When I Fall

She stares up at me, her face breaking into that smile. My smile.

“Hi,” she says through a laugh.

“Hi.” I kiss her nose. “Beth Davis, from McGill’s.”

She purses her lips. I kiss them open.

I get her halfway down the hallway before she’s on her knees and I’m taking her from behind.

Beth

I PUSH MY MATTED HAIR from my face and stretch my limbs out against the sheet. A dull ache pulses between my legs. My muscles feel worked, my lips sore and swollen.

I never want to stop feeling like this, from him, specifically. No one else.

Eyes closed, my hand reaches across the bed, seeking him, eager for more even though my body needs recovery. I turn my head when I discover I’m alone, then sit up, bunching the sheet around my waist.

Sunlight streaks along the carpet, a few beams of light shining through the break in the lavender curtains. I scowl at the thought of a gorgeous day.

A gorgeous Thursday.

Damn it. Why didn’t I think to pray for rain last night? Reed probably slipped out early this morning to go to work, and I missed him. I wasn’t thinking before I passed out. I wasn’t doing much of anything besides letting him take me, staring into those wild, blue eyes as he worshipped my body, as he pushed my limits of pleasure again, and again. Exhaustion overwhelmed me, but I still begged for more. My sex swollen, throbbing as he filled me, but I demanded harder. Faster. Deeper.

“More,” I whisper. “Please.”

“All night,” he promises.

My body hums at the memory of Reed’s hands on my skin, his mouth against my ear, whispering his filth to me. Pinching my thighs together beneath the sheet, I stare across the room at the phone on my dresser. I want to call him, but I need to call someone else first.

Tomorrow can’t happen. I don’t want it to happen. I have no idea what’s going on with Reed now that we’ve had sex and he was lucid for it. He told me things last night, sweet words between the dirty, but he was inside me when he said them. He also said things I didn’t understand.

Something about magic pussy.

I was too delirious to ask him what that meant. We need to have a conversation with our clothes on, without the distraction of flesh.

Hard, wet, throbbing, aching flesh.

Right. Stay clothed around Reed. I’m sure that won’t be a problem.

I slide out of bed and walk to the dresser, slipping on a fresh pair of panties and a long T-shirt. The faint sound of water running has my head whipping to my right, my feet moving me out into the hallway. I stop outside the closed bathroom door.

My heart batters around in my chest, my skin tingles.

He’s still here. He didn’t go to work?

The water cuts off. Scrambling back into the bedroom, I snatch the phone off the dresser and climb onto the bed. I have no idea if CJ will answer his phone right now, but I pray he does. I don’t want to bail on him via voicemail. He’s a nice guy. He deserves to hear this straight from me.

Three rings before the call connects

“Tully.”

“Hi, CJ, it’s Beth.”

“Hey.” His voice lightens, giving away that he’s smiling. “Hold on one second for me.”

I stare out the small opening in the curtain.

It’s not raining, and he’s here. Why is he here? Does his job close down for other reasons besides bad weather?

“Okay, I’m back.”

I take in a deep breath. “Um, I’m sorry if this is a bad time, but I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow night.”

“It’s not a bad time. What’s up?”

“I can’t go out with you.” I run my hand down the side of my face, shifting my weight on the bed. CJ remains silent. “I’m sorry. The other night when you asked me out, things were kind of complicated. I wasn’t sure where I stood with someone, and now some other things have happened.”

“With Reed?” he asks flatly.

“Yes.”

“Yeah, I figured.” He clears his throat. “Look, Beth, I wouldn’t have asked you out if I’d realized something was going on with you and Reed. I’m not like that. He’s a good friend of mine. Ben said something to me a couple days ago about it, and now all that shit that happened at game night makes a hell of a lot more sense. Reed’s not an angry guy, but he was ready to rip my head off seeing me with you. I get it.”

I wince at the memory. “I am really sorry about all that.”

CJ’s husky laugh comes through the phone. “It’s okay. Like I said, I get it. Thanks for at least letting me know and not standing me up tomorrow. That would’ve sucked.”

“Tully! Let’s go!” another voice yells in the background.

“I’ll see you around, all right?”

“Yeah,” I respond. “Thank you for understanding.”

He pauses. “Yeah, no problem.”

The call disconnects.

Standing from the bed, I turn around to set my phone back on the dresser. The sight of Reed in the doorway halts me mid-step, nearly causing me to face-plant on the carpet.

Holy fuck.

Wearing nothing but a white towel around his waist, he leans against the doorframe, his chest still damp from the shower, his hair wet and disheveled.

My eyes slowly move over his body.

Broad shoulders, well-defined arms, long, sculpted torso, he’s built like an Olympic swimmer, and for sex. Mainly sex.

I look up into his face when he clears his throat. Cue knowing smirk.