Shane
Sometimes, in certain dreams, the dreamer can tell they are dreams because they are so unnatural.
Shane had always been able to tell when he was dreaming. He stretched his legs, coming awake even though he didn’t want to let go of sleep. He’d had the most incredible dream. He was with Rayvn, and they-
When he reached out and his arm brushed against something warm and entirely too soft, his eyes flew open. Maybe he didn’t always know when he was dreaming, because Rayvn was right there. Right next to him. Fast asleep. It was real. All of it.
Her cheeks were flushed with sleep, her long lashes splayed out on her cheek, her hair tossed wildly about her shoulders and the pillow. Her lips were parted just a sliver and the softest breaths passed in and out in a gentle, even cadence.
Holy shit. I’m actually here. It only took him a second to remember everything from the night before. He meant to just stay for a few moments then he was going to get up and get dressed and leave. He didn’t spend the night with people. At least, he hadn’t in the past. He’d always made it a point to leave. He always went to someone else’s house so that he could have his to escape back to.
He knew that he could still make it. At least he’d come to before Rayvn did. He could still put his clothes on and leave like he’d never been there.
Except that he didn’t move. He didn’t want to move. He lay there, trying to work himself into throwing back the extremely soft white cotton sheets and quaint little comforter and getting up. Except that the quilt reminded him of the one his mom had, the one he’d borrowed for the picnic that hadn’t worked out. He ran his hand along it slowly, feeling the uneven, handmade stitches.
He glanced around the room. Now that it was light and he wasn’t distracted by other things… things like Rayvn shedding her clothes and peeling off his, he realized that the room was full of antique furniture. It made sense, given that it was what Rayvn loved. There was a huge dresser with a strange looking curled out front and an even stranger mirror. The thing was huge. Beside that was a china cabinet of sorts with books inside and a trunk off to the right, probably for blankets. The bed had a brass footboard and likely the matching headboard, though he couldn’t see up that high. The end table beside the bed was also antique. He didn’t know if there was a matching one on the other side.
The condo itself wasn’t old. It wasn’t old styled. It was painted grey and it looked like it had new hardwood installed, since it resembled the floor of an ancient warehouse. Maybe it really was from there. With Rayvn, who knew. She’d probably done the work herself. He couldn’t see it being like that when she moved in.
“Let me guess. You’re contemplating how best to make an escape without waking me.” Rayvn’s soft, sleep filled voice drifted over to him.
Shane felt his face heat up. He took a few seconds to compose himself before he turned to face her.
They seemed to realize they were both still naked at the same time. Rayvn pulled the quilt tight around her chest, though nothing was peeking out. He purposely stayed on his side of the bed. Even when he turned, he was careful not to roll.
“How did you know?” He grinned at her, caught between feeling guilty and not guilty, since, though the thought passed through his brain, he hadn’t acted on it.
“I just know. I saw you eying up the room. Probably trying to find the escape exit. Let me tell you, that window is way too high to jump out of.”
“Really? What about if I tie the sheets to the bed post?”
“That never works. There are only two and I’m sleeping on one and under the other. I doubt you could get them off the bed without waking me.”
“You’re already awake.”
“And you could just get dressed and walk out the door. Although, I would watch you, just to make sure you feel good and truly ashamed at having to do it. It would be quite amusing to see you trying to find your clothes.”
“They’re scattered all over the house, aren’t they?”
“Pretty much.”
“I guess that would really be the gathering of shame. Then I would have to call a cab and go pick up my car…”
“You’ve never done this before, have you?”
“What? This? Yeah. Lots of times. I handed in the V-card a long time ago.”
“No,” Rayvn snickered. Her eyes glittered and with her sleep tousled hair and the blush of a person who wakes up perfectly satisfied and happy for the first time in a long time, she was absolutely gorgeous. “I mean this. Staying over. The night. The morning.”
“You’re right. I wish I could lie to you and tell you that I’ve done it a million times, but I always leave. I’ve never slept next to someone.”
“We both fell asleep. That hardly counts as wanting to.”
Shane swallowed hard. What he was about to say would change the course of his life. He knew it. It wasn’t some simple little thing. It wasn’t just a sentence or a question. It was him telling her so much more than that. It was him shocking the hell out of himself.
“What if I wanted to? Sleep here. With you. Again.”
Rayvn blinked a few times. She was obviously trying, and failing, to hide her surprise. “I- well, I guess that would be alright.”
“Just alright? Was it just alright last night?”
“No.” She blushed to the roots of her hair. “Or should I say yes and then you’ll have to promise to make up for your lackluster performance?”
“So, next time, should I make you come five times instead of four? Or are we shooting for six or seven or maybe double digits.”
“Shut up.” Rayvn squealed. She threw back the blankets and slid out of bed. She stood there, naked and beautiful and far bolder than he ever would have pegged her for. “That’s right. I’m not covering up. I’m not going to wrap the sheet around myself. I’m going to stand here and wait for you to come get me.”
“What day is it?” he asked, alarmed. “Fuck. Don’t we both have to work?”
“Oh, I know I do. But I can put that off. Perks of being my own boss and everything and having friends who have my back. But you? You could be screwed.”
“I’ll call in sick.”
“Oh really?” One dark brow slowly lifted. “You’d do that for me?”
“I’d do it to save my own ass. I have a feeling it’s pretty late judging from the fact that the sun is streaming in here through the window.”
“We definitely overslept. Probably because we were up for half the night.” The blush was back. There was no hiding it. She finally moved away, but it wasn’t to find her clothes.
“Where are you going?” he called out.
She paused in the doorway and if she wasn’t a natural born seductress with all those curves and endless bronzed skin and that lush hair cascading down her back, those curvy hips that ended in a tight ass and long, long legs, he didn’t know what she was.
“I was going to run the shower. You’re filthy. You should probably find your phone, call your work and come join me.”
“Just like that? Come join you?”
“Yup.”
“What about all the bullshit? The fact that we were just talking about having shitty pasts and the fact that I also don’t believe in relationships and love and all that?”
“Well…” Rayvn paused. “Maybe I don’t want to think about that stuff for the day. Maybe I just want it to be us. So, you can either get dressed and ditched out or come find me in the shower. It’s your choice. I won’t tell you which one to make.”
She sauntered off, her soft laughter trailing behind her in the hall. Her footsteps echoed on the boards and then, a moment later, a door closed and a few minutes after that, the hiss of a faucet turning on reached all the way to the bedroom.
Shane threw back the sheets and quilt. Astoundingly, he found that there wasn’t a choice at all.