That Thing Between Eli and Gwen(44)

“Don’t worry, I will whip that right out of you.”

“We’re on to whips now?” I couldn't stop myself.

She laughed, shaking her head at me. “Goodnight, Dr. Davenport.”

“Goodnight, Ms. Poe.”

She closed the door slowly, never breaking eye contact with me until it finally shut.

“Oh, shit,” I whispered to myself, hurrying into my apartment. My hard-on for her was killing me slowly. Pulling off my clothes, I couldn’t help but wonder how we were going to be now that we had crossed this line.

I was a little too excited.





Guinevere


“What just happened?” I asked Taigi, sliding down to sit right in front of my door. One of my hands went to my lips and the other to my chest, where my heart was trying to escape.

I hadn’t just kissed Eli. I had made out with him to the point where I wanted to do so much more. He tasted like vanilla ice cream: sweet and chilly.

“What am I doing, Taigi?” I whispered, running my hands through his fur. His tongue dropped out of his mouth. “If we do this, we are going to complicate everything. Right? It won’t just be us hanging out, it will be dates, and…sex.”

It was all supposed to be negative, yet the more I spoke, the more I wanted all of it. Even now I shivered, just thinking about how his hands had gripped me, how strong they were. How strong and hard all of him felt against me…

Stop it. I’m not going to think about it until tomorrow. We weren’t officially starting until then, right? Did our relationship have an official date?

I was going to give myself a headache. Stop thinking about it.

Yet even after I had showered and changed, I couldn’t let it go. Sitting on my bed, I rested against the wall, grabbing my book from the floor beside me.

Is he asleep? This is useless! I wasn’t going to be able to get any rest, and it was his fault!

“Stupid, sexy, egotistical, kissing doctor,” I muttered, grabbing my pillow and burying my face in it. I heard my phone buzz, even though I couldn’t see it.

“Where are you?” I jumped up onto my knees, my hands patting down the surface of my bed.

Taigi barked, using his nose to push the phone for me.

“See, this is why I love you, Taigi,” I said, reaching to pick it up.

He barked two more times before rolling himself into a ball in his smaller bed at the foot of mine.

It was a text.

‘Are you sleeping?’

‘Yep.’ Urgh, I should have come up with a better reply.

‘So you are dream-texting me? That’s new.’

‘Why are you awake?’

‘Why are you asleep after messing with my head?’

What? Me! Sitting up and crossing my legs as if that would help, I typed harder, as if he could feel my emotions through the phone.

‘Me messing with your head? Says the guy who drops the 'I like you’ bomb and kisses the life out of me to the point where I was thinking of asking you in, only to be a gentleman and tell me he doesn’t want to just screw me. I’m not messing with your head, Dr. Davenport, it’s you who is messing with mine.’ I felt proud the moment I hit send...until I realized how crazy I must sound.

“I hate trying to date,” I said, falling over to the side, not wanting to see his reply. There should be a take-back button on messages.

Peeking at his message when my phone vibrated, I prepared myself for his reply. ‘But it feels nice, right? Me messing with you. You messing with me. You want this, right?’

‘Yes.’ I answered without overthinking, because it did feel nice.

‘It does for me, too. I don’t like talking to you via text. I prefer seeing your face when we talk, so I’ll just wait a few more hours. Sleep well, Guinevere.’

‘You too, Eli.’ Falling back on my bed, I remembered that his bedroom was just on the other side of the wall. If he was in there texting, he was right behind me. I wanted to knock on the wall, but that just seemed a little bit creepy, so I rolled over, holding onto my pillow.

I felt like I had only closed my eyes for a few minutes before Taigi started to bark, coming over with his leash and dropping it beside me. I glanced at the clock: 5:32 AM.

“Taigi, it’s too early. Can we go later?” I rolled over.

He jumped onto my bed.

“The sun isn’t even completely up yet!” I begged.

He just pushed the leash toward me and barked.

“Okay, okay.” I felt like an old woman getting up. Stretching out my back, I grabbed my running capris, though I hadn’t run since I was kid. I usually took him to the park and just waited for him to wear himself out chasing squirrels or his ball.

“Give me a second, boy,” I said when he followed me into the bathroom, whining as I took time to brush my teeth.