"And that's when she kissed me."
There I said it.
"What?"
"Yeah."
"What?"
"I know."
"What?"
"Okay, that's enough."
"Sorry, Beca, I just... What?"
Jesse, my best friend and ex-boyfriend, always has been a little slow on the uptake. Really though, this questioning is already getting old.
"She kissed me," I sigh happily. I haven't been able to wipe the grin off my face since it happened the afternoon before.
"Okay, but who actually initiated it," Jesse asks.
"I did, but only the first one. The rest were all her," I state dreamily.
The rest? Yeah, the rest. There were many. It was amazing!
She walks into my apartment and into my bedroom. She never once knocks, just waltzes right in like she belongs there. And she's right. She does belong there, with me. It's just that neither of us have admitted to it yet.
So she comes into my bedroom and climbs under the covers next to me on my bed. See, through all of this, I'm still asleep. I'd had an exceptionally long day at my internship the day before, followed by an even longer night covering a shift at the campus radio station. I try to separate my work schedules as much as possible, but it couldn't be avoided this time. Anyway, I'm sleeping because I'm dead tired and Chloe has, in all legal senses, just broken into my home. Not that I mind so much.
Now, I've been known to move around a lot in my sleep. I must have unconsciously felt my bed shift when she climbed in because once she's settled, I roll over and wrap myself around her, my face buried in her neck.
"Mmm, Chlo," I murmur and then lightly kiss her neck. Mind you, I'm still asleep here.
It's her sharp intake of breath that finally wakes me. Just that slight noise made me realize that I wasn't dreaming her presence as I very often do. This is real, she is real.
"Beca," she sighs. I freeze. What was I to do? The woman of my dreams is lying in my bed and the way my name passed through her lips... I don't think she noticed that I had woken so I just pretend to still be asleep.
A few minutes later, I am trying to figure out what to do. I wet my lips and my tongue accidentally grazes her skin. She shivers and I use that moment as my excuse to 'wake up.'
I stretch some, but manage to keep in constant contact with her body. When I finally open my eyes, she's watching me intently.
"Hey," I whisper.
"Good afternoon," Chloe smiles.
"Afternoon," I ask, surprised. "What time is it?"
"Just about 3. So, how's life as a vampire," she jokes.
I raise an eyebrow, lean closer to her and ask, in my most seductive voice, "Do you want to find out?"
She closes her eyes for a moment. I make a split decision and take the opportunity to move closer to her to lightly nip at her pulse point. I smile against her skin as she groans slightly. I kiss the area, pull back and look into her eyes, smirking at her flushed face.
The I kiss her. Full on the lips.
She pulls away, taken aback. She stares into my eyes as if she's coming to a decision. Finally, after what feels like hours of me internally freaking out that I've made a huge mistake and risked our friendship and oh god what if Chloe hates me now... Finally, she leans back in and kisses me. I happily return it. This kiss only lasts a minute before she pulls away again. I open my eyes and watch her, she still has hers closed, savoring the feeling.
"Wow," she says as she opens her eyes.
I nod in reply, grinning like an idiot, knowing that if I tried to speak, it would all come out as gibberish as I'm pretty sure the taste of her lips has melted my brain.
Before I can even fathom gathering my surviving thoughts to say something, she's kissing me again. This one is deeper, full of pent up desire, full of promise. Her tongue slides across my lips, seeking entrance, which I grant immediately. Then, suddenly, I'm on my back, looking up as her as she straddles my waist and starts kissing down my neck, her hands playing with the hem of my tank top.
I open my eyes to see Jesse looking at me expectantly, mouth slightly agape.
"What," I ask.
"What do you mean what? I want to know what happened next!"
I shake my head, grinning, as my phone starts to vibrate. I pick it up, look at the screen, and my face lights up instantly.
"It's her, isn't it," Jesse asks with a grin.
I ignore him and answer the phone, almost dropping it in my excitement.
"Hey, hello, hi," I stutter out quickly before rolling at my eyes at my own ineptitude at keeping my cool.
"Oh yeah, it's her," I hear Jesse say as he tries to suppress a laugh.
I continue to ignore him, focusing all my attention on Chloe's melodic voice.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down! What exactly happened," I ask before listening to her explain why she walked out during one of her classes when the professor was acting like a dick. "Okay, yeah, I'll be there in ten. Don't worry."
I hang up the phone to find Jesse still watching me. I shake my head, turn around, and walk into my room to grab my keys.
"You're leaving," he asks.
"Yeah, I have to go. Chloe needs me to pick her up across campus."
"Oh, all right, sure, Beca. We'll just have to reschedule our hangout, 'kay," he says.
I look at him, feeling a little guilty. Today was supposed to be just us.
"Don't worry about it, Bec," he tells me. "Go save your girl."
"Thanks, Jess."
He shrugs. I give him a quick hug and move toward the door.
"Just know, I want details later," he says with an evil gleam in his eyes.
"Perv," I grin.
Shaking my head again and walk out the door to 'save my girl.' I'm liking the sound of that. My girl. Yeah, that's good.
"Chlo... Hey Chlo... Chloe!"
"Huh, what? … Oh! Becs, you're here."
"Let's hope so. Otherwise, I've gone completely insane," I respond with shifty eyes.
She laughs and gets into my jeep. She turns in her seat to look at me. We sit in silence, soaking each other in.
"So, where to," I ask as I start driving.
"I thought you were going to tell me," she replies. "My only plan was getting out of that lecture hall."
That hurts. I'm just as excuse to get out of class? Ouch.
"And to see you, of course," she adds as she notices my dejected look.
So I'm an afterthought? Great.
"Hey," she says, grabbing my hand in hers. "I missed you. You're all I've thought about since last night."
Score!
"I know the feeling," I reply, tightening my hold on her hand.
She smiles. I can't help but grin back. We keep driving to destinations unknown. I feel like it's getting hotter with each passing second and she runs her fingers along my own.
We've been sitting at the beach for a good two hours, watching the waves roll in and sweep out. She's leaning against me, tracing patterns along my arm that she's tugged around her front. My legs went stiff a long time ago, but I don't mind. I'm afraid to move, afraid she'll stop her light ministrations. My skin is on fire. I shiver.
"Hey, are you getting cold," she asks with such concern.
"No, no, I'm good. Perfect, even."
She turns her head to see me, offering a tiny smile.
"Wait, are you? We could go, if you want. Not that I want to. I just don't want you to get sick. And you don't have a jacket. I might have something in the car if you want. Or we could take this back to my place. I mean, that didn't come out how I meant. What I meant wa-"
"Beca. You're rambling."
I blush because she's obviously completely correct. All these years of friendship and she still makes me ridiculously nervous. It's a little embarrassing.
"Right, right, sorry. Why don't we go get some food or something," I say quickly, trying to move us past my overload.
"I could eat," she smiles, making me blush even more at the simple statement.
As she stands up, I bend my knees causing them to pop.
"Sounding good there, Becs."
"Oh, yeah. Help me up?"
She takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. I brush myself of, look up into her face and notice just how close we are.
"Hi," I whisper.
"Hey," she responds just as quietly.
We get caught up in each other for a few minutes before she moves forward. I close the rest of the gap and kiss her softly, feeling her smile against my lips.
Perfect.