26. Liam

26

LIAM

I wake up several hours later to find Marley sound asleep across my chest, her hair splayed across my neck, her fingers curled possessively around my shoulders. My heart stutters and starts again as I soak in the feeling of her skin against mine, the pleasant weight of her body, and the absolute contentment I feel in this single moment.

Fuck it feels good to have her in my arms, my bed. And my God, the night we shared? It should be written about for decades. I don’t know for sure how many times I made her come, but I do know we collapsed from utter exhaustion at some point in the middle of the night, completely sated and unable to move a single muscle.

And all I can think of is more. I want more. I want to explore every inch of her body again and again until I know each little secret. Bringing her pleasure was the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done. And I’ve climbed several fourteeners.

I draw my fingers through her silky hair, long since freed from its bun and marvel at how I had ever thought this was a bad idea.

Because it feels so right. So new. Like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I’ve had relationships, and I thought I felt a strong connection, but I was wrong. This? This is real.

And yes, it scares the shit out of me and yes, one incredible night of life-changing sex won’t make everything better, but it makes me feel like it could be someday and that’s enough for right now.

Not even the very loud call of the dirty dinner dishes can ruin the moment. They can wait even if they will be much harder to clean if I wait until morning. Even if… Shit.

The compulsion to get out of bed and clean it up makes me swallow. It’s intense. Don’t ruin this Liam, I tell myself. Relax, you don’t know if you’ll ever get a chance to hold her like this again. Leave the fucking dishes.

My body clenches involuntarily, and I hold Marley tight to ground myself.

She lifts her head and turns it toward me. It’s dark in the room, just the faint light from my alarm clock, but I can see the soft curve of her cheek and the freckles that dot the bridge of her nose. “You awake?”

“Maybe a little.” I slide a finger under her chin. “Sorry if I woke you.”

“You didn’t,” she answers, kissing my fingers, sending a zing right to my heart.

Seeming to sense the change in my body, she sits up. I immediately miss her warmth. “You’re tense,” she says, drawing a hand down my bicep from where she’s sitting cross-legged. “Is this uncomfortable?” She motions between us and bites her bottom lip as if she’s afraid I will send her away. “I can go back to my room.”

“God no,” I blurt, twining my fingers through hers. “No, that’s not it.”

After a brief look of relief, she studies my eyes as if to look for clues. Her mouth drops open. “Ooooooh, the dishes.”

God, I hate that she figured it out. That I’m too much of a control freak to let a table of dinner dishes sit overnight. I shrug. “I’m sorry, it’s not you…”

“I know,” she answers lightly, slipping out of my bed completely unbothered. She pulls on her t-shirt and holds out her hand to me. “It’s okay, let’s go clean up together.”

I raise an eyebrow. “You want to clean with me?”

“If it will get you back to bed quicker, I absolutely do.” She cocks her head to the side. “But just your boxer briefs if you don’t mind. Now that I get to look, I want to really look.”

I chuckle, shocked that my cock can even twitch with exhausted interest after the night we’ve had. “You’ve been stealing glances?”

“Only when I could get away with it,” she answers. She puts her hands on her hips. “And you haven’t?”

“I didn’t say that.” I slip to the edge of the bed and grab for my boxer briefs. “That teeny tiny tank top you were wearing when you made pancakes seems particularly seared in my brain.”

“Good to know,” she answers before walking to the door. “Now hurry. I want to sleep on that mountain range you call a chest again.”

Laughing, I slip on my underwear and follow her into the apartment. Stephen greets me with an accusatory meow and places himself between me and Marley.

“Oh, buddy,” I squat down and scratch his head. “I’m sorry. I promise I’ll be good to your mom, okay?”

He doesn’t respond—he just narrows his eyes as if he can see right through me.

“He hasn’t had to share me in a very long time,” Marley explains, picking up a plate from the table. “He’ll warm up.”

“What if he doesn’t?”

She casts me a playful look. “Then you might consider keeping close tabs on anything that dangles. ” Her eyes slip to my crotch on the last word and I instinctually cover my junk.

“He wouldn’t…”

Marely’s laughter flows from the kitchen. “Never know.”

I take one more look at Stephen’s unamused stare and hurry after my girl with another plate.

“So how long has it been?” I ask, joining her at the sink where she’s rinsing her plate.

“Since what?”

I swallow, wishing the question hadn’t popped out. I don’t really need to know how long it’s been since she’s had a relationship. “Since, uh, Stephen has had to share you.”

She grins and steps to the side, seeming to understand that I’m compelled to take over the cleaning fully. “Uh, more than two years.” The answer comes out as if she’s ashamed, but I can’t lie, I’m thrilled it’s been a while. “How about you?”

I cringe as I scour the plate with my perfect ratio of dish soap to scrubber. “Since I had an actual relationship or since I…you know?”

She purses her lips for a moment. “Relationship I guess.”

I suck in a breath. “Ooh. A decade. Maybe more.”

“ Ten years ?” Her eyes widen. “Really?”

“Really,” I answer. I turn to her, mid-scrub. “You might be surprised to learn that I’m not all that good with people.”

She laughs, pops up on her tiptoes and kisses me on the lips. “Is it weird that I find it charming?”

My heart shifts a little closer to center. “Possibly a little bit.”

She kisses me again. “I can live with that.”

I pause as she flounces back to the table for more dishes, feeling my entire body fill with a warmth I’ve never felt before. When she settles again by my side, it feels like that’s where she’s meant to be.