Page 50 of Raise The Bar
“Aww. Well, keep trying champ. You’ll get there.” He laughs harder and I join in. The sheer ridiculousness of our current situation has finally caught up to us. We laugh until my sides ache and I’m out of breath all over again.
He pulls a blanket up from the end of the bed and pulls it over us. We lie on our sides facing one another, close but not touching. My body is spent and my mind is fading fast. I look around his bedroom for the first time, taking in the over-priced furnishings and bare walls.
“This place doesn’t feel like you,” I murmur sleepily and I feel him tense beside me.
“It doesn’t?”
I shake my head, letting my eyes close. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s gorgeous and fancy. But it doesn’t feel like you.” I yawn, nestling into the pillow. “You should fill it with things that make you happy, things that you love. Then it will feel like you.”
Chapter 28
Callum
Something is tickling my nose. Barely conscious, I move my head slightly trying to shake off whatever it is, but am unsuccessful. It’s not unpleasant, in fact it’s soft and smells nice.
I slowly pry my eyes open and find the cause. Maggie’s curly hair, splayed out on the pillow beside me. She’s lying flush against me, her back to my front and I’ve got my left arm thrown over her side, keeping her close to me.
My body stiffens as I remember the night before.
Maggie wrapped around me.
Maggie on the table.
Maggie in my bed.
There are few times in my life where I can say that reality lived up to the expectation. Being with Maggie exceeded every fantasy. Blew them out of the goddamn water. Her taste. Her touch. Her sounds. I’ve never experienced anything close to being with her.
The last thing I remember thinking was that I would just rest my eyes for a few minutes before waking her up. I didn’t think I’d fall asleep. I’m always upfront and honest with women when we hook up. It’s always at their place or a hotel and I always leave a reasonable amount of time afterwards.
I’d never had sex with anyone at my place until last night, and I’d sure as hell never fallen asleep next to anyone before. Ever.
I lift my arm from Maggie’s waist and she stirs in her sleep before stilling again, her breath deepening once again.
I inch backwards off the bed, moving as slowly as possible so as not to disturb her. She doesn’t move again and I breathe a sigh of relief as I quietly pad out of the room. It’s pitch black outside and I have no idea what time it is. I enter the kitchen and squint at the fluorescent glow of the clock on the stove. Three thirty six a.m.
Shit. My flight leaves in three hours.
Panic sets in as I weigh my options. I could wake Maggie up and put her in a cab home. I creep back down the hall to my room and see that she hasn’t moved a muscle since I left. She’s been working long days all week and I don’t want to wake her if I don’t need to. I could reschedule my flight for this afternoon and still be there in time for the barbeque. That way, I could let Maggie wake up on her own and talk to her before I go.
And say what exactly?
Thank you for the mind-blowing sex, I hope this doesn’t make things weird between us, can I call you an Uber?
I did the one thing I wasn’t supposed to do. Now what, smart guy? I rack my brain for a viable solution, but it doesn’t come. If I tell her it was amazing, but it can’t happen again, I’ll lose her. If I try to continue whatever this is, I’ll wind up disappointing her and I’ll lose her. I can’t lose her. I will figure this out, I just need time.
I move stealthily through my room grabbing clothes to throw on. I take them to the living room and get dressed as quickly as possible. Grabbing my phone, I order an Uber and then I make sure I have my wallet. Finally, I grab my suitcase from the corner of the room and slip out of the condo, closing and locking the door quietly behind me.
The elevator ride to the lobby takes forever with the walls seemingly closing in on me.
“Fuck,” I mutter to myself as I think of the mess I’ve created. Almost two months of friendship and trust building down the drain because I couldn’t keep it in my pants for another minute.
Do you want me, Callum?
I’ve wanted her from the moment I met her, and that desire has only increased with every minute we’ve shared together since. Was I supposed to deny it? Should I deny that I need water and oxygen while I’m at it?
I want you to take me.
I consider myself to be a fairly strong-willed person. I’ve had to be in order to get through my childhood, and to survive in business. But Maggie standing before me, lips swollen from being on mine, asking me to take her? I couldn’t say no. I couldn’t even try. I will give her anything she wants, even if it kills me.
