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“It’s not like you to sleep in like this.”
She licks her lips. “Well, I, uh, was more hungover than I thought I might be.”
“Oh. That makes sense. You’re such a lightweight when it comes to booze.”
Aubrey rolls her eyes. “Not like I’ve had enough time to go out often and build my tolerance.”
“Is Dalton still there?” Lauren asks. “Caleb’s hungry for breakfast, and he wanted me to check with you guys and see if you want to head out and find somewhere to eat.”
“Yeah, I’m here,” I reply, staring at Aubrey. I reach over and tuck a strand of her wayward hair behind her ear. She turns her cheek toward my palm, and I love how eager she is to be close. “But count me out for breakfast. I’d rather just hang out here.”
Aubrey bites her lower lip as she smiles.
“Okay. What about you, Aubrey?” she asks.
“I think I’m going to stay in too.”
I take her phone and press the button to end the call as I lower myself to kiss her slowly. Maybe it was rude to hang up without a goodbye like that, but I’ll apologize later. With the tenderness in Aubrey’s gaze as she looks up at me, I knew it meant something important when I declined joining our friends. I pleased her, and it made me want to do it again and again.
She sighs into the kiss, and when I back away, I tell her the whole truth. “I’d rather hang out here. With you.” Alone. I’m not in any mood to share Aubrey with anyone. Having her so content in bed with me like this, I don’t want a single interruption to this peaceful and sated bliss we share.
The last time we experienced a morning after, she ran from me and denied this could ever happen again. This time, she’s relaxed and happy to linger, kissing me back.
“Me too. Just you and me.”
A warmth blossoms in my chest at her words. It’s not a declaration of love. It’s not even a commitment past this morning or outside this hotel room, but the way she gazes at me prompts me to realize I shouldn’t even be feeling this way toward her. What happened to keeping it simple? What happened to agreeing that this was just for fun? We’d compromised there, admitting that the first time we hooked up was nothing huge, but this is feeling like something so much more now.
She’s encouraging me to wonder if we could have something past this morning and this room. As soon as the excitement of that possibility enters my mind, though, Johanna pops up. Her voice rings in my head.
“Don’t you want to hear what I have to say?”
A small twinge of regret comes. I do wonder. I am curious. I have to be. Johanna wasn’t a short-term fling. I spent years with her, and the woman isn’t so easy to simply erase from my thoughts. But not here. Not now. I want to soak in Aubrey’s presence, and I plan to, no matter how much Johanna’s last call nags at me.
My stomach growls, jolting me from my musing. “How about I order room service?”
Aubrey grins and stretches her arms above her head. The sheet dips down, almost revealing her breasts, and I’m not shy about staring as I reach to yank it off.
“Oh, no, no.” She playfully shoves me away and giggles as she clutches the linen over her. “I need food first.”
I chuckle, flopping back to order room service. Her eagerness to eat is natural, and I’m charmed that she’s not afraid to vocalize it. Johanna was super picky about intermittent fasting and watching calories that it felt like a landmine mentioning the idea of eating—
Stop. Stop thinking about her. Stop comparing them.
Aubrey gets up to go to the restroom, and I call out, checking what she wants to eat. When she comes back, she slips right back into bed, and I snuggle in with her, waiting for the orders to come. She picks up the remote and turns the TV on. “I want to check the weather. Maybe get in a hike or something later.”
“Wait.” I put my hand over hers, pausing her from changing the station.
“What?” She glances at me.
“I wanted to see the scores.” She happened to turn the TV on to the Golf Channel, and she indulges me, enlarging the screen to show the latest from a tournament I follow.
“Is it really that exciting?” She scrunches her nose.
“You’ve never golfed?” I ask, then regret it. Of course, she hasn’t. Caleb told me how she came from a different background. When would she have found the time or money to buy clubs, take lessons, and then pay for a club membership like I have been so fortunate to?
“No. I’m curious. But…” She shrugs. “It seems so boring.”
“Boring?” I tickle her in the bed, rearranging us so I’m spooning her as we watch the screen.
