Friends with Benefits(39)

"Yeah. It was a long fifteen minutes for me, alright?"


"Alright," she grinned, hanging up her coat on the coat rack. We went  into the kitchen, and she spotted the table setting. "Oh, Steven, this  looks terrific. And the aroma! Holy smokes, it's amazing! What did you  make?"


"Spaghetti," I said somewhat proudly as I rummaged in one of my drawers  for a corkscrew. When I found it, I set to work on opening the wine. I  poured us each a glass and then set to filling our plates with pasta and  sauce.


Allie sipped her wine and watched me. I brought the plates to the table  and pulled her chair out for her. She sat, smiling up at me like some  sort of beautiful angel who had been banished to earth and then looked  down at all the food. "Steven, you outdid yourself. This is so nice."


"I wanted to do this for you," I said. "You're too special to me for me not to show you how much I love you."


"I love you, too," Allie said.


I lifted my wine glass. She tapped hers to mine. "Here's to the future as a couple," I said, "finally."


"Finally."


While we ate, we laughed and chatted. I basked in Allie's constant  laughter and admired the way the flames from the candles danced in her  eyes. She was spectacular. I felt like I was seeing her for the first  time. I saw the freckles on the bridge of her nose that she used to try  to cover with makeup when we were teenagers. I saw the crinkle in her  nose when she laughed. The cute way her earlobes stuck out a tiny bit,  and the dramatic curve of her cupid's bow lips made me smile. She was so  much more than just a girl.


She was my girl.


"Remember the time we went to Kanaka Lake together?" I asked, watching Allie for a reaction.


Allie smiled and nodded. "Of course. I thought there was a group of us  going, but when I got there it was only little old you. Not that I was  unhappy about that. I was secretly thrilled that I had you all to myself  for a day. And shirtless, to top it off."


I chuckled. "I felt the same way. Besides the shirtless thing. But of  course, you looked great in a bikini. That was the first time I ever saw  your boobs."


"Wait. What?" Allie asked, looking up from her plate and pausing with her fork halfway to her mouth.


"Yeah." I laughed. "Remember? We were play fighting in the water. Your  top came undone. It came off when you were under water. You were  mortified. I had never seen your cheeks so red before."         

     



 


"But you said you didn't see anything!"


"I lied." I shrugged. "I didn't want you to be embarrassed. But, so we're clear right now, I saw everything."


Allie roared with laughter when I winked at her. "Oh, my God. So typical  of you Steven. That was actually a decent thing to do. I never would  have gotten over it. I was so shy back then."


"I know. That was one of my favorite things about you. You were always blushing. So damn cute."


Allie blushed across from me, and we both laughed. When we had ourselves  back under control, she put her fork down. "Steven," she said, a little  more seriously now. "I want you to know. Those three months when we  weren't talking, were literally the worst ninety days of my life."


All the humor was gone from her eyes. "Same," I said. "Ask Chance. He  had to peel my drunken ass out of the nightclub because that was the  only way I could cope half the time."


"I promise I'll never hold anything back from you again. Even if it's as  small as me getting a hangnail at work. I want you to know everything.  We're in this thing together."


I reached out and took her hand across the table. "Allie, it's alright. I  trust you. I promise to never hold it over your head. You and Andrew, I  mean. It wasn't my place to judge or question. I love you, and we're  past it. We are so past it. I'm ready to focus on our future, not our  past."


Allie smiled. I saw the beginnings of tears in the corners of her eyes. "I love you," she whispered.


I ran my thumb over the back of her hand. "I love you, too."


Allie sniffled and looked at the ceiling to get herself back under  control. When she looked back at me, she was smiling. "It's crazy to  think of what life is going to look like now, don't you think?"


"How do you mean?" I asked. "As in, we'll be keeping toothbrushes at each other's places?"


"Sure," Allie said. "And having sleepovers all the time. Like the good old days, but better, because we'll share a bed."


"And we'll have lots of crazy sex."


"That too." She giggled.


"I was thinking," I started, "that maybe you should have a drawer here.  Or four. You know I don't use half of mine. You can keep whatever you  need to here."


She blinked. "Really?"


"Yeah."


"You don't think that would be, you know, moving a little fast?"


"Do you?" I asked.


She pursed her lips and then shook her head. "No, but I'm afraid of scaring you off."


"You won't scare me off," I told her. "I already told you. I'm in this  one hundred percent. I want to be with you all the time. I want to build  our foundation. I want to make up for missed time. We should have done  this forever ago."


"I'm happy with the things we did in the past," Allie said. "We have a  good beginning story. It took us a while, sure, but it's all worth it  now. At least it's worth it for me. The best things are worth waiting  for. And you were definitely worth the wait."


"Except for that time I was an ass and read your diary and then behaved like an oversized man-child."


Allie exploded with laughter. "Yes, well, I could have done without that. But as I said. It makes a good story."


"A good story for you," I mumbled. "I'm the one who looks like the idiot."


"Get used to it, muffin," Allie teased.


I rolled my eyes, and she laughed at me. I didn't mind the teasing. In fact, I kind of liked it.


When we finished eating, I cleared the table. Allie tried to convince me  to let her do the dishes, but I refused. "You go get comfy on the  couch. I'll join you in a few. Open that box of treats and dig in."


Allie squeezed my shoulder and kissed my cheek before leaving me to  scrub the pots from the pasta and our plates and cutlery. I smiled the  whole time and didn't realize it until I had turned the water off.


I joined Allie on the couch. She was sitting curled up in the corner. I  lifted up her legs and rested them on my lap. She shimmied down so she  could rest her neck on the armrest. I began giving her a foot massage.  She tried to get away at first. She had ticklish feet.


"I'm not going to tickle you," I said. "Relax."


She did. Soon, she was sighing happily, and I massaged her calves as  well. "That feels so good," she mumbled thickly. The wine was settling  in, and so was the business of the day. "Is this what life is going to  be like now?"         

     



 


"If I have any say in it, yes."


Allie smiled and closed her eyes.





Chapter 34

Allie





I opened my eyes. Steven was watching me as his fingers worked my  calves. What he was doing felt so good. No one had ever touched me like  that. His hands moved up my calves and over the top of my thighs. I was  wearing leggings, and he was working his way up to the waistband. Before  he got there, he paused between my legs and rubbed me through the thin  fabric.


I was hot already. I licked my lips. He was watching me like there was  nothing else in the room. I reached down and took the hem of my shirt. I  pulled it off over my head. I reached behind my back and unclipped my  bra.


Steven leaned sideways and closed his lips over my right nipple. He  tickled me with his tongue while his fingers continued to rub me. He was  going to ruin my panties.


I took his face in my hands and kissed him. I could taste the wine on  his tongue. We kissed each other hungrily, our bodies intertwined. He  inched upward, and I hooked one leg around his. He ran his hand over my  hip and took hold of the top of my leggings. Then he started working  them down.


I was naked beneath him in no time. He removed his shirt, and I worked  at his jeans, desperate to pull him free and feel him in my hand. He  laughed when I failed to get the zipper down, and then he helped me. He  took everything off, and we were naked on his couch.


He lowered himself back down on top of me. His lips found mine, and his  hand wandered back down to the heat between my legs. He touched me  softly. I held onto his shoulders. Then he slid one of his fingers into  me.


My whole body was thrumming with excitement. He pressed another finger  into my pussy. I held on to him tighter. He kissed me hard, his lips  grinding against mine as he worked his fingers inside me.


He wasn't holding back. He wanted me to come. I was going to. I was sure  he could feel it. I let go of his shoulders and lifted my hands over my  head to clutch at the armrest behind my head. My nails scratched at the  fabric. I let out a little whimper of pleasure as he curled his fingers  inside me. Then he pressed up, hitting my G-spot, and thrust deep  inside me once, twice, three times, until I came.