Same Time

twenty-one.

j a i m e e

+

"No," Shayden pleaded, voice raspy from sleep as he wrapped both of his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. His nose nuzzled my hair, tightening his grip on me as I tried to get out of his hold. "Don't leave me."

"You've got work, Shay. We've gotta get up sometime."

He shook his head, moving his hand up to my thigh brushing lightly against my exposed skin. "No, I'm stayin' here with you."

I thought back to yesterday when Tory had confided in me about his past and how I'd planned to check in with him today. We'd planned a date to the diner with Libbie and Taylor but I had a feeling that it'd go downhill.

"You've got work." I warned, trying my best to not give in to his wishes. I was stubborn, but Shayden always had a way of making me fall despite how much I tried to deny it. He brought out another side to me that was invisible to everyone else.

I turned over so we were facing each other. Shayden eventually opened his eyes and, as soon as I saw the mischievous smirk resting on his lips, I pushed him away from me and crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm not staying in bed all day."

"Calm down, love." He chuckled, sitting up and pulling on a pair of grey sweatpants before climbing out of the bed.

I ignored the way my mouth salivated at the sight as my ovaries practically exploded. Grey sweatpants were my weakness and that stupid man was well aware of that.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Shayden asked, grinning as he caught sight of me leaving his bedroom submerged in one of his hoodies. "I have cereal, toast, waffles and pancakes."

"I want chocolate." I reply instantly, the sudden craving overtaking my senses. Food is, and always will be, the key to my heart.

"You're not having chocolate for breakfast." Shay scolds, shaking his head at my reply.

"Excuse you but you asked me what I wanted for breakfast and I told you."

"Well, Tenaiya would literally hit me if I gave you chocolate for breakfast." Shayden counters, to which I roll my eyes at instantly.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her." My response was quick, "Besides, Mom adored you."

Shayden tries to hide a smile at my simple statement but it breaks through his exterior. Our parents' blessing, despite their current absence, meant a lot to us. "I'm still not risking it."

In protest, I turned away from him and pouted my lips. He let out a small laugh and took the opportunity to dip his head down and press his lips against my neck. I shuddered as he left small, delicate pecks along my collarbone and moved up to the crook of my neck, attaching onto a part of my skin that made me shiver and bite my lip. I moved one of my hands absent-mindedly up to his hair, threading my fingers through his curls as he groaned.

"Fucking hell, Nkosi. You obsessed with me or something?" I tease as he finally pulls his mouth away from my neck. I was certain that the slight swelling on his lips only mirrored the state of my neck.

"I've been doing something wrong if you've only just noticed." He says huskily, a small rasp in his tone making my knees weak as we stared into each other's eyes.

Two hours later and I'm stuck with three idiots that share one collective brain cell.

"Look, I'm not saying that straight people are boring bu-"

"You literally just said that I'm not human because I don't find Noah Centineo attractive." Taylor deadpans.

"No, I said you mustn't have fully functioning eyes. Keep up." Tory teases, rolling his eyes. "Barbie, back me up here."