His Nepenthe | complete

34. Soft

S O F T L I P S

*

This girl always seemed to find herself in my arms. I'm not sure how she did it - constantly breaking down my barriers of defense. She did it with such grace as she slept peacefully in my bed with her hair tied up in a mess at the top of her head and a shirt of mine she borrowed tumbling off her slender body.

At her awakening, she blinked in the light, hiding herself under my covers.

"Morning to you too, Brandy."

She peaked out of the covers childishly, waving me off as she rolled out of my bed to use my bathroom.

Brandy smelled of mint as she rolled back into my arms, her chin resting on my shoulder, "Morning," She giggled, her nose brushing against my jaw, "Your little stubble is getting a bit more stubbly."

I rubbed my chin with a shrug, feeling the short hairs prickling my fingertips, "I can't be bothered with it. Facial hair fucking sucks."

"What if I do it for you, hmm? Would that be better for you, poor thing?" She teased, her warm breath fanning my neck.

I thought it over for half a second before I nodded nonchalantly, "You can if you want to."

Her eyes twinkled in excitement as they widened in shock at the same time, "Wait, really?"

"Yeah, what's the worst you could do?"

The brunette twisted her lips in thought before nodding along, "Fair point," She laughed softly, fiddling with my fingers, "Let's head to the bathroom then."

I groaned as I allowed her to drag me out of the warmth in my bed. Begrudgingly, and not without a few whines, I helped her find my razors and shaving cream, subtly regretting allowing her to do this. If I had been fully awake and realised she would want to shave my face immediately, I would have at least waited to cuddle her for a bit first before climbing out of bed.

We hadn't even had breakfast yet, and Brandy was sat up on the counter with my sink, filling up the basin with warm water. I stood in front of her, arms either side of her legs as she began putting the shaving cream on my face.

She tried to warm the foam in her fingers before painting my facial hair, but the foam was still cold as she rubbed it along my face.

"This is so weird," I grumbled to the girl who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Shh it's fun, Santa," Brandy winked, making me roll my eyes.

She carefully lifted the razor to my face, grazing down my stubble to check how sharp the razor was. She expertly began to shave off my hair, being careful not to accidentally cut me. Honestly, she was doing a better job than I did of shaving.

"How'd you get so good at this?" I asked before pursing my lips for her to shave my stubbly moustache.

She let out a breath of a laugh as she focussed on shaving as carefully as she could, "I have two whole-ass legs to shave dude, you learn some tricks," she mumbled as she finished with the most annoying section of my face to shave.

I scoffed at her reply, "Whole-ass? Really? No. I thought you had half-ass legs." Without even realising, my thumb was rubbing small circles on her thigh as if telling her that I was merely playing around. Because she really did have some damn impressive legs.

She gasped dramatically, moving the razor away as she kicked my ass softly from behind me, subtly bringing my body closer to hers, "I have whole-ass legs," she glared playfully.

"My apologies, you do have whole-ass legs."

She grinned in my defeat, finishing off the shave with a wink. She took a wet towel to wipe my face, holding back a laugh, "Welcome to the Kids Club, babes."

Just I was to throw her over my shoulder for the awful attempt of a joke, her phone began to vibrate from her hoodie - my hoddie - pocket. She answered almost immediately, her hand still resting on my shoulder. I didn't pay attention to her conversation, too enveloped in her eyes as she spoke animatedly.

It wasn't until she hung up that I realised I had no idea what was happening.

The golden eyed girl pouted her plump pink lips with a huff, "I have to go."

I felt dejected at her words, but tried to hide my disappointment so she wouldn't feel too bad for leaving, "Really?"

She wrapped her arms around my torso, holding on to me tightly like a kid having a tantrum, "yeah, sorry. Saoirse is going to pick me up in a few."

I rubbed her back and stroked her hair to make her feel better, "It's okay. Everything alright?"

She nodded against my chest, "Yeah, there's no problem, she just needs help at the gallery."

"She has a gallery?"

Brandy lifted herself back up to shake her head no, "She works part-time at one. Sometimes has shows. I'll take you when she has a showing of her work one time."

I brushed my thumb over her soft blushed cheek, "I'd like that."

She hummed with a smile, a moment of silence between us before her eyes widened, "I need to get changed."

I laughed softly as she wiggled out of my grip, raising my eyebrow suggestively as I dropped down onto my bed with my arms folded behind my head, "I'll close my eyes."

She sent me a playful glare, pointing to her own eyes and back to mine with a mock threatening stance, "You'd better."

With the next ten minutes filled with playful banter and meaningless taunts, we were at my doorstep, waiting for Saoirse's car.

When it showed, my heart sunk to the bottom of my chest and my smile dropped off of my face completely. Thanks to Brandy, I was safe to be alone for a little while, but I didn't want to be. I wanted to be with the girl whose smile made me so damn happy.

Trapped in my negative reveries, I didn't even notice Brandy calling my name to get my attention. I was only pulled from my own mind when I felt her soft lips pressed gently against my cheek, her hand resting against the base of my neck to hold me closely.

My eyes slipped shut at her gentle touch, my heart beating loud, but steadily, in my chest. The beats threatened to make the vessel jump from my ribs. When she dropped back down to her feet, the feeling of her lips against my skin was still vivid in my mind.

I met her golden eyes shining into mine as she bit her lip, smiling softly with a strong red blush painting her cheeks, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

I composed myself quickly, nodding with little thought to her statement that sounded more like a question, "Yeah."

She grinned back, a wave over her shoulder as she ran over to Saoirse.

I subconsciously held my hand up to the place she had kissed me. I hoped, in the back of my mind, something would make her turn around and run straight back into my arms. I wanted to hold her close, feel her lips again, stare into those eyes I was in love with.

Wait, what?

My eyes widened as I found myself shaken by my own thoughts.

love?