CHAPTER FOUR
I WOKE UPdisoriented, forgetting where I was for a moment before I remembered what had happened earlier in the night. I was still lying on the couch, but the TV was off and I had been covered with a blanket at some point while I was asleep. No light shone through the windows, so it had to still be nighttime. Shivering, I pulled the blanket up over my shoulders and wrapped it tighter around me.
“Cold?” Alex’s voice startled me.
I looked over to see him sitting on the edge of the couch, the same spot he was in when I had fallen asleep, reading under the yellow lamplight. Why was he still awake? “Yeah, a little,” I muttered, and he grabbed a blanket from underneath the side table and tossed it on me. “Thanks.”
He nodded, then turned back to his book. The soft light highlighted his sharp cheekbones and strong jawline, and my mind wandered to how his face had felt pressed up against my neck as he had fucked me. Dear god, now is not the time, I thought to myself.
I spoke again. “What are you reading?” He held up his book for me to see the title, looking slightly annoyed that I kept interrupting. East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Interesting. It wasn’t something I would have assumed he would read. I didn’t think of him as the type to read for fun at all. But then again, I reminded myself, I barely know him. After fumbling about in the dim light, I found my phone on the floor next to the couch and checked the time. It was 3:00 a.m., and I had one text from Leah that read, Everything okay? I haven’t been home much this weekend but haven’t seen you. I typed back a quick reply that simply said, All good. Maybe I was being petty, but I was still angry at her.
“Why are you still awake?” I asked Alex, making one last attempt at conversation.
He sighed, clearly frustrated. After a moment, he said, “I don’t sleep much. Can I continue reading now, or are you going to keep interrupting me?”
Wow, okay. Rude,I thought. But I muttered an apology and laid back down. I quickly checked the rest of my notifications, then fell back into the soft cushions and slept deeply.
THE SMELL OFfresh coffee and the sound of bacon crackling on the stove roused me from my sleep. Alex had left the couch at some point while I had slept, and now soft sunlight streamed through the living room window. It almost reminded me of when I was a child, waking up to a quiet, empty house on Sunday mornings in the comfort of my bed with nobody to bother me. Shit, I remembered, it’s Sunday. Tomorrow I would have to be up early to go to my classes on campus, not to mention meeting my work deadlines. If those articles weren’t written by Wednesday, I’d be screwed.
I got up slowly, wincing as I found the sore spots from last night’s . . . activities. When I walked into the kitchen, Damien was at the stove cooking and humming along to some upbeat pop song on the radio. He glanced at me as I walked in and chuckled, no doubt at my crazy sex hair. I hadn’t bothered to brush it since I had gotten out of the shower yesterday.
“Well, good morning, sunshine,” he said brightly.
“Good morning to you,” I yawned, trying to rub away the tiredness in my eyes. I had always hated mornings.
“Coffee?” he asked, gesturing to the coffee pot as he flipped pancakes.
“God, yes.” I took one of the empty mugs next to the pot, tossed in a spoonful of sugar, and poured the dark, steaming liquid.
“There’s creamer in the fridge.”
“I’m fine. Black coffee with a little bit of sugar is perfect. Thanks, though.”
In response, he held up his clear mug making a “cheers” gesture and took a swig. It looked more like light chocolate milk than coffee. He swallowed, then said, “If it doesn’t taste like caramel, then I don’t want it.”
I shook my head at him, smiling, and I marveled at the juxtaposition of his large, intimidating appearance and his silly, carefree personality. He was the typical “big, sexy, and intimidating” type on the outside and looked as if he spent every day in the gym, but on the inside he was clearly a softie. Alex, on the other hand . . . I wasn’t quite sure what to think of him yet.
“Hey, where’s Alex?” I asked. “He seemed kind of irritated at me when I woke up in the middle of the night and tried to talk to him.”
“Oh, don’t worry about him,” Damien said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “He’s got some shit to deal with. Just try not to piss him off when he’s in a bad mood and you’ll be fine.”
“Well, that shouldn’t be too hard after today. I need to go home tonight.”
Damien furrowed his brow. “Why?”
“Uhh, because I have classes and work, and unfortunately I can’t ignore all of my responsibilities to stay here and watch movies and fuck sexy men.”
“I mean, you could if you really wanted to,” he teased.
“I couldn’t, because I need money in order to stay alive, and I need to work and finish school to earn more money. What do you do for work, anyway?” I asked. It was something I had been curious about but kept forgetting to ask.
He muttered something about one of the technology companies in the city, then yelled, “Alex, food’s ready!” The soft thud of a door sounded across the house somewhere, and Alex came into the kitchen, his quiet demeanor making me wonder if he was still irritated at me. He was so hard to read.
We loaded up our plates with pancakes and bacon, then sat at the table as Damien doused his plate in syrup.
“Could one of you maybe give me a ride home in a little while?” I asked. If not, I could always call an Uber, but money was tight, and I’d rather save it if I could.
“Sure,” Damien said through a mouthful of pancakes. “Alex and I have some business in town to take care of anyway.” Alex nodded in agreement.
“I know I’ve already said it, but I really appreciate you guys helping me on Friday night and letting me stay here the past couple days. I don’t know how to express how thankful I am.”
“I think you expressed it just fine last night,” Alex said under his breath. For a second, it was silent. Then, Damien and I erupted into giggles, and a smile—a real, genuine smile—lit up Alex’s face. He was breathtaking. And for the first time in a long time, I felt happy. It was such a silly thing, I thought, to feel happy after a one-night fling with two men I barely knew. But it had been a long time since I had laughed like this or sat and eaten a meal with someone and actually engaged in conversation. It felt like I was playing house for a few short, pleasant hours.
The happiness didn’t last long, however, as I prepared to go back to my apartment. I slipped on the pajamas that Damien and Alex had loaned me, promising to give them back at some point, though I still wasn’t sure whether I would actually see them again. They were fun to be around, but I had a lot of responsibilities between school and work, and I couldn’t afford to spend too much money or skip working all weekend. Freelance writing was a great job in terms of working in a field I actually enjoyed, but it wasn’t great for allowing me any free time or excess money.
Damien and Alex drove me back to my apartment complex, but I didn’t let them drop me off at my door; I just told them to park in the front lot and let me walk. A lot had happened this weekend, and as much as I was beginning to trust them, I still didn’t want them to know exactly where I lived. It seemed like this past weekend was a completely separate part of my life, a fun excursion before going back to the real world. I had given Damien my phone number before they dropped me off, just in case. A tiny part of me hoped that this weekend was more than just an act of chivalry and the resulting meaningless sex, but another, larger part of me reminded myself that I was better off on my own, and that it would be impossible to be with these two men long-term, neither of whom knew me very well and who likely just wanted some weekend fun. I was moving across the country at the end of the semester, and nothing was going to get in my way. It was an enjoyable weekend, but now it was over, and it was time to go back to the real world.
And that was perfectly fine by me.