Page 17 of One Night to Fall
God, that was good.
The words play on a loop in my mind, as I try to catch my breath.This is what I’ve been missing.Adrian’s body collapses next to me on the bed, his arm draped over his eyes as his chest rises and falls from the exertion, his skin glistening with sweat.
“I think we should do this again,” I murmur, making Adrian turn his head toward me, one eye peeking out from under his arm.
“I don’t know what kind of recovery time you have, but I’m going to need a minute.”
Chuckling, I roll onto my side to face him, giving in to temptation and sucking his nipple into my mouth before releasing it with apopas he tries to swat me away.
“I mean a different day.”
“Use smaller words.”
“Tonight was unreal and I’m addicted to whatever you do to me.”
“You want to be friends with benefits,” he says a little flatly, dropping his arm onto the mattress as he stares at me.
“Yeah.”
“There needs to be rules.”
“I know.”
“Like no sleepovers or dates or anything like that.”
“But we can be friends. We can get a drink or food—it doesn’t have to be a date,” I tell him. “And I’ll amend your no sleepovers to no predetermined sleepovers. Like if we’re fucking and I pass out, just let me sleep.”
He barks out a laugh, sitting up and walking into the bathroom to dispose of the condom. When he returns, his face is serious. “And what happens,” he says, crawling back onto the bed with a washcloth, “if someone asks me on a date or I find someone I want to date?” He’s gentle as he wipes the cum from my chest, the act far more intimate than I imagined as it momentarily short-circuits my brain.
“Then you, uh, tell me and the benefits part stops.”
“And you think we can just be friends.”
“Why not?” I ask, a little insulted. “I’m a great time.” When he doesn’t say anything, I pull him down next to me. “You have to agree that we keep it fun—that’s the only way it works. Otherwise I’ll end up annoying the hell out of you.”
“Why?”
“Because if you look hard enough you’ll realize that I hate doing the dishes and literally throw everything into the dishwasher whether it’s supposed to go in or not. Same goes for clothes—I don’t sort or pay attention to labels.”
“The horror.”
“I know, but it’s survival of the fittest. I also put the toilet paper on the roll so it hangs under not over and it’s a hill I’m willing to die on. I get the leftovers from my mom’s house because I don’t like cooking and if everyone is going to label me as a spoiled brat, I might as well reap the benefits.”
“Anything else?”
“I get all the same style and color socks, so I never have to match them.”
“Pretty ingenious.”
“Lake says I’m lazy.”
“Which brother is that again?”
“Second oldest. It’s Beau, Lake, Wren, and then me. Our cousin Reid is the same age as my sister. Do you have any siblings?”
“You’re not really getting this whole boundary thing, are you?”
“So, you can ask questions but I can’t?”
