Page 45 of Unhitched

Chapter twenty-seven

Mya

With my eyes still closed, I feel my mind slowly waking up as daylight seeps into my awareness. This bed is so comfortable, like a freaking cloud. Feeling a slight chill on my chest, I tug on the comforter to curl into it, but I’m met with resistance.

Kace.

Oh my god. My eyes spring open.

Kace.

We had sex.

All of a sudden I’m aware of the weight of his arm draped over my stomach.

I twist as slowly as possible, turning to face him and feeling his hand drag across my skin as I do.

We never closed the blackout curtains last night so early morning light illuminates the room just enough to make me feel more vulnerable than I have in a long time.

I recall the chain of events. We were drunk, but not that drunk. I wanted him. He wanted me too. And the sex. It was so good I can still feel him inside of me as I let the memory play out.

Staring at a sleeping Kace, I wonder what he thinks about it.

He looks calm and relaxed. His hair is matted to the side a bit–with an Alfalfa hair–but he’s as handsome as ever.

The urge to press my lips against his and wake him up with a kiss has me itching to touch him, but I keep my hands folded in front of myself as I lie on the mattress.

I don’t know where we stand. My heart thumps so loudly in my chest that I worry it’ll wake him. I’m not ready for that. I don’t know what to say because I don’t know what he is going to say. God, I hate conversations like this.

“Stop staring at me,” he whispers, and my eyes widen.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. I’m not ready. I need coffee or to contemplate my options during an entire listen of One Direction’s Midnight Memories album before I’m prepared to face the day.

When I don’t respond, he opens his eyes, staring back at me. He holds my gaze for a moment, then pulls his hand from my waist. My heart sinks at the same time his hand hits the mattress.

I think I like him–a lot. And not like Brittany Snow thinking she’s in love with John Tucker even though she hardly knows him.

“Good morning.” His rough morning voice hits my soul just right.

“Hi,” I manage.

“What are you thinking?” His eyes search my face, and it feels like the most loaded question I’ve ever been asked.

A dozen thoughts flash through my mind. Most of them are about Kace and sex, but I can’t bring myself to share them. “I saw an owl when I was driving home from Chloe’s the other night.”

His brows furrow. “What?”

“Yeah. I think it was a baby owl. Just sitting there on the side of the road.”

“An owl was sitting on the side of the road? Like in the grass?”

I nod. “Yeah, my headlights shone on him and his yellow eyes stared right back at me. ”

“Him?”

“Yeah. I have no idea how to tell the sex of a bird.” The word sex coming from my mouth heats my cheeks and flusters my heart.

“But in my head it was a he. He was just hanging out on the side of the road. It felt concerning. Have you ever seen an owl on the side of the road?” My Lanta , Mya.

How many times can you say owl on the side of the road ?

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The answer is way too many to both.

“Can’t say that I have…” he answers with a tone of confusion. “Is this owl a metaphor for something?”

“Umm. No? It’s a real owl. I was thinking maybe he was waiting for his girlfriend to go worm picking or something.

” I’m painfully aware I’m rambling, but maybe I can throw him off enough to completely forget we had sex.

Clearly he wants to if the first thing he did when he woke up was pull away from me.

“Maybe he was waiting with your Hogwarts letter,” he suggests, surprising me.

I fight a smile and lose, loving that it’s the reference he went with. “That’s definitely it. Finally, my blue robes are getting dusty.”

He adjusts, folding his arm under his head. “Blue?”

“Yeah. Obviously I’d be a Ravenclaw. Have you seen my creativity level?”

“I have.”

“And Luna Lovegood is my spirit person, so. Yeah. You’d be a Slytherin, don’t you think?”

His brows furrow, and—oh god, why is that so attractive? I need his hands back on me. I want to kiss him. My thought train continues to veer to another track and– kiss .

We didn't kiss last night. Obviously we didn't because I expertly avoided it since I was scared he’d run away. But now he's here, looking all gorgeous, except... he just deliberately stopped touching me. Argh . I don't know.

“Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know. You’re smart and successful but also grumpy. Seems right. That sucks though.” I pinch my lips together, regretting the last thought escaping.

“Why?”

“Nothing. Never mind. So… What’s our plan for the day?”

He reaches out, nudging my hand with the back of his knuckles. “Tell me.”

“Umm. Just glad we didn’t meet at Hogwarts, you know?”

“I’m not following.”

I sit, the comforter falling to my waist and making me feel even more vulnerable.

To Kace’s credit, he doesn’t let his eyes wander over my bare stomach or linger on my boobs only covered by a thin sports bra.

Although maybe that’s not a good thing. I fidget with my fingers in front of me.

“We’d be enemies if we met there. That’s all.

You know unless we pulled some Dramione situation.

Which wouldn’t make sense if I was a Ravenclaw, I guess. I don’t know.”

“What’s a Dramione situation?” He shakes his head. “Never mind.” Sitting, he faces me. “Mya?”

I try to avoid staring at his perfectly toned, bare chest. “Yeah?”

“I think we should just talk about the fact that we had sex.”

My eyes shift away from him before coming back, my heart ping-ponging erratically like the bouncing Windows screensaver on crack. Meanwhile, he’s stoned under the bleachers cool about this. “Yeah. Ok. What about it?”

“I don’t want you to think I was taking advantage of you.”

I shake my head, unsure where he’s going with this. “I don’t think that.”

“Still. I’m sorry. We should have talked about it first. Neither of us are in a place to be dating, and sex with your roommate is complicated.”

“Uh huh.”

“That’s what you said, right? That you weren’t ready to date. And you didn’t want to date me. ”

I vaguely recall saying that. Weeks ago.

How much could have really changed since then?

Am I ready for another relationship after three back-to-back?

There’s no way. Tears spring to my eyes at the thought of losing Kace before I’ve even had him, and I know my thoughts are the evil version of me trying to gaslight myself because I’m scared.

His eyes shift over my face. “I’m getting the feeling we aren’t on the same page.”

I shake my head, willing the tear sitting on my waterline not to fall.

I’ve turned the page, but he hasn’t. Maybe I’ve been terrible about voicing my thoughts and feelings in the past, but I’m tired of being that way.

I don’t have the time to continue being that way.

I don’t want to be that way with Kace. “I don’t think so. ”

He’s silent. I don’t know if he’s trying to decide what to say or just doesn’t want to say it.

I drop my gaze to my fingers picking at the comforter around my waist. “It’s just a crush,” I fib, fear raking through me.

He takes a breath. “Last night was… amazing.” He sounds genuine, but I sense a “but” coming.

“Just not enough to do it again.” I glance up, needing visual confirmation.

“That’s not it.” He sighs, running his fingers through his hair. Why does this feel like a breakup and we weren’t even together? “I just… I can’t be in a relationship. I don’t trust you not to leave.”

He didn’t say he doesn’t trust anyone . He specifically said me . I take a breath, pulling myself together because that’s my only option right now. “That’s fine. I totally get it. It’ll be like Fight Club . We won’t talk about it.”

“We don’t have to pretend it didn’t happen.”

I wave my hand to shoo away the comment.

“Oh. I won’t forget about it. Just don’t want to talk about it.

You’re great at not talking about things, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

” I cringe at my words. I didn’t mean it like that .

Okay, maybe I did, but… “Don’t worry. We’re totally in sync now.

Maybe not JT and the boys level in sync but let’s be real, no one is. ”

Letting my rambling slide, he takes a deep breath and releases it in a sigh. “I want you to stay at the apartment. For the record.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god because I don’t have anywhere else to go yet.”

“You can stay as long as you’d like.” He tilts his face down to look at me better. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Absolutely.” I force a smile. “We still hardly know each other,” I say, even though it feels like a lie. “Plus, it’s not like we did oral or anything, and that’s way more intimate than sex. So… not a big deal. Promise.”

He eyes me like he’s not sure if he should believe me, and my stupid little brain convinces myself it’s because he does know me well enough. “I’m sorry about this.” He waves his hand between us like it was a simple mix up at the grocery store.

“Don’t be. Really. Sex was bound to happen eventually. Two single, attractive people can only be around each other so much before they act on it. My feelings are just misguided by the morning after an orgasm haze.” I ignore the gut-wrenching feeling.

He chuckles. “Is that a thing?”

I shrug. “Feels like it.” I throw the covers off me, thinking it might be nice to have Lucy Whitmore’s short-term memory problem right about now. I slap my hand against his knee. “And it just means it’s time for morning after breakfast. Where are you taking me?”

His eyes close for a moment as he shakes his head, amused. “I know just the place.”