AllFreeNovel
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The rest of the night we don’t catch a glimpse of Jazzy or Khadijah. They’re only response to our texts is to have fun. Kenya and I enter the costume contest but neither of us wins. As the hour grows late, I offer to walk her back to her hotel room.
At the door, she searches for her key. “Damn, Jazzy never handed me one.” She knocks on the door while I call Khadijah to see if she has a key. “I guess I’ll get one from the front desk.”
“No you won’t!” Jazzy yells from the other side of the door. “You have a new roommate. Go to his room.”
“Hey Cam,” Khadijah answers the phone. “Listen, Jazzy and I made an executive decision. Kenya’s bunking with you. While you were together, Jazzy snuck Jackpot and the rest of Kenya’s things into your room.”
“How…Do I even want to know?” I ask.
“Jazzy, what are you talking about?” Kenya whispers through the door, trying to keep the strangers passing us in the hall from overhearing too much.
“Just say thank you and make your case. Do I have to tell you how to do everything?” Instead of waiting for me to respond, Khadijah hangs up.
I take Kenya’s elbow and steer her toward my room. “Your bestie and my sister are colluding. Your things are in my room. Let’s collect them and talk to the front desk.”
As soon as the last word leaves my lips, the hotel room door behind us opens. “I’ll have the safety lock on. Your new keycard won’t work.” Jazzy quickly slams the door shut.
We look to each other and burst into laughter at the lengths Jazzy and Khadijah are going.
“Come on, I’ll sleep on the couch.” I hug her to my side as I guide Kenya to my room.
“They’re going to be mad when they find out we’re dating now and their interference wasn’t necessary.”
“Well, to give Jazzy her due, if she hadn’t invited us this weekend, you would have probably held out much longer.” I open the door to my room and usher her inside.
“You’re probably right.” Kenya heads straight to her bags at the foot of the king-sized bed with Jackpot shadowing her steps.
“You can take the bathroom first.”
Kenya nods as she gathers her things. The moment the bathroom door closes behind her, I freak. We’re alone with the bed right there. Although I talked about all the other things I like about her, the bed is a temptation I can’t ignore. Memories bombard me again and I try to picture everything neutral to cool my body. Not even Jackpot’s steady glare works. I even try lying on the couch, allowing the discomfort of the short seating to distract me from thoughts I can’t afford to take over.
A cloud of steam precedes Kenya’s reentry into the room. No amount of wishful thinking will erase the vision she makes from my mind. Dressed in a tank top that barely supports her breasts and boy shorts that emphasize the curve of her luscious ass, she will challenge my will power to its demise.
Without exchanging words with her, I dart past her into the humid bathroom and slam the door closed. I take my time removing my makeup and even longer under the cold spray in the shower. When I think I have my body under my control again, I take another cold shower. I step out with a blue tinge to my skin, but I’ll manage the discomfort to not seem like a dickhead ready to take advantage of Kenya because we’re in the same room. It’s bad enough that I’m making a concession by wearing boxers to bed since I typically sleep nude.
Maybe now’s the best time to confess and erase all signs of arousal. I open the door, planning to book it to the couch and telling Kenya from the distance, but she bars my way.
With her stare glued to my chest, she says, “I was thinking…the couch isn’t very comfortable. We should share the bed.”
My heart nearly jumps for joy, but so does my dick, which tells me this is a bad idea. Confession time.
“Last night, you could have taken advantage of me but you didn’t. I trust you to do the same tonight since we’re both sober.” Kenya’s open stare lays her emotions out for me like I’m looking into a glass of water.
“Kenya, I know I said all that stuff about the physical stuff not trumping the other things, but you’re doing a hell of a job on my control right now. I don’t know if I can lie beside you and not touch you.” Okay, not the confession I intended, but one that needed to be said.
“What if I want you to touch me? Even if only a little? Like kissing.” Her eyes widen and I can see the memory of our first night flash before her eyes. “I mean mouth-to-mouth kissing,” she rushes to clarify. “I trust you to be able to not take things too far if we do that.”
“You want to kiss me?” I approach her, getting close enough that there is barely a string’s worth of space between us.
She peers up into my eyes and breathlessly says, “Yes, I want to very much. And tonight I’ve decided to stop denying the things I want. The things I’ll regret not doing.”
“Only for tonight?”
She takes my hand and kisses my palm. “No, not only tonight, but I’m still not ready for everything just yet. But the kissing? Can we do that first? Isn’t that what people do when they’re just starting out?”
“Yeah.” I rub my thumb against her lips. “I’ve regretted not kissing you properly for a long time, but I need you to understand something Kenya. I won’t be able to go back to just holding hands or not showing my affection for you once we cross this bridge. Once we kiss, we aren’t just dating. We’re in a relationship.”
She swallows but there are no clouds of doubt dimming her eyes when she says, “I understand.”
