The bed is hot despite the cool sheets against my bare skin.
The sun is bright through my eyelids.
When I stretch my arms overhead, I feel the tug of Grayson’s hand against my side, pulling me in against his body, and the tempting hardness of him against my ass.
Good God, the man is like a drug. He can piss me off, cancel a date on me, test me on more levels than I’m used to, and yet, I still want more of him.
That’s a scary thought.
I wiggle my ass against his crotch, which earns me a sleep-drugged groan and has his hand pulling me tighter into him.
Then there’s the knock.
“Dad?”
The thought of sleepy morning sex goes out the damn window as Grayson jumps out of bed as if I’ve just poured a bucket of ice water on him.
“Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” he says in a harsh whisper as his eyes widen and plead with me for what to do. “Just a second, buddy.”
“Daddy? Why is the door locked?” The handle jiggles, and Grayson walks over to open it and then realizes what he was just about to do and stops. He’s gloriously naked and completely flustered.
“You can’t be here,” he whispers to me, his hand in his hair, his lips pressing into a stunned smile, and his dick flying at half-mast.
“But I am here—” He covers my mouth with his hand as we both try not to laugh as the handle jiggles again.
“Give me one second, Luke. I was uh—uh—just getting out of the shower.”
“Yeah. So? I’ve seen you naked before.”
I lick my tongue out between my lips against his hand, which is still firmly pressed over my mouth, and his eyes warn me to stop as his own chuckle falls from his mouth.
“I know, but, uh—” He moves the hand from my mouth and starts to pick up my clothes, which are strewn all over his floor, and throws them onto the bed beside me. “I’m all wet and don’t want to get it on the floor.”
“Are you talking to someone in there?” The jostling of the handle. “Is someone in there with you?”
“No. Of course not,” he says in all seriousness while he fights the laughter before leaning forward and whispering in my ear. “Stay here. Be still. He’ll leave for school in fifteen minutes then you can go. Be a good girl.”
“But I’m not a good girl.”
“Dad?”
“I know you aren’t,” he says, the heat of his breath making chills run down my spine. “But you’re going to be for me.” Then he presses a chaste kiss onto my lips that has my body begging for more. “If you are, then I’ll reward you for it.”
“So much for being a ninja,” I say.
“Shush,” he warns but snickers.
And with that, Grayson pulls on a pair of gym shorts before yanking the comforter over my head and patting me on the ass.
I hear the door to the bedroom open. “Good morning. Let’s go downstairs and get some breakfast.”
“I thought you were in the shower?” I can picture the curious look that Luke is giving Grayson, and that makes my having to remain still even harder. All I want to do is laugh.
“I was.”
“Then how come your hair isn’t wet?”
“I, uh, didn’t wash my hair. You interrupted me.”
I hear the click of the bedroom door closing and then Luke’s muffled voice. “Why are you shutting the door? You never shut your door.”
“I left my window open, and I don’t want it to make the hall cold.”
“But it wasn’t cold in there.”
“Luke . . .” Their voices fade down the hall, and after a few seconds, I throw the comforter off my head, stare at the ceiling, and use the pillow beside me to muffle my laugh.
I lie there for some time before I decide to get dressed. Should Luke venture back upstairs without Grayson or me realizing it, the last thing he needs to see is me naked in his dad’s bed.
Once I’m dressed and cleaned up, I sit on the edge of the bed, staring at the locked door and listening to the sounds of normalcy down below. The scrape of plates. The teasing laughter. The responsible reminders about behaving at school.
This was what he was talking about last night when he said he lived in a well-loved home. I can feel the difference between here and my own apartment back in the city, which makes me wonder what waking up to this every day would be like.
The thought scares the shit out of me. I don’t think this way. Grayson and I aren’t that way. We’re just sex. We’re just lust.
And even I know I’m beyond feeling that way, but I repeat the mantra to myself anyway, so at least I can pretend I don’t feel more for him than that.
Because I do.
When the door handle moves against the lock, I jump. “He’s gone. I got him to walk with the neighbor and her son to school today. It’s safe to come out now.”
I open the door to see Grayson standing there. His hair is disheveled, his shorts are slung low on his hips, and he has the most adorable smile on his lips.
“Oh. My. Fuck,” he says as he walks past me and falls on his back onto the bed with a definite thump. “That was horrid and hilarious.”
He looks up, and when our eyes meet, the laughter comes. Uncontrollable laughter that makes my sides ache and my cheeks hurt. We are both still grinning when he yanks my hand and pulls me on top of him, wraps his arms around me, and presses a kiss to the top of my head.
“Adventures of the pussy ninja,” I say, and we erupt into another fit of laughter. When it subsides, I close my eyes and enjoy the feel of his body against mine. “I take it that doesn’t happen that often.”
“It never happens. No one ever gets to spend the night in my bed.”
This has me laughing again, but it’s a bit more forced as I freak out a little bit. I’m not certain if it’s because I want to be the first person who he’s let sleep in his bed, or if the fact it happened at all means I’m not alone in what I’m feeling. That things between us are a little more serious than I’m allowing myself to acknowledge.
My thoughts turn elsewhere when Grayson’s hands begin to wander, and his lips begin to possess.
“I was a good girl.”
“Mm-hmm,” he says as he lifts my shirt up and traces a line down my lower belly as his other hand tugs down my shorts and panties. My legs spread. His tongue licks. My hands grip. “And now I’ll reward you.”