast asleep, she looks peaceful in a way she normally doesn’t, appearing softer and younger without her makeup.

A part of me still feels the same serenity I see on her face, but I’m also horrified at how content I feel. Why does this all still feel so nice, eight years after we last had sex? Like I’msupposedto wake up every morning with Celeste?

It’s the hormones, I reason with myself.Women release oxytocin, which makes us want to couple with whomever we sleep with.

And all these hormones would have been perfectly fine if Celeste and I were dating again. But of course, that’s not what’s going on between us at all. Not only am I currently not looking for anything serious, but also, Celeste Min doesn’t “do relationships” anymore.

Plus, she’s going back to LA in a couple of weeks, since we’re already down to our last set of interviews.

I groan, wondering if this is what happened to Gretchen, too. From Celeste’s Instagram, they clearly worked together before they started dating. Or maybe they casually datedwhileworking together. Whatever the case, the end result was the same. Celeste warned her that she didn’t do relationships. Gretchen caught feelings anyway. And Celeste broke her heart.

I can easily see myself falling into that same trap offeelingsif I don’t nip it in the bud, right here and right now. I’d rather step on a pile of cat diarrhea than get that same “I don’t do relationships, remember?” talk that Gretchen got from Celeste.

After managing to successfully shimmy out of bed without waking her up, I grab the toiletries from the kitchen counter and hop into the shower.

The water’s freezing cold at first, causing me to yelp out loud. It’s exactly the type of wake-up call I need, though, and I’m finally able to clear my head as I wash off last night’s dried sweat and makeup.Andthe smell of Celeste on my skin.

I’m so focused on showering that I only realize I don’t have a change of clothes untilafterI’ve dried myself off. Well, besides the pink pajamas Celeste gave me last night. Which I definitely am not wearing now.

After a few panicked seconds of trying to figure out what to do, I wrap the wet towel around me and exit the bathroom.

Celeste’s awake by the time I walk back into her room. She’s always been a light sleeper, so the sound of the shower must have woken her up. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she gives me an amused look as she says, “Well, good morning. It’s still early. I can make us breakfast if you want?”

She sounds so relaxed, like it’s perfectly normal for me tobe in her bedroom like this. Like it’s normal for us to have fucked last night, instead of it being the first time we did so ineight years. It’s like “casual” is her middle name.

How is she sogoodat this?I want to growl in frustration as I think back to poor Gretchen throwing up in the restroom.

“Thanks, but I should head home,” I say, keeping my tone light and airy.Twocan play this game. “Happy New Year!”

I walk back to the kitchen and grab my ugly Christmas sweater from the floor.

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