final round - lrh

fifty-nine.

 "Rise and shine, James."

Crinkling my face in retaliation, I inwardly groan at the fact that I had to choose to be with someone who wakes up at the crack of dawn every single day.

"I don't want to," I whine.

"Come on," he pesters regardless, seeming to be putting his clothes on as I've hardly opened my eyes. "Just because I let you stay up past your bedtime, doesn't mean you get to sleep in."

His words are meant to be teasing but I flip him off, nonetheless.

A chuckle emits from his lips as he continues making his way around the room, clearly as awake as can be. I would've thought he had five coffees by now but I've just grown to learn that Luke is a morning person.

"Let's go, James," he continues. "Don't make me get over there and wake you up myself."

"Tempting."

Luke doesn't hesitate, I hear him making his way towards me within seconds as I don't move, preparing for whatever he has planned to throw my way. I probably could just stop being stubborn and just get up but the truth is, I am tired.

And the second the bed sinks beside me and I feel a towering presence above me, I accept the fact that I have inevitably lost as Luke in this position will absolutely always grab my attention. Even as I'm turned to my side, I don't fail to notice the way his head lowers, right above my ear, and his soft breath fans against it.

"It's time to wake up, baby."

Oh, I've definitely lost now.

Flipping on my back without hesitation, I find his eyes and catch sight of the smirk sitting on his lips as his curls dangle from his forehead and he gives me his full attention. And god, does he looks handsome.

"No fair," I pout. "You know you will always have the upper hand when you call me that."

This seems to be news to Luke as he tilts his head to the side, his smirk widening as he raises an eyebrow at me and asks, "Yeah? You like it when I call you baby?"

I shamelessly nod, admitting it entirely as I will never get sick of hearing the word from his lips. He has all the power in the world just by using a simple word that sounds better coming from him than it has anyone else before.

"Good to know..." Luke says, his head lowering towards mine. I watch him carefully, anticipating his next action as he hovers my lips above mine, hardly allowing a centimeter between them. "Baby."

The second the word escapes his lips again, our kiss meets. I sigh in content instantly as I wrap my arms around his neck, bending them completely as there's no distance in between the two of us. We've eliminated all the space and are chest-to-chest as we devour one another's lips in lust.

I could definitely get used to doing this every morning.

The thought makes me smile as I think about how amazing last night was. Luke opened up to me in a way that I didn't think he was capable of. He let me see a lot of him and I can't help but feel closer. This kiss feels a million times more meaningful as I feel a deeper comfort in what we have. Sure, we may not have officially established things but I'm not sure we need to.

Luke's head tilts to the side, a soft hum escaping his lips, proving that he's enjoying this just as much as myself. Especially as this kiss is serving as my cup of coffee, I don't need anything else to wake me up. All I need is right here.

I wish we could just stay here and do this all day.

Neither of us push it further, just appreciating the feeling of our lips massaging one another's at a steady pace, while we block out the world around us. After all, we both know we have obligations to attend to yet here we are, choosing to distract one another instead.