Before She Loved Me

I Would Rather Be Single Than Have To Tolerate You

Vanessa

Would holding his hand feel right?

I glanced over at Matt as he stuffed a fistful of buttery popcorn into his mouth. We were at the movies and despite the roar of the laughter from the audience, the only thing I could focus on was his lips and the sound of my heart beating.

He glanced over at me and with a grin, offered me the bucket. I shook my head. "Are you okay," he whispered in the dark, hues of flickering blue and white reflecting off his jawline.

Blowing out a breath, I shifted my sights towards the big screen as a character tripped on her high heel and fell onto the tile of a department store, her shopping bags scattering everywhere. "I'm unsure about where we stand."

He nodded in the direction of the exit, standing up and shuffling out of the row as I followed him. Once outside the theater, he leaned against a poster of an alien wearing an army uniform and grasped my hand. "Vanessa, I told you. Let's not define the relationship right now and do whatever comes naturally."

I removed myself from his touch to throw up my palms. "That's the problem, Matt. I can't tell what's supposed to be natural in this grey area. It's confusing to me. I just wish you would go back to being my boyfriend again."

He took a step closer and brushed my hair from my cheeks with the pads of his thumbs, leaning his forehead against mine. "Vanessa, I still love you. If that's what you needed to hear from me then fine, I'll admit it. But I'm aware that in the Autum, you'll be back in New York and we will still be facing the same problem."

"I'm not going back," I announced, jutting out my chin and wrapping my arms around my body.

His brows lifted in surprise. "You aren't? You have to."

I scoffed. "I know what's right for me." Leaning in close, I captured his lips with mine. I moved my mouth over his with reckless abandon as I slipped my hand beneath his shirt. His muscles were taut, and I realized I had missed the sensation of touching him.

Gripping my waist, he set me atop the plexiglass of an abandoned snack counter, threading his fingers through my hair and kissing me passionately. His hands found their way to my bottom, cupping it and giving it a firm squeeze.

Breaking our lip-lock, I giggled, wiping my mouth. "Someone might see us," I whispered.

"Well, then it's a good thing I've brought along my car, isn't it?" He grasped my fingers, helping me off the counter. Tickling my hips, he guided me out the door.

***

"She's going to catch us."

With a laugh, I allowed Matt to pull my hands, leading me effortlessly to his lap in the water of Addison's hot tub. I straddled my legs on either side of his body as I sat atop his growing arousal.

"Do you prefer red or white wine?" she called from the open kitchen window, oblivious that her friends were using the five minutes she had been gone to their full advantage.

"White will suffice," I shouted back as Matt made quick work of untying the string of my violet bikini top. The fabric fell away, revealing my breasts slightly bobbing in the buoyancy of the water. Matt's hungry gaze took in my naked chest before his lips met one of my nipples.

Moaning, I nudged aside my bottoms, his hardness barricaded from being inside me by his swim trunks. Hastily, he pushed them down, freeing himself for me. I wasted no time in grabbing hold of his length and easing myself onto it.

The closing of a cabinet door indicated that we were running low on time. His eyes met mine as he quickened his pumps. I placed my palm against the concrete outside of the hot tub, using the support to swivel my hips in rhythm with his movements.