coffee on lexington avenue | phillipa soo

fifteen

Finally rewrote this stupid chapter to the best of my ability 😭 I still hate wattpad for deleting that first version 😭😭

The next morning, just like the last time I'd woken up in her house, Evie is already up and dressed, sitting beside me on the bed, her gentle hands absently running through my hair as she scrolls through her phone.

I remember immediately, what happened last night, remember her lips on mine, my hands in her hair, her own hands on my waist, pulling me closer to her, trying to get more of me, as if she couldn't get enough. I couldn't believe that was all real, that it hadn't been a dream. The familiar heat begins to rise into my cheeks already.

It's then that her warm, loving dark eyes drift over to me. She smiles when she sees I've awoken. "Good morning, Red."

"Morning," I say, getting so flustered by her gaze that I have to look away. "What time is it?"

"Like eleven?"

"Oh. You let me sleep in too long again." I say, yawning.

"Well," She pauses, letting her hands drift to my cheek, her face crumpling a little bit. Despite how gentle her touch is, I still feel how sensitive the skin is there, throbbing a little, probably now an angry shade of red, the edges of it just starting to turn purple, just like all of the other fresh bruises he'd left on me in the past. I remember then, what else had happened yesterday, how'd Id made Steve so angry that he'd... I can't even finish the thought, the familiar cold chill of fear returning for a brief moment. I'm grateful Evie doesn't bring it up. She forces a smile. "You deserved the rest, Red. I didn't want to wake you. You're exhausted— Yesterday was a lot."

"But you should be at work by now," I say, the familiar guilt in my chest returning at the thought of her disrupting her daily routines for me yet again, "You shouldn't have let me—"

"I'm taking the day off work today. Not for you— but for my own mental health," She says, laughing a little, ten steps ahead of me, knowing exactly just how my mind worked at this point. "A mental health break of sorts for me. So no, you're not being a burden or anything— it just so happened that the best thing to do for my mental health is spend some time with my favorite girl."

Her favorite girl. My cheeks heat up even more. I have to gnaw a little on my lower lip to keep from squealing aloud. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," She says softly, thumb beginning to stroke gently at my cheek, dark cat eyes still watching me intensely. "We were apart for so long before yesterday— I want to make up for all that lost time. I've missed my sweet rosy girl."

I'm so flustered that I can't speak by then. I have the strongest urge to put my hands in her hair, and pull her close enough to kiss her. If only I could find the courage I somehow had last night to do just that.

Evie, of course, doesn't quite appear as flustered as I am, her gaze unwavering, still watching me, studying me intently, a small smirk on her lips as if she knew exactly what she's doing to me, how breathless she has me in the moment.

"Huh, I've never noticed before— You have the softest splash of freckles right here," She traces a gentle finger over my cheek, to the bridge of my nose and to my other cheek, making goosebumps rise on my arm. Then, she leans down to press her lips where her fingers had touched previously, and god— her lips are so close to mine in the moment that I feel as though I might explode if she didn't just kiss me for real again. "They're so pretty. I love your freckles."