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“Yeah, yeah.” His arm came to rest around me and it felt like the most natural thing in the world. “Maybe once you get some rest, you’ll smile again.”
“Need some heaven?” I asked.
He huffed out a laugh. “I’m not living that one down, am I?”
“Nope. Never. And you didn’t answer my question.”
“Fine. I do. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you smile. And the more I do, the more Iwantto.”
The morning lightfiltered through the living room windows. I came to consciousness slowly, the unusual brightness nearly blinding. Snow still fell from the sky, though slower than the day before. I thought about Amma, stuck with her neighbor, and I hoped she was okay.
Alden was behind me, sound asleep. His arm was tight around me as if I would float away. His chest was warm against my back, and for once, I wasn’t freezing. I felt warm and safe.
Cuddling with him was better for my sleep than I wanted to admit. This was the first time in a long time that I felt truly rested. His touch banished any lingering cold, and I could easily get used to waking up like this every day.
I wished he felt the same way.
I was about to extract myself from his warm hold, but then all thoughts flew out of my mind when his hips rolled forward.
He was hard. So, so hard. And his erection was pressing right into my inner thighs.
Right where I wanted him.
I didn’t let myself think of my first time very much. While it had been amazing, the days after had hurt. But now I couldn’t help but flash back to it.
It had beensogood. So much better than all of my exes.
After seven years of mediocre sex, the memory of Alden fucking me was welcome. Maybe I’d talked it up in my mind, but the way no man could compare had weighed on me over the years. Missionary and a bland orgasm nowhere near the ones from Alden weren’t enough.
But I didn’t need to think this way. We were friends.Justfriends. The friction meant nothing.
“Damn it, Stella,” Alden said from behind. “You don’t know what you do to me.”
I blinked. What the hell? I thought he didn’t want me.
Just as I opened my mouth to ask, he rolled away and disappeared to the bathroom.
I stayed rooted to the spot, trying and failing to make sense of what had just happened.
He was right about one thing, I supposed; I didn’t know what I had done to him.
Friends wouldn’t say anything like that. Romance aside, he wantedme,or at the very least, my body.
Maybe he was in a dry spell, but I doubted it. Alden always had his choice of women. It was one of the things that drove me crazy when we were teens. I doubted it changed now.
I shook off my thoughts and went to the kitchen. The fridge wasn’t cool anymore, which meant most of the food inside had gone bad, but I found muffins to munch on while I figured out my next move.
I wanted to ask him about it, but I had no idea how. I was still working on it when he came out of the bathroom a few minutes later. His dark hair was wet, curling into his neck. His skin was prickled with gooseflesh.
“Did you take a shower in the cold?”
“I needed it,” was all he said.
I looked down at myself, knowing I probably needed one too.
“How awful was the cold water?” I asked.
“Not bad.” He wasn’t looking me in the eye, and I wondered if he’d had his fill of me. Maybe it was time for me to shower too.