I curled up on the small settee and tried to focus on the television. I wasn't sure what was more uncomfortable, the lumpy, doll-sized sofa underneath me, or trying to pretend that I couldn't hear Kevin and Amanda trying to pretend they weren't having sex on his nearby bed. I tossed and turned (as much as I could), but couldn't relax. It was brutal.
Walking home wasn't going to happen, not at 2 in the morning, even if Kevin's house wasn't 10 miles or more away from mine. Besides, Amanda and I had each told the other's parents that we were spending the night at each other's house; I couldn't exactly show up alone—that would be a direct violation of the BFF code. Other than waiting the night out where I was, my only other option was to seek out Kevin's brother, Sean, and hope he was still awake.
I slinked out of the room and eased the door shut behind me, praying that parental units wouldn't suddenly appear while I let my eyes adjust to the dark. I'd been to their house a few times, but this was the first time I'd ever been in the basement where Kevin and Sean's bedrooms were.
It was silly, really. We were all adults, if just barely. Sean was a year older than Amanda and I, who had just graduated high school, and Kevin a year older than Sean. Still, there were certain rules Sean and Kevin's parents expected them to meet in order to live at home rent-free while they went to the local college, and not having girls spend the night happened to be one of them.
Oops.
There wasn't much light, but I could see a couple of doors along the hall; unfortunately, I didn't know which one was Sean's. I thought that I saw the soft, glowing flicker of a television through a slightly opened door, so I decided to start there. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door lightly as I stepped through.
"Still awake?"
Sean was stretched out on top of his sheets, fingers weaved beneath his thick, black hair, wearing only a pair of blue cotton pajama pants. The sight of his bronze, muscled torso made my heart jump into my throat. I'd had a crush on him since we first met about a year ago, but he was quiet and shy and didn't seem to reciprocate anything more than my friendship. That was okay, he was a good friend. His eyebrows raised in surprise as he smiled. It was dazzling. I cleared my throat and accidentally closed the door as I leaned against it.
"Do you think I could crash with you tonight? I'm not sure what's more painful; trying to sleep on that tiny couch or trying to ignore them going at it."
He chuckled and nodded me over. I tried to keep my breathing even as I crawled beside him, following his lead and staying on top of the sheets. Even wearing just the tee shirt and boxers that Kevin had scrounged up for me, I was warm. Of course, just being near Sean generally kicked my temperature a few notches—even when he was fully dressed.
The bed was probably a queen-size; it was big enough that lying side by side we weren't touching, but easily could. I propped myself up on one elbow, head in my hand and he did the same. My nervous mouth took over. It often did when I was around him.
"I thought tonight was really fun. Did you have fun tonight?"
The four of us had spent the night at a dance club. Not anything special or unusual in itself, but tonight Sean and I had gotten a little freaky on the dance floor. I usually didn't dance like that, and I'd never seen Sean dance like that, but it seemed okay for two friends to have a little fun. It was especially fun for me because my friend happened to be insanely hot.
It started as kind of a joke—we were mocking some of the other couples around us—and then just happened to continue. At one point while we were grinding on each other, I could have sworn Sean was aroused, and the idea made me feverish and weak in the knees. Just for a moment, though. I quickly dismissed it; I knew he didn't think of me that way, I was lucky he tolerated me babbling at him every time we were together.
Not that I'm unattractive. I might be awkward, but with clear skin and glossy hair, I hear 'cute' a lot, and at 5'3" I only weigh about 110 pounds—most of that in my bra. Unfortunately, around the time Amanda started dating Kevin and I met Sean, one of the first things he did was ask out our other friend, Bonnie, who is only an inch shorter than him at 5'10" and has a much slimmer, athletic build in comparison to my curvy one, which made it evident I'm not his type. SIGH.
Now, however, as he nodded, his handsome face blushed deeply, and I reconsidered whether or not he might have actually been excited to be so close to my body. I didn't want to embarrass him, but I had to know...was it situational? Was he thinking of one of the many other girls at the club that would have eagerly thrown me off of the balcony to take my place? Could it have really been because of me? I pressed. Biting my lip, I said softly,
"You're a lot of fun to dance with."
He smirked and shrugged. His eyes dropped and he started to trace a design on the crumpled sheet with his finger, but he didn't turn away. The spice of his cologne made me bold.
"Can I ask you a question?"
His inky eyes lifted to mine, and I almost lost my nerve.
"I had a great time tonight...and I thought that you seemed to...enjoy dancing with me. A lot..."
He blushed even deeper, the flush spreading down his neck and the top of his broad, muscular chest. Mortified, he rolled on to his back, his hands covering his eyes.
"Oh, god, Kace! I'm so sorry, that's never happened before!"
I quickly leaned over him and placed a hand between his well-defined pecs. My palm tingled against the soft spatter of hair there.
"No, no, no! Sean, don't! I didn't mean to embarrass you!" I felt bad that I had, but also stimulated at the thought that I might have aroused him. Me!
Well, maybe.
I was suddenly very aware of the soft, warm skin beneath my hand, and the warm wetness in my lacy, blue panties.
He allowed me to pry a hand away from his face, but I couldn't get him to look at me.
"I swear I'm not trying to embarrass you, Sean, and I promise I'll never say anything about it again, I just...I have to know...was it friction, or was it, you know...me?"
I leaned away a little, but put my hand back on his chest; his heart was racing, and I thought mine might pound straight out of my ribcage. Eyes closed, he sighed heavily. He turned to me and propped himself back up on his elbow. Very quietly, he said,
"It wasn't friction."
My breath caught in my throat. He opened his eyes and licked his lips, but he didn't look at me yet, his dark eyes veiled by thick lashes.
"You smelled really good and I couldn't stop thinking," He took a deep breath and finally looked me in the eyes. "I couldn't stop wondering what you tasted like."
My heart felt like it stopped. My entire body tingled, and warmth spread through my belly, snaking straight between my legs. This could absolutely be a dream—it most likely was—and as much as I didn't want to wake up or derail the way things were progressing if I did manage to stay asleep, I didn't trust dream-Sean to continue being so uncharacteristically bold. I moved my face closer to his and answered huskily,
"Why don't you kiss me and find out?"
With no hesitation, his free hand moved around the back of my neck as his full lips met mine. My eyes closed and I opened my mouth, allowing his soft tongue to explore. He pulled me in and kissed me harder while I wrapped my arms around him to run my hands along his naked back and broad shoulders. He wound his hand in my long, red hair and broke our kiss to move his mouth to my ear. Even if I wasn't wrapped around an extremely sexy student athlete, a tongue in my ear would make me moan and shiver.