Be My December

by Rachel Brookes

  “I’m glad you called,” I said as I slammed the trunk shut and moved toward the driver’s seat. She fidgeted in the passenger seat as we took the ten-minute drive back to my apartment. The familiar ding of a text message sounded and as I looked over to her I noticed that she slammed her eyes shut and didn’t make a move to get her phone.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked hurriedly, my eyes falling to the phone in Eden’s hands.

  Her eyes flew open and her mouth twisted with nerves. “Nothing. I’m just tired.”

  “Are you going to check your text?” I asked, not believing a word she said.

  “No.”

  I wanted desperately to probe further and get her to speak, but she was already shutting down and I didn’t really want to have her fleeing into the night because I had pushed too much. I bit my tongue and concentrated on the road ahead while my mind danced through scenarios of who could be texting her to get a reaction like that.

  Ten minutes later my apartment building came into view, twinkling in the night sky. I pulled into the garage and grabbed her suitcase and bags from my trunk and we made our way silently to the fourteenth floor. The moment we walked through the entrance and into the warmth of my home shy Eden decided to appear. She stood just inside of the foyer as I headed toward the kitchen. I pulled out a pot from the cabinet beside my stovetop and turned to find her looking around my apartment with a nervous look plastered on her face.

  “Don’t look so nervous. You are staying here for as long as you want so make yourself at home. I’ll give you a tour once I make us hot chocolate to warm up.”

  “You’re making hot chocolate?” she quizzed, the shocked expression on her face was not missed.

  “Of course. It’s minus a billion degrees outside, and I need something to warm me up. Well unless you want to hug me all night?” I teased, desperate to break the tension. “So hot chocolate it is. Do you want white or milk chocolate?

  “White please,” she whispered.

  I felt her eyes on me as I moved around the kitchen preparing our drinks. It felt good. Soon the delicious aroma of melting chocolate filled the air. Once I was done, we both moved to the large couch that took center stage in my living room and collapsed into its comfort. Eden pulled her legs under her and blew softly on the steaming hot chocolate I had just given her. We drank in silence, and I knew that her head was going crazy and analyzing everything that was going on around her. She didn’t say a word and I was okay with that. Knowing that she was here and not in that pathetic excuse of a hotel satisfied me. It allowed me to take care of her and to keep her safe and that was what I wanted. My eyes slammed shut as an unwanted pounding erupted behind my eyes. Memories could fuck off, I didn’t want them intruding on this moment, not now.

  “Would it be okay if I took a shower?” Her voice ended my flashback, and I opened my eyes to find her gazing in wonderment at me.

  “You don’t have to ask me Eden, as long as you are staying here you can use whatever you like. I’m probably going to head to bed anyway; it’s been a long day. I’ll show you to the guest room.”

  I stood from the couch, and she mimicked my action. I took her mug and placed it on the glass table and then moved through my apartment and headed down the hall. Opening the door, I stepped in and switched on the light flooding the room with a harsh glow. Eden moved beside me as she entered the room holding one of the smaller bags she brought, having left the bigger one in the living room. A king-size bed, large dresser, reading chair, and side tables with iron woven lamps completed the room. Once again, Ashlyn didn’t fail in her interior decorating skills.

  “It’s absolutely beautiful.” Eden’s whispered voice hit the intensifying air in the room. She lay her bag on the bed and then walked toward the window. My eyes followed her every step with interest. When she reached the window, she crossed her arms over her chest as she took in the lights of the city dancing in the night sky.

  “This room is all yours,” I stated. “I’ll bring in the rest of your bags while you take a shower. The bathroom is just across the hall.”

  I turned and left the guest room and rushed down the hall to the escape of my room. My body was a battle of emotions and my thoughts felt like they were running a marathon as I tried to sift through the events of the night. After I pulled on some sweats, I headed back to the living room grabbed her suitcase, deposited it in the guest room before returning to the living room and collapsing onto the couch desperate to find some calm. Things between Eden and I had changed tonight. My desperation to taste her again was taking over my every rational thought. I told her I wanted to kiss her again, to taste her, and yet she still called me. I was still trying to get my head around everything. I stood from the couch and collected the empty mugs and took them to the sink and then knowing that I hadn’t checked emails or messages, I leaned against the kitchen island and proceeded to check them. I was due back in the Los Angeles office in a few days so I hoped that Lauren had sent my itinerary.

  Eden silently walked into the living room. She coughed to announce her arrival and my eyes lifted and took her in; loose cotton pants hung from her womanly hips and the tightest of camisole fit her body like a second skin; her face was completely fresh and her wet hair hung around her shoulders. My dick decided to pay attention at the sight before me and it strained against the cotton of my pants. To make matters worse, her eyes fell and took in my bare chest.

  “I am heading to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I choked out. “Goodnight.”

  I shook my head, desperate to force the thoughts I had to erase. I dropped my head and took off through my apartment, toward the escape of my bedroom. I needed solitude and I needed to get away from Eden’s hot little body. Fuck she was the perfect example of what a woman should be like. Womanly curves, a small waist, delicious enticing tits, hips that she unintentionally swayed when she walked—she was a fucking delight.

  Two hours later I was still wide awake. It was closing in on three thirty yet I couldn’t switch my brain off. I couldn’t tell you how many times I had counted the number of stripes that were on my comforter or the amount of times I had watched the videos on my phone; this was becoming a joke. A groan rose from within my chest as I pushed myself up and sat on the edge of my bed. I stood and quietly moved toward the door hoping that the one floorboard that creaked would remain silent. I opened the door softly but slammed to a stop. A faint noise came from the kitchen, the sound of water running. I silently made my way down the hall and looked around the corner and toward the kitchen.

  Eden stood by the sink, with a glass of water in her hand. So it wasn’t just me that couldn’t sleep. I knew I should just turn around and go back to my room and pretend I didn’t see her standing there; I knew I should ignore the need to be in her presence but of course I didn’t. I crossed my arms over my naked chest and walked through the living room and toward the kitchen.

  Eden’s body spun around and her shocked expression greeted me. “Couldn’t sleep?” she asked softly as her eyes dropped to my chest and an embarrassed smile tugged on her lips.

  “Nope.”

  I grabbed a clean glass from the dish rack and poured myself a tall glass of water then moved through the kitchen and stood on the opposite side of the kitchen island.

  “Why can’t you sleep?” I lifted the glass to my mouth and looked at her over the rim.

  “I guess I’ve got a lot on my mind,” she admitted softly.

  “I know what you mean.”

  Her question back was immediate. “What are you thinking about?”

  Why did she have to ask me that? I thought of my options; I thought that maybe I could lie and say that I was thinking about work; maybe I could just shrug it off, but the need to be honest with her overcame me. I needed to be honest with her. I already had way too many lies in my life that I was trying to overcome, and I couldn’t lie about this.

  My response was simple and brutally honest.

  “You.”

  Her mouth dropp
ed open in the shock of my truth, but her eyes never left mine. I had no expectations about how she would react although I had the strong feeling that she would flee at any moment. A second passed and then a minute yet she didn’t move. To say I was shocked was an understatement, to say I was excited was a given.

  “Let’s go to my room. We can watch a movie until we fall asleep.”

  Once again my dick spoke in place of my brain.

  I didn’t give her a chance to answer. I grabbed her hand and led her down the hall, switching off the lights and darkening the apartment as we passed. We walked into my room and the dim light from the lamp provided perfect shadows to bounce off the walls and crowd us. Nerves sailed off her as she took in my room. Her hand ran along the satin stripes on my comforter and her eyes scoped out every corner.

  “Tell me what you are thinking?” I questioned, my voice edged with intrigue.

  “I don’t know what I am thinking.”

  “If you could say one thing to me right now what would it be?”

  She hesitated over her words; her eyes darted from mine as she continued to take in my room. A large king-size bed took up the space, draped with a black and silver striped comforter, side tables sat on either side, with oversized lamps courteous of Ashlyn and her need to decorate my apartment. A flat screen television hung on the wall opposite and floor to ceilings windows filled another entire wall, giving me the perfect view of the Atlantic Ocean. I chose this apartment purely on that view alone.

  “I’m nervous of being this close to you.”

  I sat down on the edge of my bed and took in her words. Her honesty surprised me, but it allowed me to understand the stiffness of her body language. I didn’t know whether she was nervous about what I could do or whether her nerves were based on her feelings of what she wanted to do. I knew I was coming to the end of my tether. Those moments when her perfume would hit my nose was like an extra stab to the heart and all I wanted to do was bury my face in her neck and become completely undone. I knew it was only a matter of time before I lost this battle.

  “Come over here Eden,” I hummed through a thick voice.

  I swallowed at the sight of her nodding and lowering herself to my bed. I wanted nothing more than for her to say no to me, but then that would mean that she wasn’t the girl who could only say yes. All I wanted to do was tell her that she was the first girl to stay in here, that usually I would take girls to the spare room, but I knew that wouldn’t sit well. She was already nervous enough. I pulled back the covers and climbed under the comforter and waited.

  “You can say no to me Eden,” I said in a low tone.

  She froze and looked over at me. “I can’t,” was her immediate response.

  “You can, but you won’t.” I sighed in frustration.

  “I can’t.” She pleaded with wide eyes.

  “Why. Tell me why in the world you can’t say no?”

  “Ky, please. Don’t make me talk about this. Not now.” Her voice cracked with emotion and those perfect blue eyes begged me to stop.

  “Okay.” I said reluctantly. “Do you want to climb in?”

  She reacted straight away, pulling back the covers on the side of the bed that she was sitting on and she slid in. She remained on her back, staring at the ceiling, and it was the most awkward situation I’d ever been when it came to being in bed with a woman. After what felt like an eternity, she finally looked over and I swear to God she smirked at me, her face flooding with mischievous intent.

  “Shit Eden, your feet are fucking freezing!” I gasped as her feet touched mine swiftly causing me to ball myself up and roll to face her.

  Her muffled laughter filled my ears as she covered her face with her arm but continued to press her icy feet against me.

  “My feet always get cold. They are my secret weapon.” She giggled and before I could say another word her feet slid down my legs until they touched my feet again causing me to shriek.

  “Want to know what my secret weapon is?” My eyes narrowed in on her and her giggle ceased. Two could play this game. “This!”

  I rolled over and pinned her down and commenced tickling her. She squealed and giggled as her arms and legs kicked around desperate to stop the assault of my fingers. I couldn’t hold in the laughter and soon my deep laughter mixed with her high pitched giggles filled my bedroom. Our bodies smashed together and our hands touched and prodded each other like it was the most usual thing in the world.

  “Stop, Ky! I promise no more cold feet. I’ll wear socks!” she choked out between attempts to take a breath and laughter and her hands fell to my bare chest.

  I rolled onto my back in victory and rested my hands behind my head. I tried to concentrate on everything around me, but all I could hear was Eden’s heavy breathing as she struggled to get over my attack of tickles. This wasn’t the best idea I had because now all I was thinking about was hearing her heavy breathing due from an attack of my mouth, fingers, or my cock. How had this gone from wanting her to open up to me, to a tickle fight, and now sexual innuendos?

  Yep, I was fucked.

  “Okay, now that we have that settled, you need to pick a movie,” I declared and handed her the remote.

  “What do you feel like watching?” she asked and began flicking through channels much to my amusement.

  “Nope, it’s totally up to you. I’ll watch anything.”

  Ten minutes later, Eden was curled up on her side, her hair feathered out against the white pillow as she hummed along to the familiar intro of Dirty Dancing. This was new. One; I had never watched Dirty Dancing in bed with a girl before. Two; I hadn’t had a girl in this bed before. Three; Eden almost looked at peace.

  “Eden, come here,” I blurted out. Her head turned and looked at me warily. “If I only have you for a month, I want you in my arms while we watch a movie, especially if it’s Dirty Dancing.”

  She moved across the bed and hesitantly rested her head over my heart and her arm rested over my bare stomach. I hissed, and I knew she heard me because she stopped breathing momentarily. She waited for my reaction. I knew my heart was thundering in my chest, right under her head, and I knew she felt it. She was getting a reaction from me that she probably would never have imagined.

  “I can move,” she stuttered and began pulling her body away.

  My hand fell down onto her arm halting her escape. “You are staying right here Eden. I’m not letting you go.”

  I wrapped my arm around her back and curled her closer, breaking the distance that she had put between us. Her arm went loose over my stomach, all tension she had lost, and we fell into an awkward and highly charged silence as the movie played out. Eden hummed along to every single song and quoted most of the movie in a hushed voice. Her tone and the comfort of her in my arms slowly lulled me into sleep and the last thing I heard was her singing “I’ve Had The Time of My Life”.

  The feeling of fingertips sweeping over my skin and goosebumps rising from the sensation woke me. A strong pressure was over my stomach, pinning me to the bed. For a brief moment everything was confusion and a mass of shock. My eyes fluttered open and jumped around the room trying to work out what was happening. The credits rolled on the television and the glow from the screen allowed me to make out the sea of dark hair that was on my chest and it hit me.

  Eden.

  Eden was touching me.

  I shut my eyes and tried to calm my breathing, not wanting her to know that I had woken. Her soft fingertips continued to run along the muscles of my stomach, dipping lower until she was tracing the band of my cotton pants. Her feather like touch was so enticing; I almost thought I was dreaming. She was still against my heart and I felt her breath dancing on my highly reactive skin. The most amazing and intriguing thing was that I felt her increased breathing as she got closer to the band of my pants just above my cock. This was all her, this wasn’t anything to do with me. Knowing that she was doing this on her own accord set something on a wild course within me. I remained still, conce
ntrating on my breathing so I wouldn’t give away that I was completely awake and enjoying every moment.

  This was all for her.

  Sunlight caressed my face as my eyes fluttered open to a new day. I had finally fallen asleep just before five a.m. The warmth of being cocooned against Ky’s body had left me and now I was in his bed on my own. I pulled the comforter up to my chin and sighed into the pillow. My fingertips still felt like they were tingling at the sensation of touching his body; it had been risky and how could I have possibly explained it if he knew. I stretched and allowed my body to fully wake before I sat up and put my feet to the floor. I needed to walk out there and act as if nothing had changed. I couldn’t allow him to know.

  Ky sat on the couch, iPad in his lap, and a frown etched on his face. I stood in the doorway watching him briefly before he sensed I was there. The laziest of smiles graced his lips as he looked me over. On instinct I folded my arms over my chest because it was surprisingly cold in the apartment this morning. He was dressed in sweats and a hoodie and thankfully he had decided not to shave this morning so his strong jawline was peppered with stubble.

  “Do you want some breakfast?” he asked with certainty.

  “Yes.”

  He shook his head and stood from the couch and walked toward me. He stood before me and once again took me in. “Go take a shower and get in your most comfortable clothes. You and I are having a day together, just us.”

  “What are we doing?” I asked, trying to ignore the bubble of excitement that unleashed inside of me.

  “See that couch?” He nodded toward the inviting chaise lounge. “You and I are going to be sitting on that couch all day, watching television, watching movies, talking, whatever you want.”

  “Okay.”

  I left the living room and headed straight to the guest room. We hadn’t said a thing about the night before, about me sleeping in his arms all night. I didn’t know if I could face that conversation because I didn’t need this to be any more awkward. I fished through my suitcase, grabbed my clothes and toiletries, and escaped to the confines of the bathroom where I could try and get my emotions in check.