I laughed. “Will do.”
“Alright, I’ve got to get back,” he said. “I’ll see you inside.”
He waved and went back in the bar, leaving me alone with my thoughts. My mind raced with everything going on and how I felt about it. I knew something was happening, something more than just two friends putting on an act. But how much of that could I trust? Why did I feel such jealousy at the barest thought of him with another woman if we were truly just pretending?
Why couldn’t I get last night off my mind?
Frustrated that not even the fresh air helped clear my mind, I stood up, brushed myself off, and headed back in. Stopping in the kitchen to wash my hands, Matt and I made eye contact briefly while he fried some onion rings. He smiled, and I returned it. We hadn’t really talked all night. I didn’t know if I could.
When the shift was over, we went home together. I kept the conversation light and focused on the night of work. The jealousy that brewed in the pit of my stomach at the thought of him with anyone else went ignored. With great effort, I refused to acknowledge anything other than our friendship and how tired I was after work.
19
Matt
The alarm was going off on the nightstand, and it woke me up. I kept the volume low, but the vibration was enough to jostle me from my sleep. It had been another dreamless sleep. Peaceful. Restful.
My arm was draped over Chloe, who was curled into me in the bed. We’d ended up there together again, as we had the last few nights. There had been no sex, but we had ended up cuddling as we fell asleep. It was nice, nicer than I wanted to admit, perhaps, and I slept better than I had in a long, long time. I couldn’t ever remember even waking up with my arm draped over someone. I was usually highly protective of my space when I was in bed.
Yet there I was, having to gently lift my arm off Chloe in order to reach back and turn off the alarm on the phone. Just as I moved, she stirred. I tried not to move too much, and she seemed to fall back asleep, curled up with my other arm under her. Now I had to find a way to get that out and not wake her up.
I didn’t know how I felt about us literally sleeping together each night, and what it meant for us in our fake relationship, but I did know I didn’t want it to stop. I found it extremely comfortable to be wrapped up around her, or on one occasion, to wake up with her arm around me. I felt more secure, safer, and slept much deeper.
Slowly backing up on the bed, trying to scoot my arm out from under her, she stirred again and turned toward me. At first, she looked confused and then blinked a couple of times, realization dawning on her face. She rubbed her eyes and pushed hair back away from them.
“Good morning,” she said, yawning.
“Morning,” I said. “Didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“It’s fine. It’s getting late in the morning anyway.”
“Yeah.” I turned onto my back rather quickly, shuffling out of the bed. “I’ll be right back,” I said.
Keeping my hips turned a little, I headed away from the bed. When I got into the bathroom, the scene was comical. My cock was hard and straight, pushing the front of my sweatpants out. If she didn’t notice it, it would be a miracle. I turned on the faucet and gave myself a moment to try and relax to get it to go away, then finished up in the bathroom.
By the time I came out, Chloe was in the kitchen brewing up coffee for the both of us. I smiled at her as I padded in behind her and put a pan on the stove. I made breakfast for us as she poured the coffee, and we sat down to eat across from one another.
“So, we both have the day off,” I said. “Is there anything you’d like to do? Any plans?”
“Actually, I do have plans. Hannah also has the day off. Jordan is trying out a couple other people to see if they fit, and I offered to watch the baby so she could have a day for herself.”
“Oh, that’s cool,” I said, somewhat disappointed. A large part of me had hoped that our mutual day off would have been spent at the apartment, watching bad movies and eventually making the intentional mistake of tumbling into bed again. Perhaps with less clothing on.
“You could come with me,” she said, and I noticed a lilt of hope in her voice. “I was thinking I could take Claire down to the park at the bottom of their apartment complex and play for a bit and then tuck in for a movie or something.”