Standard reminder that you shouldn’t read Date Night unless you’ve finished Breaking News or you’re going to get smacked in the face with spoilers.
Table of Contents:
- Frustrated
- Very Educational
- Dingle
- Pinecone
- Genetic Material
- Sex Energy
- Thinking Out Loud
- Damp Is Sexy
- Evidence Of Vampirism
- Snackster
- A Lick In The Dark
- Armpit
- Stay Vigilant
- No Sense of Shame (FINAL CHAPTER)
CHAPTER TWELVE: Armpit
My eyes were still shut, but there was light coming into the room now so I knew it was morning. The pig bums were gone. My girls had probably trotted downstairs to hassle Will for brekky. I wasn’t sure how late it was, but given the hour we’d stayed up until, it seemed a safe bet I’d slept in.
I wasn’t the only one. Apparently when the girls had taken off in search of delicious delicious food, I’d closed the gap between me and Adam. I had one arm slung over his chest and my uninjured leg wrapped around his lower half, part cuddle and part kraken-like attempt to crush him in my grip and drag him down to the murky depths.
“Are you awake?” I mumbled, too sleepy to will myself to move even though I knew I should.
“No, I slept through you trying to squeeze me to death.”
“Cool. You just keep snoozing, then.”
When he spoke again, it sounded like he was smiling. “You change your mind about heading back to the conference today?”
I groaned in reply.
“Will made the pigs breakfast and then went back to bed, so I don’t think he’s going to be returning any time soon, if at all. We could just stay here.”
“How do you know what Will was doing? I didn’t think you’d be able to escape my clutches without waking me.”
“No, but apparently I can have a whole conversation with your housemate without disturbing you. You’re not exactly a light sleeper.”
I frowned, eyes still closed. “Will was in here?”
“Yeah. He offered to help me prise you off, but I said I could handle it myself. Even if your leg hair is spiky enough to take off skin.”
“Shh. Stubble is sexy.”
He laughed softly, his chest moving under my arm. “If you say so.”
“We should stay here and nap,” I told him. “Our plans to expose the frauds can wait until the afternoon. Or a future date where we just out them on the internet. Much lower effort.”
“You sure you want to stay in bed?”
I snorted. “Yes. The answer to that is always yes. Do you know me at all?”
“You’re not going to be tempted to do anything more than hug me? If you can really call this a hug.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to try to seduce you. I’m still too sleepy for that.”
“Good. Thanks to the reduced blood flow from your hug I can’t feel most of my body, so I don’t know if it would work out anyway.”
“I can feel your body.”
Once again I felt his chest move as he laughed silently. “I can feel yours, too. It feels prickly.”
“That’s really just my legs. The rest of me is soft.”
“I know. I felt how soft you were last night in the hotel room.”
I was tempted to say something about how he’d felt the opposite of soft, but I managed to hold it in. Instead, the silence hung between us for a moment as we both thought the same thing and didn’t say it. Don’t mention hardness. Don’t do it. Don’t do it don’t do it don’t…
Eventually I couldn’t take the silence anymore. I had to say something.
“You didn’t feel my softness that much. You mostly touched my legs over denim.”
“A protective layer to protect me from the spikes. I miss those days.”
“Feel my arm. It’s soft. Other than the armpit, but you know. If you delve for that first we have bigger problems.”
He did a laughy-exhale thing. “Would it upset you if I was an armpit guy?”
“Honestly? I could get around it for you.”
“Well, it’s not something you need to worry about since I’m not an armpit guy, but either way that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
I sighed. “Turns out I like you a gross amount.”
“Nice. I like you a gross amount too. Even if you are spiky.”
“What if I’m into your armpits? Would that be OK with you?”
He shrugged, which I felt rather than saw. “As long you’re into me, I can work with whatever.”
“I’m also not into armpits, but that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me too.” I paused. “Actually, I always think you smell really nice, even at the gym. Maybe I am into your armpits.”
“So are we going to stay here all day with you sniffing me, then?”
I considered it for a moment. “That’s not a terrible option. The pigs will probably interrupt us at some point looking for lunch, though.” My stomach grumbled. “Or we’ll be derailed by my own need for snacks. Any chance of you making me brunch?”
“Sure. Probably for the best if we get up anyway in case Stacey comes in here to visit you. I know how panicked you’d be.”
My eyes shot open. I knew he was teasing, but it didn’t matter. “Oh fuck, I’m so not ready for that.” I scrambled away from him. What if Stacey came in and saw me cuddling Adam the morning after I was meant to be at a relationship retreat with James? Yeesh.
Adam groaned when I dismounted, rolling onto his side to face me as I stood by the bed. “My body hurts. I miss the numb feeling I had a second ago. Come back over here and strangle me again.”
“So you’re not into armpits, but I think I might have figured out another of your kinks.”
He smiled, his eyes skating over my pyjamas like they were sexy lingerie rather than dino PJs. “Mmm.”
With the way he was looking at me, I didn’t trust either of us to stay clothed if we remained in this room.
“We need to head back to the conference.”
He smiled wickedly. “Skipping brunch, then?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not skipping a meal.” I paused. “Wait, you were talking about food, right?”
He just smiled in response.
Copyright © 2021 by Clare Kauter
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