“Umm, you found my iPad I see.” He moves towards the bed and puts the plates down on his nightstand, his eyes only momentarily leaving mine. “Nobody sees that. I would never show that to anybody.”
Placing it down on the bed, I get up on my knees and crawl to the edge where he’s standing, pulling him towards me and wrapping my arms around his neck. After a moment’s hesitation, he wraps his arms around me and relaxes against my body. “You’re not mad? I can take it off.”
I reach around and place my hand over his mouth, silencing him. “I’m not mad. It can stay on there.” Dropping my hands, I scoot back over and reach out for my plate playfully as his smile returns.
“Cold pizza huh? I thought I was the only other person that still preferred it cold to heated.”
I take a bite and shake my head. “I hate heated leftover pizza. The cheese gets all rubbery and gross.” He drops a chilled bottled water in my lap and I yelp. “So, why did you take that picture of me?”
He stops chewing briefly, looking over at the iPad on the bed. “I don’t know. I think I just wanted a reminder of you in my bed, just in case you refused to get back in it.” I laugh and he winks at me. “I watched you for hours before I took it. Do you know you make little noises while you sleep?”
I swallow my bite and arch my brow at him. “Little noises? Like what?”
“Like moans. Tiny little whimpers.”
“What? No I don’t.” I unscrew my bottle and take a big sip while he nods at me. “I do not make any noises when I sleep.”
He turns and places his empty plate on his nightstand. Jesus, the man devours his food in a matter of seconds. “Yes you do. You even said my name a few times.” My mouth drops open.
I place my plate down on the night stand before I trample him. “No I did not. Take that back, Carroll.” I’m poking him everywhere, trying to find a weak ticklish spot on his body and he’s only laughing at me in amusement.
“Reese. Oh Reese. Right there.”
I feel my face redden. “You’re evil.” I scoff before I roll off him and lie back on my pillow, pulling the covers up over my head. Good Lord, I hope he’s joking because if he isn’t, how embarrassing is this?
His laugh shakes the bed and I feel the covers slowly slide down to reveal his face hovering over mine. “Love.”
“What?” I try to pull the covers back up but he holds them down. I’ve never been told I talk in my sleep before or make any weird noises, and I’ve had plenty of sleepovers with Juls and Joey. Of course, I doubt they watch me for hours after I pass out. Humph. He climbs under the covers with me and pulls me close to him so that we’re nose to nose.
“So, I hear we’re going to be paired up at the wedding.” His hand trails down my shoulder to my waist and holds me there as I try to keep my smile at bay. “You okay with that? It will be like a date you know. Rather intimate.” His lip curls up and I give into it.
“I’m okay with that. I have been on a few dates before. Have you?”
“No, well not in a really long time.” A really long time? What classifies a really long time? Why is he so against dating now? I push these questions out of my head and focus on another.
“Have you always been monogamously casual with girls?” This has definitely been on my mind recently. I had initially pegged him as a total player with multiple women at all times but had never dared to ask.
His eyes flick to mine quickly before he drops them. “No.” I reach up and run my hand down his arm, rubbing his shoulders the way he likes and seeing his eyes close slowly. “I’ve never really wanted to be before you.” I stop breathing at his admission. Holy shit. Was Joey right? Am I a game changer? My hand stills on his bicep and his eyes shoot open, locking onto mine. “You make me want different things, things I’ve never wanted before.”
“Why?” I force out and continue rubbing his arm. I need to know the answer to this. I want to know if his reasons are the same as mine. I’ve experienced more before but not in the way that I want with Reese. I want everything with him.
He keeps his eyes on me and sighs softly. “I don’t know, but I can’t stand the idea of not being monogamously casual with you. I have no desire to be with anyone else and the thought of you with another man,” his hand comes flying up through his hair, stopping my massage, “it fucking infuriates me.”
Well, that settles that. Like there’s any other man on the planet that I want to ever be with now that I’ve experienced this one. I scoot in closer and continue working his arm, reaching around towards his back. “I know the feeling,” I reply as his eyes close shut again, his lips quivering into a smile. Silence falls between us and I let my mind wander while I work his back and shoulder. I feel like I’m making progress with Reese, progress out of the casual zone and towards something more serious which I am dying to sprint to. But I know I can’t rush him and he’ll have to do this at his own pace if he even wants to. If I’ve learned anything from the past few weeks with him, it’s that he does everything at his own pace. He likes to be in control, even though he told me that I have it all which completely threw me for a loop. I’m chalking that up to him just worrying about my safety. He was obviously scared for me and when you’re scared, you say crazy shit. He likes to show how much power he has and his authority over situations, as he clearly displayed when he destroyed my dress. So I’ll let him control this, control us because I like the pace he’s taking. As long as he takes me with him.