Lip Service (Private Relations 2)

Chris smirked at her, then continued to dry off. Sliding on a pair of gym shorts, he asked, “You staying the night?”

“Are you asking me to or trying to figure out how to get rid of me?” she asked.

He looked at her for a moment, then reached into his dresser drawer and tossed a T-shirt at her.

She caught it in one hand.

“Stay,” he said.

Smiling, she set the T-shirt on the end of the bed and said, “Since you asked so nicely.”

As she began to dry off, he realized he was ridiculously thirsty. He picked up his wet towel, and hung it back on the rack in the bathroom, then wandered out to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. Snagging one for them both, he heard her moving around in the living room now.

She was standing there, brushing her wet hair. The bottom of his T-shirt brushed against her upper thighs. He smiled when she yawned and asked, “Tired?”

She nodded and said, “Incredibly relaxed, too.”

Putting her brush back into her purse, she moved toward him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she laid her head on his chest.

Squeezing her against him for a second, he said, “Let’s go to bed, sleepy girl.”

She leaned over to snag the wet towel off the edge of the sofa and asked, “Where should I put this?” as they walked toward the bedroom.

He took it from her hand and moved it to the rack in the bathroom with his, then shut off the bathroom light. Handing her one of the bottles of water, he moved over to one side of the bed, and crawled under the covers.

After she slid in on the other side, he pulled her up against him and brushed a kiss against her forehead. He absently stroked down her back as he thought about the very sudden change in direction that their friendship had taken today.

A moment later, her mind probably on the same wave length as his, Chloe said, “I don’t know what exactly I expected, but this wasn’t it.”

He exhaled and said, “I’ve got nothing intelligent to add to that statement. That sums it up nicely.”

Yawning now, she said, “We’ll see how it goes, I guess.”

He brushed another kiss across the top of her head, and felt himself drift off.

When Chris woke up the next day, he realized he was cold. Looking over at Chloe, he realized that she was sprawled out over two thirds of the bed, and had ninety percent of the covers. He briefly considered snatching some more of the covers, but she seemed to be sleeping so peacefully he didn’t have the heart.

Grumbling slightly, he got up to start his day.

Fifteen minutes later, he was making coffee when he saw Chloe walk into his kitchen. Her hair was messy and she still had lines on the side of her face from the pillow.

“Morning,” she said with a slight wave.

“Morning. Cover hog.”

Narrowing her eyes at him, she said, “Am not.”

Laughing now, he said, “Are too. When I woke up you were laying across most of the bed and had all of the covers.”

Chloe paused to consider his statement, then said, “Seems legit. Sorry. Next time, just take them back and move me over. I won’t even wake up. I sleep like the dead.”

Nodding, he said, “Consider it done. I was freezing this morning. What’s on your agenda today?”

“Sorry,” she said, wincing now. “Some work for my online class, grocery shopping, laundry. Nothing huge. You?”

“Laundry, gonna half-ass watch some preseason football. Mostly hanging out.”

She hovered there, uncertain for a moment.